On a late summer evening in Seattle, Washington, on August 28, 1982, a 16-year-old female named Kasee Ann Lee walked out of the home she shared with her husband. She was reportedly headed to a nearby store to pick up supplies for dinner, wearing red shorts, a white blouse, and blue sandals, and carrying a brown purse. Kasee, a young woman with blondish-red hair, blue eyes, and distinctive scars near her nose and on her right cheek, never made it back home.
She was last seen at approximately 11:30 p.m. in the vicinity of the Sea-Tac International Airport. Her husband, Anthony Lee, waited two days before officially reporting her missing to the authorities. At the time of her disappearance, Kasee was living a difficult life, working both for a Photomat franchise and as a sex worker in the south Seattle area.
The investigation into Kasee's disappearance soon led authorities to suspect foul play. Her case was tragically similar to those of other young women who were vanishing from the same areas. Investigators began to believe that Kasee was a potential victim of the then-unidentified serial killer who was terrorizing King County, a predator later dubbed the Green River Killer. This suspicion grew stronger as many of the killer's victims were runaways or involved in sex work, fitting a profile that matched Kasee's circumstances. The area where she was last seen was also a known hunting ground for the perpetrator, and one of the other victim's remains would later be discovered near the Sea-Tac airport.
Years later, the Green River Killer was identified as Gary Ridgway. During his interrogations following his 2001 arrest, Ridgway confessed to murdering Kasee Lee. He claimed to have strangled her shortly after she disappeared and disposed of her body either near a drive-in theater or behind a bowling alley. Despite his confession and the information he provided, extensive searches for Kasee's remains were unsuccessful. Because her body has never been recovered, Ridgway was never officially charged with her murder, though he was convicted for numerous others. The case of Kasee Ann Lee remains a heart-wrenching story of a vulnerable teenager who vanished one night on a simple errand. Although a notorious killer confessed to ending her life, the absence of her remains means her case is technically unresolved, leaving a painful void for those who remember the young girl who disappeared so many years ago.Last Seen: Aug 28, 1982
