On the evening of April 30, 1983, Mary-Jane Malvar, an 18-year-old Asian female, was waiting at a bus stop near South 216th Street and Pacific Highway South in SeaTac, Washington. Her boyfriend, Robert Woods, watched as she entered a pickup truck. A sense of unease prompted him to try and follow the vehicle, but he quickly lost it in the flow of traffic. This would be the last time she was seen alive.
Four days after she vanished, Woods reported her missing.
He informed the police that he had located the same distinctive truck parked outside a residence less than half a mile from where he had last seen her. The house belonged to a man named Gary Leon Ridgway. Malvar's father, Jose, joined her boyfriend in their desperate search, and their discovery led them to Ridgway's front door with law enforcement. However, when questioned, Ridgway denied any involvement in the young woman's disappearance. Lacking sufficient evidence at the time, the police did not pursue the lead further, a decision that would later be seen as a significant missed opportunity. The family's frustration grew as months turned into years with no answers.
It wasn't until November 2001, nearly two decades later, that Gary Ridgway was arrested in connection with the Green River killings. Advances in DNA technology finally linked him to several of the victims. In 2003, as part of a plea bargain to avoid the death penalty, Ridgway confessed to the murder of Mary-Jane Malvar, one of 49 women he admitted to killing. He recounted to investigators that during his initial questioning in 1983, he had leaned against a fence to hide the scratches Malvar had left on his arm as she fought for her life. He later burned the scratches with battery acid to disguise the marks.
As part of his confession, Ridgway led investigators to a ravine in Auburn, Washington. There, in September 2003, they discovered her partial remains alongside those of another victim. Dental records confirmed her identity, bringing a tragic end to her family's long search. Gary Ridgway, the man who had been identified by Malvar's own family just days after her disappearance, was sentenced to 48 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole for his horrific crimes.
