Roberta Joseph Hayes, a 21-year-old Caucasian female, vanished on February 7, 1987, after her release from custody in Portland, Oregon, for prostitution. Known to her family as "Bobby Joe," she was expected to return to her life in Seattle, Washington, but was never seen alive again. Having left home at the tender age of 12, much of her young life was spent on the streets, a reality that was highlighted in the 1984 documentary "Streetwise," which chronicled the lives of homeless youth in
Seattle. Despite the hardships she faced, Roberta maintained a connection with her family, often returning home for holidays and birthdays, making her sudden disappearance all the more alarming.
For years, her family held onto a sliver of hope, mixed with the dread that she may have fallen victim to the notorious Green River Killer who was preying on vulnerable women in the area. This agonizing uncertainty lingered until September 11, 1991, when a state parks employee discovered skeletal remains near a secluded dirt road off Highway 410, about ten miles east of Enumclaw. Initially, the remains were misidentified, prolonging the family's wait for answers. It wasn't until 1993 that dental records confirmed the remains were those of Roberta Hayes. Due to the condition of her remains, the exact cause of death could not be determined, but investigators classified her case as a homicide.
The final, grim confirmation of Roberta's fate came in 2003 with the confession of Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer. As part of a plea deal to spare him from the death penalty, Ridgway admitted to murdering Roberta Hayes. He provided investigators with a map from his jail cell, pinpointing the location where he had left her body, which matched the site of the discovery of her remains years prior. Ridgway was subsequently convicted of her murder, one of 49 women he was ultimately found guilty of killing. His confession, while devastating, finally brought a painful closure to the long-unanswered questions that had haunted Roberta's family for over a decade.
