On August 26, 1987, sixteen-year-old Rose Marie Kurran, a White female from the Bellingham area, left her family's home after leaving a note for her mother indicating she was heading to the "south end." A former teacher later saw her that evening outside of a used truck dealership. Described by her family as a free spirit and an animal lover, Rose was also known to lead a high-risk lifestyle that included hitchhiking.
She was last seen alive walking along Pacific Highway South, an area
known for prostitution and the hunting ground of the notorious Green River Killer. Sometime after she was last seen, Rose was strangled to death. Her body was later discovered in a grassy ditch near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, not far from Military Road, a location police believe was often used by the serial killer to transport his victims to more secluded dumping grounds.
At the time of her death, police investigated the possibility that she was a victim of the Green River Killer, as her case bore many similarities to the other victims. However, despite being a long-time suspect in her murder, Gary Ridgway was eventually ruled out in her specific case, though some sources still consider her a suspected victim of the prolific serial killer. There is no information available regarding any other arrests or suspects in the murder of Rose Marie Kurran, and her case remains unsolved.
