Between 1982 and 1998, Gary Ridgway strangled and dumped 49 confirmed victims—mostly sex workers and homeless teens—in Washington's Green River, becoming America's most prolific serial killer until Samuel Little surpassed him. This four-part series traces the investigation's early chaos, missed opportunities, and the detective work that finally stopped him. Detectives initially dismissed sex worker victims as runaways, creating investigative blind spots that allowed Ridgway to operate undetected for over a decade despite obvious patterns of predation.