Cold Case Resolved; Missing Rochester Woman was Victim of Infamous Killer
By: WROC-TV
Updated: June 19, 2012
The remains of a Rochester woman have been identified in Washington state, 30 years after she first went missing.
20-year-old Sandra Major was reported missing in 1982, her body later found in 1985. However, it wasn't identified by police in Washington until this week. It turns out, Major was a victim of the infamous Green River Killer.
It was this past April that relatives of Sandra Major were watching a TV movie about the Green River Killer. It was then that they suspected major may have been one of his victims.
Family members contacted Rochester's Missing Persons Unit and submitted DNA samples. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children helped expedite the processing of those samples.
Yesterday, the King County Sheriff's Office announced the positive identification of Major, who was was just 20-years-old when she went missing in December of 1982. Her remains were discovered, along with those of two other victims, at a cemetery in Auburn, Washington three years later. Until now, those remains were called "Bones 16" because they were the 16th set of remains found.
Now Sandra Major's family, after three decades, finally has an answer to the question "what happened?"
Gary Ridgeway, the Green River Killer, confessed to killing Major, and is serving a life sentence without parole.
20-year-old Sandra Major was reported missing in 1982, her body later found in 1985. However, it wasn't identified by police in Washington until this week. It turns out, Major was a victim of the infamous Green River Killer.
It was this past April that relatives of Sandra Major were watching a TV movie about the Green River Killer. It was then that they suspected major may have been one of his victims.
Family members contacted Rochester's Missing Persons Unit and submitted DNA samples. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children helped expedite the processing of those samples.
Yesterday, the King County Sheriff's Office announced the positive identification of Major, who was was just 20-years-old when she went missing in December of 1982. Her remains were discovered, along with those of two other victims, at a cemetery in Auburn, Washington three years later. Until now, those remains were called "Bones 16" because they were the 16th set of remains found.
Now Sandra Major's family, after three decades, finally has an answer to the question "what happened?"
Gary Ridgeway, the Green River Killer, confessed to killing Major, and is serving a life sentence without parole.
