Giselle Lovvorn had an IQ of 145. This is considered “highly gifted” and shared by about 1 in 1,000 people. Born in 1965, she was the youngest child of an upper-middle class family, and seemingly had a normal and happy childhood, although not much information on this time is present.
She, as expected, did very well in school and loved to read. Her favorite book was The Thornbirds by Colleen McCullough.
At the age of 14, Gisele began to feel isolated. Around this time, she began to periodically run away from home. She was a devoted fan of the band The Grateful Dead, and she began to follow their concerts around the country like so many others. Although she was a California native, this landed her in Washington, just as the Green River Killer began his animalistic prowl.
On one of these trips, she became involved with much older taxi driver James Tindal at the tender age of 14. Gisele had intended to return back to her home state eventually, but Tindal convinced her to stay in Washington, where they rented an apartment together.
Tindal was an odd type. He resembled a biker, with a ponytail and leather vest, and tried to come off as tough. However, he also tried to push an image of himself as sensitive and caring.
Dave Reichert states: “He said he was so sensitive that he had taken in Gisele when she was just fourteen and had cared for her ever since. Yes, he had had sex with this underage girl- they were lovers.” Tindal also relied on Gisele financially and forced her to turn to prostitution.
It is not known for sure, but it is believed that Gisele’s family did not know what she was doing for a living. At under 5’5 and 120 pounds, Gisele was a very small girl. She had long straight blonde hair and blue eyes, a statuesque California beauty. Gisele planned to stop working the streets as soon as she developed some regular customers whom she would see by appointment.
In the early morning of June 24, 1982, around 1 a.m, Gisele was out near the intersection of South 156th Street and Pacific Highway South, looking for a “date.” The 17 year old soon found herself handcuffed in the back of a police car, fooled by an undercover policeman posing as a john.
Gisele had been using the alias Gisele Annette Lewis and adding two years to her age, as she was aware that courts handed out more lenient sentences to adult prostitutes. She did not want to have to deal with a probation counselor as a minor, whereas a 19 year old would only have to pay a fine.
Gisele was incarcerated at the King County Jail and released the next day with a court date in the future. Her arraignment was set for 1 p.m. on July 15. She failed to show up.
The same day, the body of 16 year old Wendy Lee Coffield was found floating in the Green River.
On July 17th, 1982, Gisele left the apartment she shared with Tindal, leaving all of her personal belongings behind. When she still had not returned home three days later, Tindal filed a missing persons report.
On September 25, 1982, a dirt bike rider cruising around south of the Sea-Tac Airport noticed an odd smell. He had looked around in a patch of wild blackberry bushes and made a startling discovery.
The nude, decomposing body of a young woman was lying there, with a pair of men’s socks knotted together around her neck. The woman had a tattoo of a bird on her breast and wore a gold snake ring, just like Tindal had stated when he filed the missing persons report.
Dental records confirmed it: the woman was 17 year old Gisele Annette Lovvorn.
James Tindal was the first suspect the police considered. Reichert said, “He seemed a bit inconsistent in his concern for Gisele. Maybe he truly cared for her as a runaway teenager, but he had also exploited her for sex and money.”
Tindal passed his polygraph test and was eventually eliminated as a suspect.
Later, Gary Ridgway’s defense attorney Mark Prothero recalled the story of Gisele’s death.
Ridgway had seen Gisele hitchhiking and offered her a ride. His seven year old son was in the car at the time. He had his son wait in the car while he and Gisele went into the woods for sex.
Afterwards, Ridgway told Gisele he heard his son coming, so she raised her head to look. This gave him the opportunity to attack her from behind and put her in a chokehold. Once she was unconscious, he tied his socks around her neck so tightly that they could not be removed.
Ridgway later stated that he returned to the scene to get them because, “they were my good dress socks and I didn’t want to just leave them there.”
Later, at Ridgway’s trial, Gisele’s sister, Michelle Blair gave a speech.
“Gisele was very much loved by her family and has been missed very much every day for the last 20 years. Gisele was only 17 years old when she was murdered by that animal sitting over there who we have to call a man. He does not deserve to live or breathe, but he does not deserve to die. Dying would be too easy for him. It is impossible to put into words how much her murder has devastated and destroyed my family. This will never put an end or closure on her death or murder. I miss her every day and it will never stop…”