Debra Lynn Bonner (October 31, 1958 – July 25, 1982) was a young woman who was murdered by Gary Ridgway in SeaTac, Washington, on July 25, 1982. She was Ridgway’s third known murder victim.
Background
Debra was born on October 31, 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. She had two siblings. When she was a teenager, Debra dropped out of high school just years before she was supposed to graduate. She had also become a sex worker as a means to make money.
At the time of her disappearance, she was trying to turn her life around. She was paying fines for past arrests, checked in on her parents frequently, was working towards getting her GED, and had dreams of joining the Navy. Days before her disappearance, she told a friend she was trying to escape an abusive boyfriend.
Disappearance
Debra was last seen on July 25, 1982, leaving a motel on Pacific Highway South to carry out her job as a sex worker. It’s unknown what happened to her afterward.
Discovery
Debra’s nude body was discovered floating in the Green River by a worker at the Kent slaughterhouse on August 12, 1982. She was strangled to death.
Aftermath
Debra was the second woman whose body was recovered from the Green River, with the first being 16-year-old Wendy Coffield, who disappeared on July 8, 1982.
Three other women would be pulled from the river in the future. They were all believed to have been murdered by the same person, dubbed the “Green River Killer.”
It wouldn’t be until 2001 that her killer, Gary Ridgway, would be apprehended. He was convicted of Debra’s murder, along with the murders of forty-eight other women.
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