On August 15, 1982, the body of 31-year-old Marcia Faye Chapman, a Black/African American woman and mother of three, was recovered from the Green River in Kent, Washington. Chapman had been last seen on August 1, 1982, while living in an apartment complex near Sea-Tac Airport; her mother reported her missing when she did not return. Chapman was found with Cynthia Hinds, and Opal Mills’ remains were located nearby, discoveries that became linked to a string of murders centered on the Green River.

The investigation into Chapman’s death was part of a prolonged, large-scale inquiry by King County authorities. Decades later, DNA testing produced a match to a saliva sample from Gary Leon Ridgway. Ridgway was arrested on November 30, 2001, and later pleaded guilty to 48 counts of aggravated first-degree murder, including Chapman’s, as part of an agreement that included cooperating to locate more victims’ remains. Ridgway received life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Did anyone who knew Marcia in the Sea-Tac area notice her movements around late July and early August 1982?