Cold Case Project: Seeking answers in the 1983 disappearance of 18-year-old Kelly McGinness
Oct 8, 2026, 5:00 AM | Updated: 10:53 am
This week’s Cold Case Project revisits the disappearance of Kelly McGinness, who was 18 when she went missing in 1983. Her remains have never been found, and she is presumed dead.
Jim Fuda, executive director of Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound and a former officer assigned to the area, said McGinness ran away at 13 and became involved in the sex trade. She had two children with a man Fuda identified as Raphael Wilson.
“They were staying at the Three Bears Motel — which is one of those notorious rundown, seedy-type motels at S 216th St. and Pacific Highway S — a place where we would find a lot of prostitutes running in and out of,” Fuda said. “And on the night of June 28, she went out to do her sex work and never returned. Her boyfriend reported her missing two days later, and she was never found.”
Questions remain about Gary Ridgway’s confession in Kelly McGinness case
The Green River Killer, Gary Ridgway, claimed responsibility for McGinness’s death, but investigators have questioned the confession. Fuda said he believes Ridgway’s guilty plea may have been an effort to avoid the death penalty.
“I understand the reason that he pled guilty to some of these is because he was trying to avoid the death penalty,” Fuda said. “I think that’s where the self-serving part definitely comes in.”
Ridgway led investigators to locations where he had left some victims’ bodies, but not to McGinness. Fuda said the area between the Duwamish Y and Kent Downs Road was known for sex work at the time, and people who were there in 1983 may have information.
The search is also complicated by McGinness’s reported statement to her mother that, if she left the sex trade, she would leave the Seattle area and likely never return.
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How to submit anonymous tips
Fuda urged anyone with information to come forward, even if they are unsure it is relevant.
“Please pass it on. Let the detectives decide if that’s relevant or not,” Fuda said.
Tips can be submitted anonymously through the free P3 Tips app or by calling Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound at 800-222-TIPS.
Fuda said callers can remain anonymous, and Crime Stoppers will pass the information to investigators working the case.
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