Genetic genealogy helps ID young Colorado victim of Green River Killer

SEATTLE (AP) - Authorities in Washington state say genetic genealogy has helped identify the youngest known victim of one of the nation’s most prolific serial killers.

The remains of 14-year-old Wendy Stephens were found nearly 37 years ago near a baseball field.

Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer, has pleaded guilty to murdering 49 women and girls in the 1980s.

Four of them were unidentified, including Stephens.

Researchers at the DNA Doe Project helped with the identification.

The project uses publicly available DNA databases to locate relatives of unknown crime victims.

The King County Sheriff's Office in Seattle said Monday that Stephens had run away from her home in Denver in 1983.

According to 9News, her body was found in 1984 in an area that is now part of the Seattle-Tacoma International airport.