This memorial website was created to honor the memory of Marie Annette Malvar, born April 1, 1965, and murdered on April 30, 1983, by Gary Ridgway, the "Green River killer." Marie, who was standing with her boyfriend and pimp, Robert (Bobby) Woods, at the intersection of 216th Street and Pacific Highway South in Seattle, WA, was picked up by Ridgway, taken to his house off Military Road, and strangled to death. 

Ann Rule's research has shown that Marie's father, Jose, and her pimp, Bobby, searched for Marie in the days following her disappearance, but they were too late, as she was strangled the same night she climbed into Ridgway's truck for a "date." Marie fought bravely for her life, according to Ridgway's later confession.  Marie's family celebrated her birthday every year, and waited for twenty years to find out what had happened to her.  Ridgway revealed that he had left her body in a ravine near Enumclaw, and the Green River task force took him along to pinpoint her location.  Like the other victims, Marie was just thrown away. 

By the time Marie's remains were found, Marie's parents were divorced and her father had gone back to his native Philippines and remarried.  He now has a young daughter whom he named Marie, after the Marie that he lost.  At Marie's funeral, her father reportedly draped his own body over the casket, crying inconsolably for his lost daughter. 

The tragedy of Marie's death is that her father, a hard-working man who owned a restaurant and a grocery store in Renton, WA, said that he should have watched her more closely.  The family detested Marie's boyfriend and they disapproved of Marie standing out on the highway "turning tricks" with him there.  Her boyfriend did play a crucial role in identifying the pickup truck in which Marie drove away, and in fact, he followed the driver of the truck, who seemed to be arguing with Marie, but the driver sped away and Bobby Woods was stopped by a red light and could not catch him.  Later, when Bobby and Marie's father went looking for that pickup truck, which had a telltale primer spot on the passenger door, they found it in the driveway of a small rundown ranch house (later reported to be the ugliest house on the street) and called the police.  Little did they know that the owner of the house, who said his name was Gary Ridgway, was indeed the man who had murdered Marie.  

At Gary Ridgway's sentencing, members of Marie's family had the opportunity to address him--and the court--to tell the effect that Marie's disappearance and murder had had on them.  Marie's brother, Jose Jr., said, "Twenty years of birthdays and holidays together were lost because of you.  I'll never have closure because I'm not going to see my sister any more,'' Mr. Malvar said. ''She's always going to be part of my life.''

In a recent news story on KOMO-TV, Marie's former boyfriend, Bobby Woods, stated that because of what happened to Marie, he left the "street life," getting out of drugs and prostitution. He now has a "straight" job which he has held for over a year.  He said that what happened to Marie was his fault and that if he'd gone through that red light that night, she would not have been killed by Ridgway.  

Marie probably would have eventually quit prostitution on her own and gotten out of that whole scenario.  However, Gary Ridgway made sure, as he did with the other girls he killed, that Marie Malvar would never have that chance.

In an article from PEOPLE magazine (see link below), Marilyn Molina, Marie's older sister is quoted as saying: " I know where she's at now. I'm at peace."

Marie is buried at Washington Memorial Park, SeaTac (Seattle area), Washington State.

Rest in peace, Marie.

If you would like to make a difference in the life of someone who is in the same situation as Marie Malvar, please see the website of Children of the Night, which gets these girls out of this dangerous lifestyle, where ANYTHING can happen to them, and most likely, will happen, given time.  The website is: http://www.childrenofthenight.org

WEBMASTER'S NOTES:
1)Due to recent offensive posts, a filter has been applied to this website.  Memorial candles or tributes posted must first be approved by the webmaster before they are published on this website. 

Anyone who continually posts offensive messages will have his or her computer's IP address noted, and the appropriate authorities will be contacted because this constitutes website abuse.

2) The webmaster apologizes for delays in approving memorial candles or tributes. She has been dealing with a 95 year old relative with vascular dementia who has had to be placed in a nursing home.

This site was put up in memory of a young woman who was brutally murdered.  Regardless of what she was doing, she was a human being with a family who loved her and who misses her today.

Background Music: "Moon River" by Jane Monheit.

For more information on the disappearance and murder of Marie Malvar, please see:

Early Tip Fell Short in Green River Killings (December 26, 2003), The New York Times, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04E2DF173EF935A15751C1A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1

Ian Ith , Carlton Smith and Tomas Guillen, "Ridgway awaits charges; detectives scour homes", The Seattle Times (Dec 2, 2001), found at: http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20011202&slug=greenriver02m0

Tracy Johnson, Elaine Porterfield, Vanessa Ho and Hector Castro, "Victims' Families Face Green River Killer in Court", The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Dec 19, 2003), found at: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/153212_ridgwaymain19.html

Jill Smolowe, "Catching the Green River Killer", People (November 24, 2003), vol. 60, no. 21.  Found at: http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20148697,00.html

 "The Mystery of the Green River Killer", THE INDEPENDENT (London, UK), at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/the-mystery-of-the-green-river-killer-620621.html

"The Ghosts of Green River," at: http://rwor.org/a/1228/greenriver.htm

Larry Lange: "Bones Tantalize Task Force: Skeleton's discovery boosts search for link to Green River killings", THE SEATTLE TIMES (Aug. 18, 2003), at: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/135411_remains18.html

Duff Wilson, "Ridgway's Close Calls Highlight Missed Opportunities", THE SEATTLE TIMES (Nov. 6, 2003), at: http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20031106&slug=closecalls06m

Gene Johnson, "How Detectives Cuffed the Green River Killer--At Last", PoliceOne.com (Dec 13, 2003), at: http://www.policeone.com/investigations/articles/74117-How-Detectives-Cuffed-The-Green-River-Killer-At-Last/

 Charles Mudede, "Negative Land: in the World of the Green River Killer", The Stranger (Dec 20-Dec 26, 2001)at: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=9581&mode=print