Green River victim's brother recalls his early suspicions of Ridgway

Jose Malvar Jr. watched the man who murdered his sister and 47 other women receive a sentence that guarantees he will die behind bars, but Malvar still seethes with rage forged over two decades of frustration.

Marie Malvar, 18, disappeared in 1983 after getting into a pickup with Gary L. Ridgway, the Green River killer. Shortly afterward, her family and boyfriend led police to Ridgway's doorstep. Still, there would be many years and deaths before advances in forensic technology provided the evidence that brought the serial killer to justice.

"I'm just angry about the whole thing — that they didn't arrest him when my dad brought the police over there," Malvar Jr. told The Associated Press. "They should have done more follow-through. More lives could have been saved."

Ridgway pleaded guilty last month to strangling 48 women since 1982 — more convictions than any serial killer in U.S. history. He was sentenced Dec. 18 to 48 consecutive life terms without chance for release and fined $480,000. Marie, who had been a prostitute, was listed in charging papers as victim No. 29.

At the sentencing, her brother cursed Ridgway and called for his death: "Thank God I have these police officers in front of me. You should be dead."

Watching Ridgway sent to prison didn't end Malvar's pain.

"I'll never have closure because I'm not going to see my sister no more," Malvar said. "I'm not going to be satisfied till he's dead."

Marie was the fourth of six children. Jose, now 42, is the oldest.

"There are days ... I start thinking back to our childhood," Malvar said. "I remember the things we used to do, argue and fight ... go out to clubs. She loved everybody. She was very outgoing."

It was April 30, 1983, when Marie's boyfriend, Robert Woods, watched her get into Ridgway's truck, noticing its patches of primer. Woods followed them to a motel parking lot and out again. He lost them at a traffic signal, when Ridgway turned east on South 216th Street in south suburban Des Moines.

On May 3, Woods reported Marie missing, eventually conceding that he knew she was a prostitute. He said he'd last seen her getting into a black pickup with a dark-haired man 30 to 40 years old. Ridgway was then 34.

Led by Marie's father, Jose Malvar Sr., the men of the family began scouring the neighborhood. They spotted the truck, a maroon pickup, parked in front of Ridgway's home, one block off 216th. It was there, Ridgway would later confess, that Marie — and many others — were killed.

A Des Moines police detective stopped at the house to question Ridgway, who denied knowing her.

Ridgway told Green River task-force investigators this year that he stood against a fence in his yard during the questioning to conceal scratches Marie left on his inner left arm as she fought for her life. When the detective was gone, Ridgway burned the gouges with battery acid to disguise them then returned to the nearby woods where he had dumped Malvar's body and buried her.

The scars on Ridgway's arm are still visible, according to charging documents, which brings Marie's brother some comfort.

"I know every time he looks at that scar, he remembers my sister," Jose Jr. said. "At least she got that. At least she didn't go down without a fight."

Marie's father, especially, couldn't give up, Jose Jr. said. "There were days he didn't come home; he'd just keep driving and driving." Some days he'd drive by Ridgway's and "wait to see if my sister came out of that house."

Pretty, vivacious Marie was never seen again. A handful of her bones was found this fall with the serial killer's help as part of a plea deal that spared him from execution.

In 1987, the Malvar connection prompted police to take a saliva sample from Ridgway. He was arrested in 2001 when technology advanced enough to allow a DNA match from the saliva sample to trace evidence from three early victims.