Sheriff David Reichert by BRAXTON SMITH

David Reichert runs away from home

smithbra014 — 2025-09-26 18:08:08 UTC

When David Reichert was in high school, he tried to intervene in a fight between his mother and father. This fight was especially bad, and caused him to leave home and live in a 1956 Mercury for 2 months, "After one especially bad fight, I left home and lived for two months in a 1956 Mercury, which I had recently bought with money from my after-school jobs."(4)

Bibliogarphy

smithbra014 — 2025-09-26 18:11:26 UTC

Reichert, David Chasing The Devil; My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer, Little, Brown and Company, 2004.

An escapee from a mental hospital attempts to abduct David

smithbra014 — 2025-09-26 18:18:40 UTC

When David Reichert was 7-8 years old, an escapee from a state mental hospital tried to kidnap him and almost shoved him into his station wagon. When he was halfway in the car his mother came out and saved him, "I was seven or eight on the day when, as I was shooting marbles with a friend, a man pulled up in a station wagon and tried to abduct me. An escapee from a state mental hospital, had me halfway into the car when my mother ran up and grabbed me by the feet."

David Reichert becomes a cop

smithbra014 — 2025-10-22 17:11:55 UTC

After being motivated by wife, David decided to become a cop in 1972, " I started work in 1972 and would stay on the job for more than thirty-two years as Julie and I established a home and made a family that included our children, Angela, Tabitha, and Daniel" (6)

Sam Hicks killed

smithbra014 — 2025-10-22 17:19:23 UTC

Sam Hicks was Davids senior officer for 7 years, his friend, and a mentor to him. On June 24, 1982 Sam was looking for a murder suspect with another officer and was shot, "In the split second that his body was exposed to the tree line, a shot was fired. The bullet hit Sam in the chest, and he fell to the ground." (10)

Bodies found in the Green River

smithbra014 — 2025-10-22 17:24:34 UTC

7 weeks after the death of Sam Hicks it was Davids daughters ninth birthday. There was about 40 family members were coming to their house for the birthday party, but David was called out to the Green River because two dead bodies were found, "The bodies of two young women had been found submerged near the shore. It would fall to me to lead the investigation to discover who they were, how they got there, and who was to blame." (13)

News reporters ruin the cops hiding spot

smithbra014 — 2025-10-26 22:42:54 UTC

After finding many more bodies, the police decided to hide unmarked cars near the river. They were hidden well for about a day, but then the media discovered them by helicopter and ruined it, "It worked for about a day. Then, as the local TV stations prepared to broadcast the evening news, a reporter flying over the river saw our unmarked cars, which, through hidden on the ground, were visible from above. Our surveillance must have been an irresistible new angle on the story. Whatever the reason, when the anchors turned to their reporter in the sky for an update on Green River, our cover was blown." (45)

Profilers make an assumption about the killer

smithbra014 — 2025-10-26 22:43:02 UTC

Profilers looked at the killers activity and even though they were still in the early stages, they were able to make assumptions about him, "What profilers had to say about the motivations of serial killers was often very interesting. We could expect that our guy had been abused, humiliated, maybe even tortured as a child. As an adult he would be driven to fulfill his grisly fantasies, which were all about overcoming his lack of control as a child." (47)

Reports of suspect "Melvyn Foster"

smithbra014 — 2025-10-26 22:43:09 UTC

After a while of working on the case, two kids from the streets of Seattle came to Davids partner to report a man named "Melvyn Foster" This would lead to David having lots of surveillance on him and having many conversations with him, "On September 6, a couple of street kids name Pinkie and Shannon came into our downtown Seattle office and spoke with Detective Bob LaMoria. Bob, who had gone with Sam Hicks and me on that long hike to recover a body in the mountains, was easy to talk to. Pinkie and Shannon opened up to him, sharing their concern about two men they knew from the streets." (54)

David Reichert has to take shifts watching Melvyn

smithbra014 — 2025-10-26 22:43:16 UTC

After lie detector tests, questioning, and searching Melvyn's house, they decided to keep surveillance on him. David took many shifts sitting in a car outside his house, and enjoyed having conversations with another detective named Fae Brooks, "My first few shifts watching Melvyn were unremarkable, except for some of the heart-to-heart conversations I had witch fellow detective Fae Brooks when we spent a couple of cold dark nights in the car together." (69)

Police meet Gary Ridgway

smithbra014 — 2025-10-26 22:43:24 UTC

After hearing reports of a girl getting into a truck and going missing, people looked for the truck. They turned down a road and found it. After reporting it to police, police came to the house and met Gary Ridgway. Although unknown at the time, this man was the green river killer, " Nevertheless, the cops knocked on the door of the house. The man who answered said his name was Gary Ridgway. Like thousands of men in the area, he fit Woods's description of the man who picked up Marie- white, medium build, midthirties. He confirmed that the truck was his but added that he had no idea what Woods and the Malvars were talking about." (103)

Polygraph test

smithbra014 — 2025-10-26 22:43:27 UTC

Gary Ridgway was taken in for a lie detector test. He did pass, but David felt like something wasn't quite right. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough evidence.

Car crash

smithbra014 — 2025-10-26 22:43:32 UTC

David Reichert was recently promoted, when he was driving a sheriff department vehicle and was involved in a car crash. After the crash he felt okay, but a little while after he felt terrible and went to the doctor and found out surgery would be required.

David recovers and returns to service

smithbra014 — 2025-10-26 22:43:36 UTC

After recovering from his injuries, David Reichert came back to duty with refreshed motivation to catch the killer and make the community safer.

Task force gets bigger

smithbra014 — 2025-10-26 22:43:40 UTC

The task force got bigger because the killer was still out there after years. This included bringing in more detectives and FBI. David became one of the main leaders in coordinating the case.

Tiredness, frustration, and dead ends

smithbra014 — 2025-10-26 22:43:44 UTC

After many many years of dead ends, even with the bigger team, David still was exhausted from his work and felt discouraged.

It all slows down

smithbra014 — 2025-10-26 22:43:48 UTC

After years filled with Green River murders, the case began to slow down. The media and public attention started slowing, but David Reichert didn't. Even on his own time, he still reviewed old evidence.

New Technological Breakthroughs

smithbra014 — 2025-10-26 22:43:53 UTC

In the late 90's new DNA recognizing technology gave David new hope. Luckily he preserved all the evidence from the 1980s and called for it all to be retested using the new technology.

The Arrest of Gary Ridgway

smithbra014 — 2025-10-26 22:44:00 UTC

After test results confirmed that Gary Ridgway's DNA was on multiple pieces of evidence, he was arrested. David Reichert lead a team to arrest Gary at his workplace almost 20 years after the first encounter at his house.

The Confession of Gary Ridgway

smithbra014 — 2025-10-26 22:44:04 UTC

Sheriff David Reichert helped manage the long interrogation process of Gary Ridgway. Gary finally agreed to plead guilty to dozens of murders in exchange for not having to face the death penalty.

Gary Ridgway is sentenced

smithbra014 — 2025-10-26 22:44:09 UTC

Gary Ridgway was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Sheriff David Reichert attended the court, listened to victims families, and felt relieved that he had been caught, but grief for the victims and their families. David had finally ended the 21 year quest of capturing this monster. After this David wrote his book to share what it took.

Outside source #1

smithbra014 — 2025-10-27 00:08:58 UTC

Outside source #2

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Outside source #3

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Outside Source #4

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Outside source #5

smithbra014 — 2025-10-27 00:09:33 UTC