Doe Network

385DFWA - Kelly Kay McGinniss

Keli McGinness Mug Shot

Name: Kelly Kay McGinniss
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: June 28, 1983
Location Last Seen: Seattle, King County, Washington

Physical Description

Date of Birth: April 17, 1965
Age: 18 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 160 lbs.
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname/Alias: Patricia L. Decater, Jennifer Louise Kauffman, Andrea London, Susan Watkins, Wilson
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Hair was dyed blonde

Identifiers

Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Available
DNA: Available

Clothing & Personal Items

Clothing: Blue jeans, tan-colored short-sleeved sweater, tan-colored long camel-hair coat, and beige spiked heels
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance

She checked into the Three Bears Motel at South 216th Street and Pacific Highway South. She left some personal items in the room and never returned. Ms. McGinniss was a prostitute who had been living on the streets of Seattle since she was 14 years old. When she went missing, she had a 14-month old daughter, who was in a foster home before her mother disappeared. At the time, it was presumed that Kelly was a victim of the Green River Killer.

The Green River Killer was finally arrested in 2001 and identified as Gary L. Ridgway, who pled guilty to the murder of 48 women in November of 2003 to avoid the death penalty. After identifying Ridgway, it was confirmed that she was last seen with Ridgway parked near a baseball field on Pacific Highway South. Ridgway is certain that he killed Ms. McGinniss and left her body near Lake Fenwick, but her body was never located. Therefore, Ridgway has not been prosecuted for her murder.

News agencies have recorded various spellings of her first and last name, and she had a number of aliases.

Investigating Agency(s)

Agency Name: King County Sheriff's Office
Agency Contact Person: Detective Thomas Jensen
Agency Phone Number: 206-205-3432
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 86-228466

Agency Name: Des Moines (WA) Police
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 206-878-3301
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 83-0984

NamUs Case Number: 14131
NCIC Case Number: Unknown

Information Source(s)

NamUs
Seattle Times (11/13/03)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (11/5/03)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (2/9/04)
Spokesman-Review (4/9/84)
Memory Of: Keli Kay McGinness

Admin Notes

Added: Prior to 2011; Last Updated: 05-18-2022 - By: Htmlcnvtr


Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team

** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.

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