A new Seattle-based organization is raising money to construct a memorial for victims of serial killer Gary Ridgway and provide outreach to survivors of prostitution and sexual violence.
As The Seattle Times reported Wednesday, The Organization for Prostitution Survivors (OPS) will host a series of educational meetings at libraries and other community spaces in the Puget Sound region this year. Next up, the group plans to design and construct a memorial to honor Ridgway's victims, some of whom were discovered near Highway 18 and I-90.
OPS has raised about $10,000 of its $225,000 goal so far, according to The Times. The location and form of the memorial has not yet been determined.
U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, whose Congressional district includes Issaquah and Sammamish, has pledged to become involved in the project.
“People were driving to and from work on Pacific Highway or Aurora Avenue or First Avenue and they were never seeing these young girls on the street,” Reichert, who investigated the Green River killings during his time with the King County Sheriff's Office, told the newspaper. “There were hundreds of them—you couldn’t miss them—but no one saw them. Then they disappeared and no one missed them."
For more on the project or to make a donation, visit OPS' website. Click here to read the entire Seattle Times story.
