Debra Lorraine Estes
(1967 - 1982)

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General Details

Name:	Debra Lorraine Estes
Nick Name:	Debbie
Gender:	Female
Age:	15 years old
Lived:	Tuesday, 12 September 1967 - Monday, 20 September 1982

My Story

Debra Lorraine Estes, who died at the age of 15, was murdered by Gary Ridgway, the "Green River killer" near Seattle, Washington, in 1982. Just days away from her 16th birthday, the teenager had become trapped in a life of drugs and prostitution. She had run away from home repeatedly since the age of 12, and her parents, though they searched everywhere for her, often had no idea where she was or whom she was with. Debbie's parents, who owned a trucking company on the SeaTac Strip, were concerned parents who wanted the best for their daughter, and worried about her constantly.

The webmaster is of no relation to the family. Long interested in victims' rights, she wanted Debbie to be remembered for the lively teenager she appeared to have been, who was curious about life and wanted to experience it. At Ridgway's sentencing, Debbie's sister characterized her as a lively girl who loved horses and had a bright smile, who liked to sit in the woods and dream. She said that when Debbie met Gary Ridgway, she truly met "a monster."

Debbie disappeared in 1982, near a motel where she was staying with her "boyfriend", according to the account of her disappearance in Ann Rule's book, GREEN RIVER RUNNING RED. Debbie did not come back that evening and her "boyfriend" vanished; when police finally tracked him down, they found him living with his sister. Ann Rule describes that he said he'd tried to get Debra to stop taking amphetamines and that he had succeeded, and that he had told her that "being out on the streets was dangerous." When investigators probed where Debbie had been in the months before her disappearance, they found that she had been involved with some shady characters, not realizing exactly what she was getting involved in. Sadly, before Debbie could be extricated from this world, or get out of it on her own, she was murdered by Ridgway. Her remains were found six years after she vanished, in 1988, by a construction worker digging holes for a fence post in a newly constructed apartment complex in Federal Way. Ridgway had apparently dumped Debbie's body there and it was either buried, or earth-moving equipment used in construction covered up the body because nobody saw it. DNA evidence linked Ridgway inextricably to Debra's death and he confessed to her murder. He is now serving 48 consecutive life sentences and is incarcerated at the Walla Walla State Correctional Institute in Walla Walla, Washington.

In December, 2010, the remains of Debra Lorraine Estes's good friend, Rebecca Marrero, who vanished a few months after Debra did, were finally found near Auburn in a ravine. Becky Marrero and Debbie were close friends and Debbie used to stay with the Marrero family, who loved her. Now both Becky and Debra have been found. May they both rest in eternal peace.

TO GET GIRLS LIKE DEBRA ESTES OUT OF THE LIFE OF PROSTITUTION, CONSIDER DONATING TO CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT. THIS NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION HAS HELPED MANY GIRLS TO SUCCESSFULLY GET OUT OF THAT LIFESTYLE AND GO ON TO LIVE NORMAL AND PRODUCTIVE LIVES. THEIR WEBSITE IS FOUND AT: http://www.childrenofthenight.org