U.S. Congressman Dave Reichert, R-Auburn, issued the following statement on Sunday after learning the news that convicted serial killer Gary Ridgway had been transferred back to the state penitentiary in Walla Walla from the prison he was relocated to in Colorado in May.

“Today, the victims’ families and loved ones can once again take comfort in knowing that the monster that terrorized our region for nearly two decades is back in his cell in Washington State,” Reichert said. “Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Gary Ridgway preyed on some of the most vulnerable members of our community, some of them just 14 or 15 years old. One by one he stole the future of countless young women and left their families forever scared by inconsolable grief.

“Last June when we learned that the Washington State Department of Corrections justified the transfer of Ridgway to Colorado by describing him as a model prisoner, the victims’ families, dedicated detectives, scientists, patrol officers, and hundreds of volunteers involved in the Green River case were rightly shocked and outraged. This sociopath, a man who is convicted of 49 murders, deserves to be called nothing more than the evil human being that he is.

“On behalf of those that lost their loved ones, I will do everything in my power to ensure that Ridgway spends the rest of his days where he belongs, alone behind thick cement cell walls.”

While working for the King County Sheriff’s Office, Reichert led the Green River Task Force, which investigated the murders known as the Green River killings. In 2001, DNA profiling technology linked Ridgway to the murder of four women, which led to his arrest. Ridgway was eventually convicted of 49 murders, but by his own estimates, the murder total is closer to 70.

Ridgway lived in Auburn and worked in Renton when detectives arrested him for investigation of murder. The body of one of his first victims was found along the Green River in Kent.