Elena Hartwell & The Thirty-Ninth Victim: The Interview Part II

Your memoir, The Thirty-Ninth Victim, is about the tragic death of your younger sister at the hands of the Green River Killer. Writing about those events must have been incredibly difficult, though perhaps also cathartic. Tell us about what drew you to write the memoir and what the experience was like for you to relive such a horrific event.
 

Unfortunately "event" isn't quite the right word. It sounds too quick, too brief. I was an ex-pat, married to a Mexican national, and living in Mexico in 1983 when my sister disappeared. I returned to Seattle to be with my family. My sister's remains were not found until 1986. My marriage fell apart. I remarried. Gave birth. Raised my daughter. Life went on, but with an enormous dark shadow over me. I didn't have the full story of what happened to my sister and I was haunted by my ignorance for 20 years.

On my father's 80th birthday, November 31, 2001, Gary Ridgway was arrested. My father died two months later. And I was falling apart. Read More ...