In August 1988, authorities from Washington and San Diego issued an announcement that at least ten unsolved murders, logged since June of 1985, were "definitely" linked with other homicides committed near Seattle and Tacoma by the elusive "Green River Killer." One detective referred to the connection as "common knowledge," and some investigators placed the body-count a good deal higher. Lt. Bill Baxter, head of the San Diego Sheriff's Homicide Department, declared that at least ten - and no more than twelve women had been murdered by one man over the past three years. Detective Tom Streed, leading the investigation, was inclined to think the killer's death toll might have reached eighteen. Whatever their opinion, all concerned agreed upon ten victims in the case. The first to die had been 22-year-old Donna Gentile, last seen alive on June 22, 1985. Her naked, strangled body was recovered three days later, in the neighborhood of Mount Laguna, rocks and gravel packed inside her mouth and throat. The second victim was a young "Jane Doe," her body badly decomposed when hikers found it near a rural creek, head lodged beneath a tree limb, on July 22, 1986. Nearby, authorities found clothing and a wedding ring believed to be the victim's, but the evidence has not provided any clue to her identity. Theresa Brewer, 26 years old, was next to face the killer's wrath. Bound in a fetal position and "probably strangled," her body was found on August 3, 1986, identified three days later from a comparison of dental records . On April 23, 1987, a group of illegal immigrants discovered the nude, decomposing remains of Rosmarie Ritter, age 29. Despite a ruling of death due to methamphetamine poisoning , she is listed as one of the murderer's "definite" victims. Two months later, on June 22, 32-year-old Anna Varela was found in Pine Valley, by joggers who nearly stumbled over her naked, strangled corpse. Sally Moorman-Field, a 19-year-old prostitute and drug abuser, joined the list on September 20, 1987, stripped and strangled prior to her discovery by bicyclists. The cause of death was undetermined five days later, when the decomposed remains of Sara Gedalecia, a 36-year-old transient, were discovered at Alpine. Likewise, on October 19, the authorities could list no cause of death for 24-year-old Diana Moffitt, but dismemberment of her skeleton placed her on the victims list. Another "Jane Doe" victim, found at Rancho Bernardo on April 13, 1988, had been dead for a week when her body was discovered, the cause of death once again undetermined. Melissa Sandoval, a 20-year-old junkie prostitute, was last seen alive on May 21, climbing into the car of an unidentified "trick." Her strangled body was recovered eight days later, within thirty yards of the previous dump site at Rancho Bernardo. At this writing, police appear no closer to solution of the homicides in Washington or San Diego County. If their statements on a link between the crimes are accurate, the nomadic "Green River" killer may hold a new record for American serial murders, with a minimum toll of 56 known victims.