American Notes SEATTLE

The few assorted bones and a skull discovered by posthole diggers south of Seattle last week turned out to be those of Debra Estes, a teenage runaway who had been missing since 1982. Police said she was yet another victim of the so- called Green River Killer, bringing his grisly toll to 40 young women.

Authorities still have no promising leads to the identity of the serial murderer who attacked mostly prostitutes and runaways. Their disappearances were sometimes not reported until years after they were killed. The lag time has frustrated investigators, who have spent $13 million in pursuit of the slayer since the first victim was found along the Green River near Seattle in 1982. Police cling to one consoling fact: they have found no victims murdered after 1984. Since such killers rarely quit, police hope this one is either dead or already in prison.