Stolen Voices of Dole Valley

Episode: Peck Bridge

Original Air Date: October 20, 2025
Host: Carolyn Osorio (for Lemonada Media, Pie in the Sky Media, and KSL Podcasts)

Main Theme/Overview

“Peck Bridge” marks the beginning of a deeply reported, empathetic series chronicling the women and girls lost to the Green River Killer—a predator who hid in plain sight, exploiting the vulnerabilities of young women and runaway teens in the Pacific Northwest during the 1980s and '90s. The series centers not on the killer, but on the victims, survivors, their families, and the lingering trauma that still reverberates through the community. This inaugural episode reconstructs the discovery of the first identified victim, Wendy Cofield, and invites listeners to reconsider how the world has historically viewed (and too easily forgotten) these “shadow girls.”

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Discovery at Peck Bridge (03:00–09:25)

• Setting the Scene:
  • July 15, 1982 — two teenage boys biking over Kent’s Peck Bridge stumble on a body tangled in the Green River.
  • The atmosphere and cultural context: It was the latch-key kid era, a time when the streets were full of unsupervised youth and bikes meant freedom in a world before digital technology.
• Vivid Recounting:
  • The boys initially think the body is a mannequin; Galen, one of the boys, is haunted by the image of the victim’s hair drifting in the current—an image that will trouble him for years.
  • Details about the victim: naked except for white leather Nike knockoffs, unique tattoos later crucial to identifying her.
• Identification Process:
  • The police media release describing the body’s tattoos leads to tip from a tattoo artist:
    • “Yeah, her name is Wendy Cofield. I think she lives in Puyallup with her mother. She’s only 16.”
  • In reality, Wendy was just 15—marking her as incredibly young.

2. The Green River Case Emerges (09:26–14:38)

• Scope of Violence:
  • Host notes that Wendy is only the first—eventually, the killer is linked to 49 murders.
  • Victims predominantly young girls and women, most with marginalized backgrounds and labeled as “prostitutes” by the system.
• Societal Indifference:
  • Retired Sgt. Steve Davis explains the reality:

    “They become ghosts, in a lot of ways.” (10:44, D)

  • Even today, societal attitudes about these women continue to devalue and dismiss them.

3. Societal Attitudes and Objectification (12:23–14:38)

• Cultural Anthropologist Dr. Deborah Boyer:

  • Reflects on the 1980s perception of the Green River victims:

    “As a young person... they were bad girls, they were doing bad things...that was kind of the message.” (12:23, C)

  • Societal narratives make it easy to disregard these women, to see them as “throwaway.”

• Intersection with True Crime Consumption:

  • True crime’s popularity among women is discussed—the genre sometimes offers camaraderie and reflects shared anxieties about vulnerability.

4. Personal Connection and Community Memory (16:56–19:09)

• Carolyn Osorio’s Return:
  • The host grapples with her own childhood memories of living near the Green River, the sense of fear and powerlessness that affected both her and other locals.
  • Community trauma: People vividly remember where they were when news broke of the killer’s arrest, likening the moment to the eruption of Mount St. Helens (27:05–27:41).

5. Victims’ Invisible Struggles (20:23–26:48)

• Interviews with Law Enforcement:

  • Sheriff Dave Reichert, first detective on the case, describes the scale and challenges:

    "I went to that scene thinking I was going to be investigating the murder of one person... now have four young girls who have been strangled and left the Green River. ... And no, there’s no way I was going to walk away.” (20:26, A)

  • The majority of the Green River Killer’s victims were teenagers—something not widely acknowledged at the time.

• Social Marginalization:

  • Reichert on why the crimes remained unsolved:

    "If these victims were a middle class housewife, there would be a wholly different type of case." (24:48, A)

  • The victims' lifestyle and backgrounds hindered both the investigation and public empathy.

6. The Personal Impacts and True Crime’s Magnetism (28:11–33:32)

• Why Women (Especially) Listen to True Crime:
  • Osorio theorizes: “Maybe some women binge true crime because they come from traumatic childhoods and were looking for camaraderie at a distance... the feeling of 'it’s not just me.'”
• Community Ties:
  • The network of those affected resembles “six degrees of separation.”
  • Example: A woman at her husband’s workplace confides, “My best friend was murdered by the Green River Killer” (29:33–30:45).

7. Revisiting Evidence and Victimology (36:23–41:55)

• Host Dives into Primary Source Material:
  • During the pandemic, Osorio reviews thousands of police files, including the original evidence from Wendy’s case.
  • A personal connection: Osorio owned a pair of “James jeans” identical to those recovered from Wendy Cofield’s body.
• Empathizing with Victims:
  • Discovery of Wendy’s initials in her jeans is “gutting”—a sharp reminder of her youth and the loss of innocence.

8. Socioeconomic Hardship, Abuse, and Vulnerability (42:01–47:58)

• Wendy’s Background:

  • Family instability, homelessness, and sexual exploitation.
  • Wendy’s history of sexual abuse, running away, couch surfing, and encounters with exploiters—common threads found in many victims’ backgrounds.

• Expert Analysis (Detective Tom Jensen & Dr. Boyer):

  “[A] lot of these girls were molested either in the home or by somebody else... their early adulthood is probably... a consistent factor in most of these cases.” (43:36, F)

  • Structural failures: The system failed to protect runaways and marginalized youth, compounding their vulnerability.

• Societal Blame and the Cycle of Abuse:

  • Dr. Boyer:

    “Poverty is the biggest pimp that we have.” (46:19, E)

  • Victims were failed first by their support networks, then by a dismissive social system.

9. Therapy, Trauma, and Generational Cycles (48:38–51:58)

• Host and Mother's Reflections:

  • The difficulty of engaging with therapy for the marginalized; history of broken trust and disappointment with “the system.”
  • The “marshmallow test” analogy: Poor children, shaped by broken promises, “take what they can get”—a survival response with far-reaching effects.

• Legacy of Trauma:

  • Ongoing health and emotional consequences traced to childhood adversity.

10. The Victims' Struggle to Survive (52:14–53:50)

• Victims’ Cunning and Foresight:
  • Wendy displayed street smarts by leaving details of her “trick” (client) with another girl for safety, paying her $10 for security.
  • Tragically, the night she met the Green River Killer, she was alone.
  • For all her precautions and savvy, the social safety net had already failed her.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Invisibility of Victims:

  “They become ghosts, in a lot of ways.”
  — Sgt. Steve Davis (10:44, D)

• On Societal Attitudes:

  “You didn’t want to do that—or that could happen to you. That was kind of the message.”
  — Dr. Deborah Boyer (12:23, C)

• On Objectification:

  “…but they become throwaway women, so you can do whatever you want. They become objectified...”
  — (12:44, E)

• On the Impact of the Crimes:

  “People who watched that, who heard that, who were here, remember exactly where they were when that announcement was made.”
  — Sheriff Reichert (27:05, A)

• On Why True Crime Resonates with Women:

  “Maybe some women binge true crime because they come from traumatic childhoods and [are] looking for camaraderie at a distance... the feeling of ‘it’s not just me.’”
  — Carolyn Osorio (31:00, B)

• On Marginalized Victims:

  “If these victims were a middle class housewife… there would be a wholly different type of case.”
  — Sheriff Reichert (24:48, A)

• On Systemic Failure and Survival:

  “Poverty is the biggest pimp that we have.”
  — Dr. Boyer (46:19, E)

Key Timestamps

• 03:00–09:25 — Discovery of Wendy Cofield at Peck Bridge; local 1980s context
• 10:25–11:27 — Sgt. Steve Davis on victims’ invisibility
• 12:23–14:38 — Dr. Boyer and societal attitudes toward “bad girls”
• 16:56–17:38 — Osorio’s return to hometown and emotional impact
• 19:10–20:54 — Sheriff Reichert on the dawn of the investigation
• 24:48–25:14 — Reichert on double standards in victimhood
• 27:05–27:41 — Community memory of the killer’s capture
• 36:23–41:55 — Osorio’s research into original case files and emotional connection
• 42:13–47:58 — Wendy’s background: instability and abuse
• 43:36 — Detective Jensen on prevalence of childhood sexual abuse among victims
• 46:19 — Dr. Boyer: "Poverty is the biggest pimp that we have"
• 51:49–52:14 — The lingering effect of childhood trauma
• 52:14–53:50 — Wendy’s attempt to keep herself safe

Tone and Approach

• Narration is deeply empathetic but investigative, unafraid to explore the hard personal truths alongside the social and systemic failures.
• The host often blends reportage with memoir, giving a sense of the generational and community-wide trauma.
• Experts and law enforcement are direct, providing both context and self-critique—highlighting how the system’s neglect enabled the killer’s predations.

Conclusion

This episode sets the stage for a thorough re-examination of the Green River case—not just to retell the story, but to restore personhood and dignity to its victims, and to interrogate the societal blindspots that allowed the killer to operate for so long. With chilling detail, personal candor, and a focus on social responsibility, “Peck Bridge” is both true crime and an urgent meditation on the lives of those most at risk of being forgotten.

[Check following episodes of Stolen Voices of Dole Valley and The Shadow Girls wherever you listen to podcasts.]