Kriti Mehrotra
With Netflix’s ‘Ted Bundy: Dialogue with the Devil’ delving deep into the way the titular serial killer attempted to help solve the case of the Green River Killings, we get an original unlike any other. The truth is, Ted Bundy was trying to do whatever possible to get his impending execution stayed, but in offering his help, he only gave officials an inside look into the workings of a monster like him. In the end, his words did help Washington State officials close a few of his unsolved cases and eventually apprehend the Green River Serial Killer, whose sole survivor was Rebecca Garde.
Rebecca Garde’s Decision to Hitchhike Changed Her Life
As a native of Seattle, Washington, Rebecca was no stranger to the rainy days of the city, but things were different one evening in November 1982 as she found herself tired after a long day at work. The 20-year-old actually had a clean telemarketing job at the time, and she was leaving that when she decided that instead of taking the bus home as usual, she would hitchhike. According to her own accounts, she “couldn’t handle waiting in the rain any longer,” so she stepped out and lifted up a hand with the thumb pointed up, only for a vehicle to come to a stop immediately.
This was along the Pacific Highway South between 188th Street and 1984 Street, and Rebecca only got into this stranger’s car upon checking his work ID to ensure safety. The vehicle was a maroon Dodge pickup, and she still remembers that the driver seemed “boring” and “dull,” someone with whom she believed she would be able to make it home without issues. However, during the ride, things changed as he offered her $20 for a sexual act, which she believed would be a good opportunity to make some easy money and even use it to buy some marijuana (drugs). She still remembers that her assailant was not very imposing at 5’11” and 150 lbs, but he did have large hands, small eyes, and a strange look behind those eyes.
Nevertheless, since he had provided her with his identification for work when Rebecca asked without hesitation, making it clear he was Gary Ridgway, a truck painter at Kenworth Trucking Co., he agreed to be driven into the woods. It was there that he attacked her when she started performing the sex act, strangling and smothering her with his bare hands, only for her to somehow bite him and manage to get away. “All of a sudden, he starts grabbing me, and we’re rolling all over the place,” she once said. “He tried covering my mouth and my nose, and I just kept trying to breathe. He smothered me on the ground. … He was sitting on top of me…” His pants were around his ankles, so she managed to bite his hand, push him to a tree, stun him, and run away.
Rebecca Garde Has Always Preferred to Lead a Quiet Life
As per Rebecca’s own accounts, the only thing running through her mind during the attack was that she was not ready to die yet and that she wouldn’t allow a strange man to kill her. “This is not my time,” she thought. “I want to grow up. I want to get married. I want to have babies… This guy is not going to kill me. I don’t belong here. I’m in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Therefore, as soon as she managed to get away from him, she ran away as quickly as possible and found herself near a mobile home, the residents of which helped her feel safe until she was ready to go home. The authorities were never contacted on the fateful evening because she was afraid of not being believed or taken seriously, because she was involved in prostitution and sometimes used drugs.
Rebecca initially chose to deal with her trauma in complete privacy, yet when she started hearing the news about the Green River Killer and realized officials were asking the public for help, she gathered the courage to come forward. It was December 1984 when she contacted the police to let them know that she believed she had been attacked by the serial killer two years ago, but had managed to survive. She subsequently gave a lengthy interview and even identified her perpetrator from a line-up, but no arrests were made at the time. What she feared did seemingly happen, but her statements eventually did help paint a clear picture of who Gary Ridgway was following his ultimate arrest in 2001.
While Gary was accused of killing nearly 50 people over a span of 20 years and was a suspect in several more disappearances of young prostitutes or runaways, Rebecca was his sole survivor. This is something she carries with her to this day, but she knows she got very lucky on the fateful day because she was able to shock him, quickly get away, and find help. If she hadn’t, she believes she would also be dead, so she does carry a lot of mental trauma from her ordeal. In fact, this is to such an extent that she can’t even be near or in the woods anymore, as they genuinely terrify her, which is a shame considering she still resides in the Pacific Southwest area.
From what we can tell, in her 60s, Rebecca Consuelo Garde is currently based in SeaTac, Washington, where she is surrounded by loved ones at every turn. She has actually been very conscious about not publicly revealing what or how she is doing today, except to let them know that she is trying her best to move forward from the past. Yet, we do know that she is a family woman who now goes by Rebecca Consuelo Garde Guay and prefers to remain well away from the limelight for understandable privacy concerns for not just herself but her family.
Read More: Karen Sparks-Epley: Where is the Ted Bundy Survivor Now?
