This memorial website is created to honor the memory of Delise Louise Plager, who was murdered by Gary Ridgway, the "Green River Killer" on October 30, 1983, in Seattle, Washington State. 

Delise's birth name was Veronica. When she was adopted, her parents changed her name to "Delise" and she went by the nickname "Missy." Later on, as an adult, Delise changed her nickname to "Misty" and that is the name she was known by. Because of that, the following information has been changed so that she is described by the name she chose to call herself.

The webmaster did not know Misty or her or family, but wanted Misty to be remembered, not just for being a victim of Ridgway's, but for her day-to-day life, and for who she really was. An updated photo of Misty will be posted on this site later.  This updated photo will more accurately depict Misty's sense of humor and love of life.

Misty was born on May 16, 1960.  Her parents were evidently unable to care for either her or her brother Jon. The parents divorced when the children were not yet two years old.  The Catholic Children's Organization removed the children, who were very close, from their parents' custody and placed them in foster care.  Misty was adopted by another family in 1968. However, the family, who nicknamed her "Missy" but changed her name from Veronica to Delise, had difficulty with Misty's hyperactivity.  She was enrolled in the Antonian School for Special Education in Cheney, Washington, when she was 10 or 11 years of age.  As a teenager, Misty was eventually placed in a residential facility for emotionally troubled youth, since her emotional problems and learning disabilities were severe.  She ended up in Echo Glen, a home for troubled teenagers, and also spent some time in the Maple Lane School For Girls. 

According to the account of Misty's closest friend, Misty taught herself to read using comic books, and she loved the character Veronica in the comic strip "Archie", especially because she knew that was her birth name.  Misty's friend said that Misty had a wonderful sense of humor and laughed a lot despite her life issues. Misty hoped to find her real parents and her brother someday.  She did get in contact with her mother, Patricia, and visited her, but the reunion did not turn out as planned.  Misty and her mother had been estranged for so long, that it was difficult for them to relate to each other. 

Misty tried to commit suicide but her friends rescued her in time.  By 1983, she had given up hope and was working the streets as a prostitute, and had grown addicted to drugs.  Although she hoped to regain custody of her children, born when Misty was in her late teens/early twenties, she was unable to do so.  She tried very hard to make that dream come true by attending parenting classes despite her lifestyle and drug use.  She truly loved her two children.

Misty Plager was last seen on October 30, 1983, at a bus stop in the south Seattle suburbs.  Her body was found on February 14, 1984, east of North Bend, near Interstate 90.  Her son, Daryl, who was only 2 when she disappeared, said at Ridgway's sentencing and trial that he had no memory of his mother, and he had her name tattooed on the back of his neck, because that was all he had to remember her by. 

Despite Misty's problems, she was concerned about others, and she disappeared while taking a bus to pick up a Halloween costume from a friend's storage unit for a child, to make that child happy for Halloween, which would have been the day after she vanished.  Apparently, Ridgway saw her at the bus stop and picked her up.  She never appeared at her friend's home, where she was expected at 3 pm on Sunday, October 30, 1983, and her friend reported her missing. 

At Ridgway's sentencing, her son, Daryle Imburgia, read the following statement:

"I was around 2 when my mother went missing. I've never got to be with her, and since I've never got to be with her, I don't have any memories of her. My grandchildren will never meet her. I have two beautiful sons who will never know her. That's all because of you. You ruined 48 people's lives. I just think it's amazing you just sit back and stare back at me and not have any feelings at all. I never got to be a part of my mother's memorial service. I had her name tattooed on the back of my neck. It's the only thing I'll ever have of hers. It's the only thing I'll ever have her to remember her by. You took her before she had accumulated anything that would have any bearing on my life. I don't really have much to say, I'd just like to take a moment of silence for not only my mother but for every other victim that you've taken."

Misty Plager (birth name Veronica, renamed Delise) is buried in the Ritzville Memorial Cemetery in Adams County, Washington state.  She is buried under the name Delise Louise Plager.

For more information on Delise's life and death, please see:

Michael Barber,  "Victim Lived Tragic Life, As Most Did,"The Seattle Times (Nov 7, 1992), at: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/archives/1992/9207070015.asp

Ian Ith, "Emissary of Death Sentenced to Life," The Seattle Times (Dec. 19, 2003), at:   http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20031219&slug=ridgway19m

"The challenges of a painful legacy: Green River slayings left children without mothers" (Feb 3, 2002), The Seattle Times, by Gina Kim and Beth Kaiman, at: http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20020203&slug=children03m

"South Whidbey Man's Mother a Victim", South Whidbey Record (Nov. 8, 2003), found at: http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/whidbey/swr/news/21592334.html

Webmaster's Note:

This site is checked regularly for inappropriate or obscene posts. Any such posts will be removed immediately and the offending poster's computer IP address noted. Authorities will be contacted because such conduct constitutes website abuse.  

This is a website meant to honor the memory of a young woman who was brutally murdered. The webmaster put up this site because she's deeply concerned about victims' rights. She has not made any money off this site, nor does she intend to do so.

There is a memorial website for Delise Plager on Find-A-Grave. Someone else put this up for her.  Please see it at: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6892543. Many people have left condolences for Delise and her family.

For information on how to help someone like Missy Plager, please consider the work of Children of the Night.  This organization helps get girls away from this dangerous lifestyle and the control of vicious pimps.  Please visit their website at: http://www.childrenofthenight.org.

Background Music:
"Rejoice" sung by Katherine Jenkins