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At least 40 young women have died at the hands of a serial killer in what has been called the Green River Murders. Because most of the victims' remains were severely decomposed with partial or complete skeletonization and little or no personal effects were recovered, forensic odontologic methods played a key role in their identifications. Although numerous methods were used to accumulate leads to the identities of the badly decomposed skeletonized remains, leads generated through traditional investigative methods established the identities in most cases. Of 40 victims, 36 have now been identified, mainly by means of dental evidence. This article details the challenges presented by serial homicides and the key role of forensic odontologic methods in the Green River Murders investigation.

Selected dog's teeth, in vivo, were exposed to carbon dioxide (CO2) laser power densities ranging from 13 to 102 J per cm2. The teeth were extracted 48 h postlasing, fixed with 10% neutral buffered formalin, decalcified with Kristensen's solution, processed, sectioned, stained, and evaluated for pulpal damage. No pulpal damage was observed when compared with nonlased control teeth. It appears that carbon dioxide laser power densities of approximately 13 to 102 J per cm2 could be used to irradiate enamel of teeth without damage to the pulp.