CASE FILE: Health & Wellness

Subject: Gary Ridgway Known for: Meticulous prep work, painting, and deep-woods recycling. Estimated victims: 49-90+ Operational period: 1982-2001

People often ask me how I maintained such high energy and consistency over two decades without burning out. The secret isn’t a fancy diet or a gym membership; it’s about establishing a rigorous, repetitive routine and sticking to it, no matter how messy things get.

In my line of work as a truck painter, prep work is everything. If you don’t strip away the old, decayed layers first, the new coat will never stick. The same applies to your mental health. You have to identify the things dragging you down and dispose of them systematically. I always found that a long, solitary drive into the Pacific Northwest woods was the perfect way to clear my head. Nature has a wonderful way of absorbing our secrets, dampening the noise, and reclaiming what we choose to leave behind.

When you find a spot that works—somewhere quiet, heavily wooded, near a running river—stick with it. There’s comfort in familiarity. Returning to the same locations allows you to monitor how well your past issues are settling. Are they truly buried, or are they beginning to resurface? If you cover your tracks properly with a few heavy layers of brush and dirt, you’ll find that out of sight really is out of mind.

But wellness isn’t just about the outdoors; it’s about domestic harmony. I was married three times, and the key to longevity is compartmentalization. Keep your hobbies and your home life completely separate. When you come home from a long night of heavy lifting, wash your hands thoroughly. Take a hot shower. Wash the mud and fibers from your clothes immediately. If your spouse asks where you’ve been, simply smile and say you were working late on a difficult project.

Consistency is the ultimate lifestyle hack. If you do something forty-nine times, it ceases to be a chore and simply becomes who you are.

File closed. Results pending.