SeattleAntiFreeze: From the streets

FROM THE STREETS, #SeattleAntifreeze, pt. 38 You've likely heard the name Dave Reichert. The Green River Killer case made him famous. He was a detective, and then the hero figure in a movie about it. Notoriety helped him become sheriff, and now Congressman. But memories also burden him. In tonight's Seattle Antifreeze - we show you an amazing place in Kent that helps him look forward. And it's just a stone's throw from the Green River itself. --------------- SCRIPT: For Dave Reichert, every visit with Barbara Drennen is a miracle swaddled in hope-- but also steeped in history. Reichert: "They tell you in the academy, don't get emotionally involved in your cases." The scars date back to the summer of 1982. Reichert: "But how can you not, right? And to the banks of this river. Reichert: "When there are 60 people killed?" And to the bodies they found. The green river killer zeroed in on prostitutes, runaways, homeless-- The discarded became his chosen. More than two-thirds of victims were younger than 20. Reichert: "If you had another detective who worked on the case in front of you, you'd see the same sort of emotion. Because we collected those bodies. And those memories don't go away." But some of those dark memories also brought him right here, to barabara drennen Reichert: "She just gives and gives and gives." She founded Pediatric Intensive Care Center - or PICC - to give a chance to babies from the same streets the killer hunted. Barbara Drennen: "They are our life." Babies delivered from the womb, into withdrawals. Her staff can safely navigate them through the tremors and trauma. Barbara's been doing it for more than three decades, and three thousand babies. Barbara: "Because I love children. I want to fight for their safety." Mothers like Edna Pinon Garcia get time to get treatment and turn things around. Edna Pinon Garcia: "He's my motivation. I want to be clean and sober and healthy for my baby boy." Other moms don't make it - but their babies do. Like Kelly McGinnis, believed to be one of Gary Ridgeway's victims. in 1982, she was a prostitute, a drug addict -- and a new mother Reichert: "And that baby was one of the first PICC babies." The baby was eventually adopted- and his mother's killer caught. Case closed, but not. Reichert: "Yeah, it was a tough case. It still gets to you, yep So Reichert turned his memories into a tool He wrote a book in 2004. PICC gets all the proceeds. Reichert: "They have hope and when you have hope, you can do anything!" You can build the foundation for a future, and a family. This old detective is proof Reichert: "For my family, my two grandkids, it's been a success story for us." These two PICC babies are now Reicherts, adopted by his daughter. Like Grandpa, they've shed a troubled past. And together, they tackle the future. Reichert: "You know, it's fun being a grandpa. laughs"

Posted by Monique Ming Laven on Friday, April 22, 2016