08/26/2002

By ABE ESTIMADA, kgw.com Staff

A body found in a barrel behind Ward Weaver's rental home In Oregon City has been identifed as Ashley Pond, authorities said Monday evening.

The barrel, found Sunday, was buried under a concrete slab behind the rented home of Weaver, who is suspected in the girls' disappearances, police said.

Earlier Monday, the Clackamas County District Attorney's Office said it would seek an indictment against Weaver.

Evidence in connection with the deaths of Ashley and Miranda will be presented to a Clackamas County grand jury sometime in the "near future," said Clackamas County chief deputy district attorney Greg Horner.

Clackamas County Chief Deputy District Attorney Greg Horner announces that evidence gathered at Ward Weaver's house will be sent to a grand jury. (KGW Photo)

“The timeline on that has not been determined yet,” Horner said about presenting evidence to the grand jury. “It’s dependent on the processing of evidence and the preparation of our case.”

Horner said it would be "premature" to speculate on whether his office will seek the death penalty against Weaver.

Tim Lyons, Weaver's attorney, said "we expected this."

"We are going to await the return of the indictment and see what the charges are and proceed from there," he told the Associated Press.

Asked why it took a long time to obtain a search warrant of Weaver's yard, Horner said “we wanted to make sure that any action by legal authority, by law enforcement authorities was legally valid.”

Ashley Pond. (KGW Photo)

The disappearances of Ashley and Miranda captured national attention and launched a months-long investigation that spanned parts of rural Oregon and southwest Washington.

Ashley disappeared January 9; Miranda vanished on March 8. Both girls went missing on their way to school.

Miranda Gaddis. (KGW Photo)

Weaver, who was arrested two weeks ago on an unrelated rape charge, sits in isolation and is on suicide watch at the Clackamas County Jail in Oregon City. A jailhouse camera is trained on Weaver, and jailers check on him every 15 minutes.

Investigators were close to finishing their search Monday afternoon for evidence inside and outside an Oregon City rental house where Weaver resided. If need be, investigators may come back Tuesday to complete their work. Weaver's home is up the street from the Newell Creek apartments where the girls lived.

Investigators pull a barrel from the tent. A second set of remains was found in one of three barrels underneath a slab of concrete. (KGW Photo)

Authorities on Saturday found Miranda’s corpse in a rusted shed behind Weaver’s house; they found Ashley's body in a barrel sunk below a concrete slab in Weaver's backyard on Sunday. How both girls died is still being determined.

Search of Weaver’s House

The FBI would not say if investigators found anything belonging to Ashley and Miranda inside the house.

“We will not discuss any particular evidence that may or may not have been found at this point,” FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele said. “That will come out in court hearings, I’m sure.”

Investigators used a custom-made, ground penetrating radar device on Monday to scan the yard around the house, looking for clues buried underneath.

Two members of an FBI evidence gathering team use a ground penetration radar device to search the backyard of the home of Ward Weaver. (AP Photo)

“They’re looking for voids where there shouldn’t be voids,” Steele said. “They’re looking for objects where there shouldn’t be objects.”

A backhoe was used to dig up areas of interest in the yard, and investigators used shovels and pick axes to look for clues.

Except for rocks, rusted metal stakes, and three more broken barrels that contained nothing more than dirt, the search Monday morning yielded nothing of significance.

Flowers and a sign hang on a fence surrounding the house of Ward Weaver as FBI and police investigate the property Sunday. (AP Photo)

“(Investigators) are going about it slowly and meticulously to make sure that everything is covered, every piece of evidence is processed in the most efficient way (and) also in the most thorough way,” Steele said.

Tents continued to cover the concrete slab and shed where the remains were found.

Another investigator sifted through dirt just outside the tent covering the concrete slab, putting whatever evidence they found in plastic bags.

Suspect Ward Weaver

The Oregon City missing girl cases had frustrated police and the FBI, who were left with little or no evidence of the girls’ disappearances.

From the beginning, FBI agents have said that they believe the same person kidnapped both girls, that he lived close by, and that he was probably a middle-aged, white male.

Authorities seemingly caught a break on Aug. 13, when Weaver was arrested for allegedly raping his son’s fiancé. A distraught Francis Weaver, Weaver’s son, called 911 dispatchers and said his father told him that he had raped and killed the two girls.

Ward Weaver is escorted to jail last week. (KGW Photo)

Weaver had earlier told the media that the FBI believed he was the prime suspect. He denied any involvement in their disappearances and speculated that Pond probably ran away.

But suspicions continued to swirl around Weaver.

Weaver’s daughter was best friends with Ashley. Relatives and friends of Ashley said Weaver had an unusual, if not inappropriate, interest in the girl. At one time, Ashley had accused Weaver of sexually molesting her. Charges were never filed against him, though.

Weaver told reporters he had failed a polygraph test.

Searchers with police dogs scoured local campgrounds that had been frequented by Weaver.

After his arrest, the missing girls’ families and those who knew Weaver urged investigators to dig up the concrete slab. Weaver maintains the concrete was the base for a hot tub he was installing.

Weaver also told relatives that he was planning to move out of state or even to Mexico very soon.

Weekend Developments

Citing an anonymous source, the Portland Tribune newspaper said Sunday in a statement that Ward Weaver had provided information about the whereabouts of the girls’ bodies. FBI officials deny the statement.

Horner, the Clackamas County prosecutor, said Weaver gave his consent for the house search, which began beginning Saturday. He would not comment on whether Weaver had confessed to the crimes.

“I’m not going to comment on any statements between Mr. Weaver and his lawyer,” Horner said.

The FBI and other authorities erected a fence around Weaver’s house on Friday night. On Saturday, they began their search and found Miranda’s corpse.

Investigators sawed and pounded through the concrete slab late Saturday evening. They found three barrels buried underneath. One of the barrels contained a second set of human remains.

What little hope was left of finding the missing Oregon City girls alive was dashed Sunday afternoon. Overnight, the fence that surrounded Weaver’s house became an impromptu memorial decorated with flowers, candles, balloons, teddy bears and notes of well wishes.

“Any hope that we had that might be there was gone,” said Terri Duffey, Miranda's aunt. “And it was (a) terribly horrifying experience. Even with family there, it was just horrifying. I don’t know how to put it into words.”