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in: Oregon, 2002, Disappearances,
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Miranda Gaddis and Ashley Pond

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0233-Pond-Gaddis

Ashley Pond (left) and Miranda Gaddis (right)

Real Names: Miranda Diane Gaddis and Ashley Marie Pond
Nicknames: No known nicknames
Location: Oregon City, Oregon
Date: January 9, 2002 (Ashley)/March 8, 2002 (Miranda)

Bio

Date of Birth: November 18, 1988 (Miranda), March 1, 1989 (Ashley)
Height: 5’3” (Pond), 5’4” (Gaddis)
Weight: Unrevealed
Marital Status: Single
Characteristics: Caucasian females with brown eyes and pierced ears. Pond was a brunette, while Gaddis was a blonde.

Case

Details: Lori Pond and her twelve-year-old daughter, Ashley, lived in the Newell Creek Village Apartment Complex in Oregon City, Oregon. On January 9, 2002, Ashley was running late to school; it was a little after 8am and the bus was minutes away. The walk up the hill to the bus stop took less than ten minutes. She was a popular student and a member of both the swimming and dance teams. On that day, she was looking forward to going to dance practice after school. Lori expected to hear from her at around 6:15pm, but when she didn't, she became worried and called the school. She found out that she had not been there that day.
Lori called the police and reported Ashley missing. She told them that none of her clothes or belongings were missing and that she did not believe she ran away. Authorities agreed and believed that she was likely abducted. Detectives learned from her classmates that she never got on the bus. They canvassed the neighborhood and surrounding woods, searched her Internet activity, ran a background check on her father, and found no leads despite assistance from the FBI.
Meanwhile, thirteen-year-old Miranda Gaddis, Ashley's neighbor, dance teammate, and close friend, found herself in the center of the investigation. On March 8, 2002, her mother, Michelle Duffey, left for work at 7:30am. Authorities believe that she left at around 8am and went up the hill to the bus stop. At around 1:20pm, her older sister called Michelle and told her that she had not been at school that day. Michelle called the school and found out that she was indeed absent.
Michelle reported Miranda missing and the FBI was called in to investigate again. The circumstances surrounding her disappearance and presumed abduction were eerily similar to Ashley's two months earlier. There was also a striking resemblance between them. Both had similar facial features, height, weight, brown eyes, and went up the same hill to the same bus stop.
Authorities believe that a stranger may have abducted Ashley and Miranda on their way there. However, without an apparent crime scene or physical evidence, authorities began to investigate the possibility that they were taken by someone that they knew. Since their disappearances, students are picked up from their homes instead of bus stops. However, the residents of the Newell Creek Village Apartment Complex, along with the rest of Oregon City, are still on edge. They are terrified that a child abductor and possible serial killer walks among them. Ashley's and Miranda's parents hope that they will be found one day.
Suspects: None known; authorities are not sure if Ashley and Miranda were abducted by someone they knew or a stranger. Lori and Michelle do not believe that they would have gone with a stranger, so they believe that they were abducted by someone they knew and trusted.
Extra Notes:

  • This case first aired on the September 20, 2002 episode.
  • It was also profiled on America’s Most Wanted during the investigation and documented on Evil Kin and People Magazine Investigates after it was resolved.
  • It was the final one to be profiled on the original series with Robert Stack.
Wardweaver

Ward Weaver

Results: Solved. On Saturday, August 24, 2002, human remains were found in a shed behind the rented home of thirty-nine-year-old Ward Weaver, who lived down the street from the Newell Creek Village Apartment Complex. An autopsy confirmed that they were Miranda's. Two days later, a second set of remains were located in a barrel under a suspicious concrete slab on his property. They were identified as Ashley's the following Sunday.
Weaver was first arrested on August 13 on an unrelated rape charge; the victim was his son's girlfriend. His son had called 911 about her, but he also told dispatchers that Weaver had killed Ashley and Miranda. Authorities discovered that Ashley was his daughter's friend. A year before her and Miranda's disappearances, she had accused him of molesting her.
Soon after the discovery of Ashley and Miranda's remains, Weaver was charged with their murders. He later confessed to their rape and murders, pleaded guilty, and is now serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Horrifyingly, his father and stepson are also convicted murderers.
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