Remains Found in FBI Search for Oregon Girls

Human remains were found Saturday in a shed behind the Oregon home of Ward Weaver, a toolmaker with a history of violence toward women. The discovery was as heartbreaking as it was gruesome.

Weaver has said he is the prime suspect in the disappearance of Ashley Pond, 12, and Miranda Gaddis, 13, who vanished this winter in Oregon City and remain missing. Before announcing the discovery of remains, FBI officials called the girls’ mothers with the news.

It was unclear how long the remains had been in the shed, said Charles Mathews, special agent in charge of Oregon’s FBI office. He said they had been handed over to a medical examiner who will need several days to make an identification.

The search began at 10:30 a.m. Saturday with 40 FBI investigators and a team of dogs. Mathews said the search would continue today, with special focus on a concrete slab that Weaver apparently installed in his backyard during the last few months.

“The primary focus has been on the shed,” he said Saturday evening. “But the large saws have arrived, and we’ll start on the slab.”

Weaver’s 1,200-square-foot rented home sits next to the apartment complex where Ashley and Miranda lived, and relatives say Ashley attended slumber parties at Weaver’s house with his teenage daughter.

The 39-year-old Weaver has denied he played any role in the girls’ disappearances. But his criminal history has not reassured family members, who were already suspicious of him.

He has served time in California for bashing his son’s baby-sitter with a 12-pound concrete chunk, and both of his ex-wives have filed restraining orders against him. One alleged that he beat her with a frying pan and threatened to kill her.

On Jan. 9, Ashley failed to show up at the bus stop for school, and Miranda and the rest of the community rallied to raise awareness about her disappearance. Then, on March 8, Miranda never showed up at school.

Their disappearances spurred several jittery residents of the apartment complex to move for fear of a serial kidnapper.

The search for Ashley and Miranda had all but stalled this summer until Weaver was arrested Aug. 13 for the alleged rape of his son’s 19-year-old girlfriend. According to the Oregonian, his son told authorities during a 911 call that Weaver had admitted he killed both girls.

Earlier this month, as Weaver sat in jail on the rape charge, Ashley’s stepmother took the opportunity to snoop around his backyard. Like most of the family members, Mary Campobosso had heard the rumors that Weaver had recently installed a cement slab.

“I went to the backyard to check it out and became so infuriated,” Campobosso said.

Last week, she taped a huge sign to the concrete slab that said “DIG ME UP!”

On Saturday, Campobosso stayed glued to the television during the search. “I’m just watching the minute-by-minute and just waiting,” she said. “I’m very anxious. I have a flock of feelings colliding right now.”

After learning that human remains were found, she broke into tears.

Weaver remains in jail on $1 million bail on the rape charge. He pleaded not guilty, and his trial is scheduled to begin in October.