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CNN Live At Daybreak
Officials ID Girl's Remains
Aired August 26, 2002 - 06:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: No happy ending in Oregon this morning, but at least the search is all but over. After months of investigation, police get the break they've been looking for in the case of two missing teenage girls. Remains are found, and one set is positively identified.
CNN's Lilian Kim joins us live from Oregon City, Oregon, with the latest.
Good morning.
LILIAN KIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
The property behind me is where investigators found two sets of human remains. For the people who live in this area, the discoveries came as quite a shock. Many were still holding out hope that the two 13-year-old girls were still alive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHARLES MATHEWS, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: The Oregon State medical examiner has positively identified the remains discovered yesterday as the body of Miranda Gaddis.
KIM (voice-over): Sunday's announcement stunned this Oregon community. Dental records confirming that the human remains found in a shed outside this Oregon City home are those of Miranda Gaddis. The 13-year-old disappeared in March, just two months after her friend, Ashley Pond, was reported missing.
MATHEWS: The cause of death won't be officially determined until other laboratory results are attained.
KIM: The home is rented by Ward Weaver, who knew the girls through his daughter. Investigators are now working to identify a second set of human remains.
The body was found Sunday in a barrel underneath a concrete slab on the property. Weaver has long denied any involvement in the girls' disappearance.
WARD WEAVER, SUSPECT: I had a lot of contact with both girls, you know, so I expect to be looked at and, you know, questioned and background checks and that kind of thing. You know, I've got no problem with any of that.
KIM: As investigators continue to search Weaver's property, a makeshift memorial outside the home grows larger. Friends, relatives, even strangers leaving notes and flowers in memory of the two girls.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KIM: Ward Weaver is currently behind bars for an unrelated rape charge. He's accused of raping his 19-year-old son's girlfriend. Weaver is being held on $1 million bond.
Reporting live from Oregon City, Oregon, I'm Lilian Kim.
Carol -- back to you.
COSTELLO: So many questions attached to this case. For instance, neighbors and family have been urging the FBI to search to Ward Weaver's property again for months now. Why didn't they?
KIM: There has been a lot of criticism being thrown at investigators, but they defended themselves yesterday, saying they always wanted to search this property, but they didn't have the legal authority. The Oregon City police chief said that there are certain provisions in the Constitution that prevent people from entering a property. So they were waiting to get legal clearance, and it wasn't until Friday that they had that legal authority to search the property.
But Miranda Gaddis' mother yesterday, through her lawyer, said that she does not hold any grudges. She has complete confidence in the FBI and the Oregon City Police Department.
COSTELLO: All right, Lilian Kim, thanks for that live report, and we'll be talking more about this case in the next half-hour on CNN DAYBREAK.
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