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CNN Live At Daybreak

Prosecutors in Oregon Plan to Go to Grand Jury

Aired August 27, 2002 - 05:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: No surprise here, prosecutors in Oregon plan to go to a grand jury with evidence linking Ward Weaver to the two Oregon girls whose bodies were found at his home.
CNN's Rusty Dornin looks at a community in grief.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was news no one wanted to hear, but everyone here knew it was coming.

CHIEF GORDON HUIRAS, OREGON CITY POLICE: The state medical examiner's office has advised that these remains have been identified through dental records as those of Ashley Pond.

DORNIN: The family of the other girl, Miranda Gaddis, heard the same grim news the day before.

TERRI DUFFEY, MIRANDA GADDIS' AUNT: I'm still waiting for her to pop through the door and say quit crying, I'm right here, you know? She's beautiful and she's wonderful and she's going to be in our hearts forever and I'm just sad that this happened.

DORNIN: Miranda's remains were found in a shed on Saturday. Then a search beneath a concrete slab turned up the body of Ashley Pond. But even before Pond's remains were identified, authorities were heading to court.

GREG HORNER, CLACKAMAS COUNTY CHIEF DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The Clackamas County district attorney's office will present evidence regarding the death of Miranda Gaddis and a yet to be identified set of human remains to a grand jury in the near future.

DORNIN: The district attorney's office is seeking an indictment of 39-year-old Ward Weaver. The bodies were found on property rented by Weaver. Neighbors have continuously pointed fingers at Weaver. Police said he wasn't a suspect months ago. Weaver claimed he was.

WARD WEAVER, SUSPECT: I mean 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.

DORNIN: Police said there was never enough evidence for a search warrant. Then, two weeks ago, a woman ran screaming from Weaver's house, claiming he tried to rape and strangle her. The woman was the girlfriend of Weaver's 19-year-old son. Weaver remains jailed on charges of rape. A search warrant in connection with the missing girls was issued on Friday.

Outside Weaver's house, a fence meant to keep people away from the search became a place to hang symbols of pain and grieving. But for Jennifer Alvarado, the next door neighbor of victim Miranda Gaddis, there was another, more powerful emotion.

JENNIFER ALVARADO, NEIGHBOR: I really am. I'm really angry that it took this long. I understand all the red tape and I understand what the police had to go through, but I think it took too long.

DORNIN: Not so quick to judge police was Miranda's grandfather.

WESLEY DUFFEY, MIRANDA'S GRANDFATHER: I know for a fact that if they do it and do it wrong that whatever they find is useless to them. So I have a lot of confidence in them. And they say they took the time they needed and did it right and I believe that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That report from CNN's Rusty Dornin.

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