What the private eye knew

In a suburb of Portland, Oregon, everyone could feel the chill.  The disappearance of 13-year-old Miranda Gaddis was a sickening reminder of the way 12-year-old Ashley Pond vanished 2 months before.  Now, the FBI ramped up its investigation, and called in scores of agents. 

Soon more than 60 of them were working on the case. A true task force was assigned to find the answers about Ashley and Miranda.

Private investigator Linda O’Neal began to turn down other work to work on this case full time. It was a little crazy, maybe, given the size of the official investigation, but Linda felt a real family connection with Ashley. This was personal.

Keith Morrison, Dateline correspondent: What made you think that you could help solve this crime?

Linda O’Neal: Well, the FBI would say “We have no suspects, we have no crime scene, and we have no clues,” so it appeared that they needed a little help.

But where to start? Suspects were no problem, narrowing it down was.

Some on the list: A former neighbor on the wrong end of a restraining order taken out by an ex-girlfriend, Miranda’s father once convicted of abusing two minor girls. And that was just for starters. So Linda decided to start with a name she’d heard from Ashley’s aunt.

O’Neal: I asked, “Who are the people in Ashley’s life?” And she told me about Ward Weaver.

Ward Weaver as a neighbor, and a family friend, whose home was right next to the apartment complex in which Ashley and her mother lived. In fact, Weaver had been interviewed on television too…

Ward Weaver (TV footage):  That little girl took off, I wholeheartedly believe that.

Weaver did have a criminal record for assault, but it had been 16 years before. Now, he seemed like a hard-working single father raising a daughter Ashley’s age. And police had already checked out his alibi and sent several teams of officers and dogs to search his house and property. They found nothing. And after all, there were so many suspects.

Morrison: Why would Ward Weaver stand out in that group?

O’Neal: Because Ashley had complained that he had sexually molested her.

And yet, as Linda learned, those allegations had apparently been investigated. And no charges had been filed.

But she decided to run a computer check on Weaver and she was stunned!

O’Neal: I get this information Ward Weaver is on death row!

Morrison: Death row? But you’ve got ward weaver in your town!?

O’Neal: This fellow on death row for serial murder was Ward Weaver’s father!

Strange, but true: Weaver’s father had been on California's death row for two decades. But surely just having a father who was a killer wasn’t reason enough to suspect the son?

Was it?

Then, just about the time Linda was contemplating that question, a second private investigator offered to help: Harry Oakes. Oakes was a bit of a maverick who runs a for profit search and rescue center. And this is his partner was a 12-year-old pound rescued mutt named Valerie.

Many police departments don’t like him, says Oakes, and don’t use him. But in this case he waived his fee, did some background work, showed the dog some of Ashley’s clothing, and went to work.

Harry Oakes, private investigator: The track led from the apartment complex up the road, the staircase, to Ward’s property.

That name again.

Harry, with his Valerie now excited and on the chase, knocked at Weaver’s door and asked for permission to search the house.

Harry Oakes: He said, “I don’t have any problem with you searching, they’ve already brought in 7 different search dog teams. I have nothing to hide.” During the search of the house she gave me a death alert of Ashley’s scent in Ward’s hallway.

Morrison: Did Valerie alert anywhere else?

Oakes: Yes. When we went outside to the back area, there was a slab that had been poured.

Morrison: A concrete slab?

Oakes: A concrete slab. And where the slab met with the grass, the dirt where they came together, my dog was smelling Ashley’s scent coming out of there.

Morrison: Did you call 911?

Oakes: I made a report and turned it into Oregon City police department.

A record of Harry’s report shows it was indeed turned in to police on March 20^th, less than two weeks after Miranda disappeared.

Morrison: Was there any reaction from the police?

Oakes: They basically ignored us.

Morrison: What about the FBI?

Oakes: Ignored us.

But not long after, Harry’s report found its way to the desk of private eye Linda O’Neal.

Morrison: What did his report say to you as an investigator?

O’Neal: It said “red flag.”  His dog had alerted a death alert over a freshly poured concrete slab in our Ward Weaver’s backyard.

And something about that slab resonated with Linda: Remember, when she was digging into the background of Ward Weaver’s father, the serial killer on death row? She found out what he had done with one of his victims.

O’Neal: He buried her in the middle of his backyard. And then covered it with concrete.

Morrison: A concrete slab?

O’Neal: Yes.

And Linda’s suspicions were about to grow. Over the next few weeks, teachers, dance coaches, and even Weaver’s ex-wives would tell her stories of disturbing and inappropriate behavior. There was the teacher who saw Weaver drop off Ashley at school, and here was a man in his late 30s locked in a passionate kiss with 12-year-old Ashley. There was the family friend who said Ashley spent weeks at a time at Weaver’s house,  often sleeping in his bed, with him. There was the girlfriend who said that Weaver was angry with Miranda because she had been telling girls in the neighborhood to “Stay away from Weaver’s house, he might molest you.”

By June, Ashley now gone six months, and Miranda, three months. The story had hit the cover of People Magazine. But it seemed to reporters that the FBI wasn’t anywhere close to closing the case.

Jim Redden, reporter for Portland Tribune: It was very much [like], “We have a range of suspects, maybe six to eight different men. The entire impression I got was that they had not in fact, focused on any particular individual.”

The reporter didn’t know it, but he was about to play a key role in the case.

And Linda O’Neal says she was about to get the scare of her life, returning home one day to see her son working on his car with a stranger.

O’Neal: I came face to face with Ward Weaver.

Morrison: And he’s with your son?

O’Neal: He’s with my son.

Morrison: What did he say to you?

O’Neal: He said, “Kids are so naive aren’t they?” And I said, “Mr. Weaver, I don’t think that my family is any of your business.” And he said, “Ms. O’Neal, that’s what I came here to tell you.”

O’Neal: I dug out my gun and loaded it, and put it in my purse.

Morrison: Did you really think he might be capable of coming after you or your family?

O’Neal: I had thought he was capable of anything.

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