Human remains found at prime suspect’s home

THE FBI uncovered human remains on Saturday in an outbuilding behind the house of Ward Weaver, the self-described No. 1 suspect in the case of two missing girls who lived across the street, officials said.

The remains of one person were found hidden in a shed, Charlie Mathews, special agent at the FBI’s Portland office, said. Teams continued to look under a concrete slab directly behind the house for more remains, Agent Mathews said.

Police Chief Gordon Huiras said the body had been turned over to the medical examiner and had not been identified.

The FBI began searching Weaver’s property on Saturday, involving crime reconstruction teams and digging equipment.

Weaver, a 39-year-old single father who knew Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis, was evicted from the single-story house after his arrest on

August 13 on charges he raped his son’s 19-year-old girlfriend. He was in jail on $1million bail; he has not been charged in the twin vanishings.

On the night of the alleged rape, his angry and distraught son told 911 dispatchers that his father had confessed to killing Ashley and Miranda.

Weaver has pleaded innocent to the charge and denied any involvement in the girls’ disappearances.

The two 13-year-old friends lived in the same apartment complex near Weaver’s home, a low-income development tucked into a wooded valley south of Portland. They vanished within two months of each other in winter.

After the second disappearance, investigators interviewed residents at the complex, went on national television with appeals for information, and passed out fliers with pictures of the missing girls.

The FBI received thousands of tips, but were unable to narrow it down to a single suspect. Several men, including Weaver, said they were given lie-detector tests.

Ashley disappeared on January 9. She was last seen eating breakfast with her younger sister and was to walk about eight minutes to a bus stop near Weaver’s home.

Michelle Duffey, Miranda’s mother, last saw her daughter eating breakfast on March 8.

Linda Beloof, an attorney representing the girls’ mothers, said the women did not want to talk with the media.

Ashley, a friend of Weaver’s daughter, Mallori, had been a frequent guest at the house; for several months in 2001 she lived there while her own father was in jail on charges of abusing her.

Miranda also knew Weaver’s daughter and visited his home, but stayed overnight only a few times.