Second missing Oregon girl identified

The remains of two missing Oregon girls, Miranda Gaddis, left, and Ashley Pond, have been identified.

OREGON CITY, Oregon (CNN) -- Authorities confirmed Monday that a second set of remains found on the property of Ward Weaver belong to Ashley Pond, a young girl missing since January 9.

Her remains were found Sunday in a barrel buried beneath a concrete slab on the property of Weaver, 39, who is in jail on unrelated rape charges. Ashley, who would now be 13, was 12 when she vanished.

One day earlier, the remains of Ashley's friend, 13-year-old Miranda Gaddis, were found in a shed behind Weaver's house. She was last seen March 8 as she ate breakfast before school.

The two girls were neighbors of Weaver.

CNN NewsPass Video    •  Westerfield case enters sentence phase  MORE STORIES   •  Body of missing girl's father exhumed   •  More arrests in California boy's kidnap   •  Ricci's widow: Police had the wrong man   •  Smart's dad: More than one person took daughter  RESOURCES   •  Gallery: Technology to keep children safe   •  Safety experts offer tips   •  Facts: Missing children   •  Gallery: Recent missing youngster cases   •  AMBER Alert System  EXTRA INFORMATION   •  TIME.com: Keeping your children safe   •  National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

Greg Horner, Clackamas County chief deputy district attorney, said his office was preparing to present evidence in the deaths of the two girls to a grand jury "in the near future," as required by Oregon law for a felony indictment.

He said there is still "a great deal of evidence" to be examined and "many witnesses" who need to be contacted. "As a result, a time line for presenting evidence to a grand jury has not been determined."

Weaver was arrested this month on unrelated charges of raping his son's 19-year-old girlfriend and is in the Clackamas County jail on $1 million bail.

He has called himself the prime suspect in the girls' disappearances but has denied any involvement.

Miranda's aunt, Terry Duffey, said her niece would have trusted Weaver, whose daughter was friends with both girls. He often gave Miranda and Ashley rides to school.

"If he would have said that his daughter was hurt, or any number of things to get her in his car or in his house, she probably went ahead and went," Duffey said.

Duffey said the family was slowly beginning to believe Weaver might be guilty, based on the weekend's findings. But, she said, "We don't know what evidence they have against him."

Weaver's former wife, Kristi Sloan, said "there's no doubt" in her mind her ex-husband is guilty of killing the two girls.

Sloan, who said she told the FBI months ago to investigate Weaver in the case, said she was "disgusted and frustrated" that the search took this long to begin.

Sloan said her suspicions were raised when Weaver poured the concrete slab in the middle of the night in the middle of winter and claimed it was for a hot tub he never built.

"If only people would have listened to me five months ago and try to understand why I was so frustrated and why I was trying to get the attention on him," Sloan told CNN.

"It's not because I'm an ex-wife and because I have hate against him. When the first remains were found, I was hysterical."

Weaver's own father is on death row in California, convicted of killing a woman and burying her under a concrete slab, and for another murder.

Attempts to contact Ward Weaver were unsuccessful. According to his attorney, Weaver gave authorities permission for a search to give the girls' families "closure."

FBI and police began an intensive search Saturday of Weaver's rented home, which is near an apartment complex where the girls lived.

FBI investigators continued to search the house and property Monday using a custom-made, ground-penetrating radar system to detect "anomalies," said FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele.

But the pace of the search was slowed by the yard's heavy clay soil, numerous rocks and gopher holes, she said.

"They just want to clear the area and confirm there's no other evidence or things we need in the ground," Steele said. "[So far] they haven't had any major finds."

Steele also answered questions about what the FBI plans to do with the fence investigators erected around the property Friday when they began searching.

The chain-link fence has become a makeshift memorial to the girls, replete with flowers, cards, balloons, and teddy bears.

"It's certainly important to keep it up for the community," Steele said. "It's important for the families, and there is definitely a conscious effort to keep it up as long as we need to."

Linda Beloof, an attorney for the girls' mothers, said her clients were both in seclusion.

Miranda Gaddis' family reads tributes to the two girls left at a makeshift memorial.

"They are asking all members of the media not to contact them, to give them their privacy," Beloof said.

"They also would like to thank the community both locally here and nationally for all the support that they have received over the last few months."

Oregon City Police Chief Gordon Huiras fended off questions about why investigators did not probe Weaver's property sooner.

"We got onto this property just as soon as we legally could," Huiras said.