Man Angry About Missing Oregon Girls Probe

ByABC News via logo
July 9, 2002, 8:40 AM

July 9 -- A neighbor of two missing Oregon City, Ore., girls said today that he is the FBI's prime suspect in the case and he is angry about the way the investigation is being carried out.

Ward Weaver, 39, told ABCNEWS' Good Morning America that the FBI and the Oregon City police leaked his name to the media and told his neighbors that he is their prime suspect, even though they have not officially called him a suspect.

"They have come around, searched, brought the dogs in. I have willingly let them do that. They asked for a polygraph. I did that. The problem isn't coming with me or what they are doing with me personally. The problems are coming with what they are doing as far as questions that are being asked of my family," Weaver said.

He said his children have been questioned without his permission, and the parents of one of his daughter's friends were warned not to let their child spend the night at Weaver's home or she might "be next."

"So they have a job to do, but they have boundaries they are not allowed to step over," he said.

Weaver lives near the apartment complex where Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis, the two 13-year-olds who have been missing for months, both live. Weaver's daughter, Mallori, was also friends with both Ashley and Miranda, he said.

The two girls were last seen early in the morning before they left for school, and investigators have said that they believe the same person or persons are likely responsible for both disappearances.

Weaver admitted that investigators have reasons to look at him as a potential suspect, aside from the fact that he knew both girls and lived nearby.

His father is on death row in California and Weaver himself was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in 1986. He was also one of a number of men a little girl once accused of molesting her.

"They are looking at me and I have no problem with them looking at me," he said.

There is also the fact, Weaver said, that he failed a polygraph test but he said he didn't just fail the questions about the two girls' disappearance, he also failed personal questions such as where he was born.