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The Girls in the Backyard: Killer Does TV Interview Standing on Top of Buried Victim

Teenagers Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis were kidnapped and murdered by a man who already had a long criminal history.

Rivy Lyon
6 min readMay 31, 2023
Miranda Diane Gaddis and Ashley Marie Pond. Facebook

Some names will forever be synonymous with evil. One such name is Ward Weaver, a man whose heinous acts left an imprint on all those he victimized. In January 2002, Ashley Pond, an innocent twelve-year-old girl, went missing while on her way to her bus stop near Weaver’s residence in Oregon City, Oregon.

Just two months later, Miranda Gaddis, a thirteen-year-old classmate and friend of Ashley’s, also disappeared under suspicious circumstances. The girls’ bodies would eventually be found in the most cruel and deceiving place: Weaver’s own backyard.

In a haunting TV news interview in July 2002, the murderer brazenly stood on top of the concrete slab that concealed the burial site of one of his victims.

Ward Weaver began his life as an abuser and sexual predator early on. He was born to a family troubled by criminality and dysfunction. Raised in an environment rife with violence and substance abuse, Weaver’s childhood laid the foundation for the dark path he would later embark upon.

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Rivy Lyon
Rivy Lyon

Written by Rivy Lyon

Investigative Journalist | Criminology, psychology & sociology B.A. | I’ve loved true crime since Forensic Files was Medical Detectives!

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