Detectives first talked with some of Ashley’s classmates and learned she had never gotten on the bus. Next, police canvassed the entire apartment complex – looking for leads or possible suspects. They found neither. The search expanded. Hundreds of volunteers combed the surrounding area – while detectives questioned Lori’s ex-husband, looked into Ashley’s internet activity and checked out lists of known sex offenders. Again, no clues or suspects. Detectives contacted the FBI, who moved to the larger community around the apartment complex talking to friends, teachers and administrators. But they found only more dead-ends. And still the same fundamental question remained unanswered: What had happened to Ashley Pond between 8:05 a.m. and 8:15 a.m.?

Meanwhile, 13-year-old Miranda Gaddis – Ashley’s neighbor and dance teammate – found herself in the middle of the intense investigation. Days turned to weeks and still no sign of Ashley Pond surfaced. Three months later, life at the apartment complex became somewhat normal again. On March 8th, 2002, Michelle Duffey, Miranda’s mom, packed up for work at 7:30 a.m. Miranda, was in no hurry – she still had 45 minutes before the school bus arrived. Police believe Miranda left her apartment a little after 8:00 a.m. and headed up the hill for the bus stop.

At 1:20 that afternoon, Michelle’s oldest daughter called her mother and said Miranda's friends reported that Miranda was not at school. When Michelle phoned the school she learned that Miranda was noted as absent that day. Michelle went to the police station and reported her daughter missing. The FBI was again contacted and a full-scale investigation began immediately.

The circumstances surrounding Miranda’s disappearance on March 8th, 2002 were eerily similar to those of Ashley Pond two months earlier. Even more ominous was the striking resemblance between the two girls. They are about the same height and weight and both have brown eyes. Like Ashley, Miranda usually took the road up the hill to catch the bus. Had the two girls been snatched by a stranger on the way? It was certainly plausible, but the mothers of the two girls found it highly unlikely saying that both girls would have made a fuss if somebody had tried to take them that they did not know.

Without an apparent crime scene, police began to focus on the possibility that the girls were taken by someone they knew. Since the disappearance of Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis, the school bus now picks up students right outside their doors. However, residents of Newell Creek Village Apartments – indeed all of Oregon City – remain on edge, terrified that a child abductor walks among them. Investigators have processed over 3,500 tips but still have no suspects. However, the search continues for any lead that might help crack these puzzling cases. Meanwhile, two hard-working, single mothers suffer through every parent’s nightmare – and try their best to remain hopeful.

UPDATE: On Saturday, August 24, 2002, remains were found in a shed behind the rented home of Ward Weaver, a 39-year old man who lived down the road from the Newell Creek Village Apartment complex. An autopsy was conducted on Monday, August 26, and the remains were identified as that of 13-year-old Miranda Gaddis.

That same day, a medical examiner began examining a second corpse - found by investigators Sunday in a barrel buried under a concrete slab at Weaver's home. The body was later determined to be that of Ashley Pond, who was 12 when she disappeared.

Ward Weaver pled guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.