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Wednesday, April 24,2002
http://depts.clackamas.cc.or.us/print
Clackamas Community College_______ Oregon City, Oregon
Volume XXXV, Issue 20
No solid leads in missing girls case;
web sites busy with new information
Design Editor
More time has gone by,
and still the authorities have no
solid leads as to the whereabouts
of Ashley Pond and Miranda
Gaddis, who both disappeared
from Newell Creek Apartments
under similar circumstances.
However,
users
at
findmiranda.com
and
findashley.com have not given up
hope. In fact, they are working
harder than ever to bring the two
girls home.
Every day there is a new
update to the forum offering new
tips, ideas and just a place to talk.
PC Projex based in Molalla
maintains the site.
Billy
Crabtree from PC Projex has
been one of the main persons in
volved in helping to keep this site
maintained, adding any new in
formation or tips forwarded to
the proper authorities. Both sites
have a lot of the same informa
tion copied over and to this day
have had more than 38,000 visi
tors.
More billboards have been
popping up, but less updates in
the mèdia follow. In an outpour
ing of community support the
users on the site have banded to
gether to keep everyone who logs
on updated on the who’s and
what’s in the cases.
Taco Time in Estacada
held a fundraiser from 4-9 p.m.
on April 22; 50 percent of the
sales will go to the families. A
rummage sale was held April 13-
14 and raised over $2,647 for the
families. On April 27, there will
be a Pancake Feed from 8-11
a.m. at the Oregon City Christian
Church at Ninth and Monroe.
Thè users on the forum
will also be initiating searches of
Oregon City and outlying areas.
The first one was held April 20
and will continue bi-weekly from
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The searches
are tentatively set to begin from
Dale’s Auto Wrecking Yard on
Molalla Avenue. The first search
began from a connecting access
road behind the complex and
yielded a human skull. Questions
have been flying since the dis
covery with many wondering
how the authorities could have
missed this if they searched ev
erywhere. No answers had been
given at press time.
“The investigators do talk
with the families and allow them
to do searches if they want to,”
said Steele.
Aerial photo of the Newell Creek Apartment complex (in box) and the surrounding area in Oregon City. Searchers have combed
through this area several times in the last few weeks in the hopes of finding the whereabouts of Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis. The
girls, who live in the Newell Creek Apartments, are still missing, Pond since Jan. 9 and Gaddis since March 8. The FBI has received
about 2,800 tips on the case, which continues to baffle investigators.
The mission is clear:
search for and try to locate the
missing girls whose kidnappings
have consumed the community
and the families with an outpour
ing of support and aid that will
hopefully bring the girls home
safe and sound.
Tips are coming in from all
over the United States. Help has
come in all shapes and sizes, and.
well wishes for Gaddis’ and
Pond’s mothers have been going
strong. People on the site have
even tried enlisting the aid of
well-known psychic, Sylvia
Browne. She was unavailable to
offer her services due to conflict
ing schedules, but her son may
be looking at this case, thanks to
a generous donation by a user in
California. Currently, a psychic
based in Lake Oswego, Laurie
McQuary, may be offering her
help.
Some of the people on the
site are like angels who fly in at
night and then disappear myste
riously, posting to the site or
making a show of support with
donations or great ideas to help
aid the search for Gaddis and
Pond. Their true identities are
hidden under user names with no
real profile or personal informa
tion— just people all trying to
help. One of the users who came
on line offered her services
merely as a Good Samaritan.
A woman, whom we will
simply call “Car” (her nickname)
to protect her identity from
people who may not believe in
what she does, has been on the
See MISSING, page 3
SALENA DE LA CRUZ / Clackamas Print
A view from the rear of the Newell Creek Apartments, where two
teenage girls have disappeared in the last three months. A
search of the area last weekend turned up a human skull that
does not appear to be related to the case.