The Missing Girls: A Shocking True Story of Abduction and Murder (St. Martin's True Crime Library)

by Philip Tennyson, Linda O'Neal, Rick Watson

Book Overview

Ashley Pond was only twelve years old when she vanished from a school bus stop in a town south of Portland, Oregon. As a shocked community came together and police began a frantic search, another... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312941617
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: St. Martin's True Crime
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.7" x 1.0" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

I have not received this order! 09/09/2019

I have not received this order.

Poorly Written and NOT Really a "True Crime" book

This was not really a 'true crime' book in the strictest sense. I couldn't finish it because it focused too much on the daily life of one of the authors -- Linda O'Neal, who claims to be a private investigator as well as a 'step grandparent' of one of the victims. Maybe some people will find this interesting, but I don't read true crime books to hear about the flat tire you had, your familial relationships or the trials and tribulations of dealing with aging parents, etc., etc. Ms. O'Neal also seems more than a bit self aggrandizing, and much of the dialog sounds either sticky sweet (between her and her husband) or just completely unbelievable. I finally gave up and quit reading this book, once it was clear that it was almost exclusively about the author, rather than the crime, the victims, the murderer, trial, etc.

Very Disturbing -But A Great Read

This book was well-written and it gave good insight into the whole case of the murder of these two young girls,Miranda and Ashley. I read true crime often and I believe the best true crime stories present a solid background that explain things like family dynamics,environment,different types of social behaviors and things like that. The reason I say the book is disturbing is, of course the nature of the crime against these two children and how this evil man could do the things he did to them. Especially Ashley-someone needs to explain to me how her mother allowed her to go and live with this man, a man who eventually raped her and took her life. I also do NOT believe that a man as depraved as Weaver did not ever assault/molest his own daughter. I think she was scared to tell the truth-but it's either tell the truth and get counseling for what she endured-or suffer with the nightmares for the rest of her life. I just really hope the daughter got help, and as for Weaver I hope he got hell in prison.

I enjoyed this book....

no problems here, its a story that i enjoyed, a page turner but a different type of writting by this author.. not what iam use too but an excellent story overall....

GREAT BOOK !!

After much publicity of this story over the past few years and after watching the Dateline program into thin air recently I felt compelled to read this book. As a parent of two teenage girls it really hit home. I am not a usual reader of true crime stories but I found the book an easy read and found it hard to put down once I started reading and have read the book a number of times now. I really felt the frustration during the investigation and applaud the author and independent investigator Linda O'Neal for sticking to her guns and helping the FBI finally solve the case. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, especially parents of teenagers and those who like true crime stories. Well Done!

Important Reading For Parents

Crafted as an immediate, present-tense page turner of a murder mystery, this book puts in the hands of the American Family a read that is at once emotionally challenging and civilly important. It is a crucial piece of work to be read with urgency by concerned adults everywhere. The Epilogue alone is worth the price of admission, as it clearly spells out what we, as "a village," must be aware of and be proactively on top of, if we are to ever begin to stem the tide of this pandemic of child sexual abuse that grips our nation and keeps it from healing and moving forward as an enlightened society. The statistics in the Epilogue are shocking, staggering and drive home the point and purpose of the entire tome. This is a MUST READ for every socially-aware, caring, concerned and responsible parent of, legal guardian for, or custodial grandparent to a child--especially female. With this particular case, the abduction and murder of two pre-teen girls--friends and classmates--within two months of each other, from their mutual school bus stop in Oregon City, Oregon became the target of the national media's attention in 2002; a firestorm of media frenzy descended upon the surviving family members and the entire Oregon City community. The FBI and local law enforcement, although seemingly bringing their full prowess and resources to the cause, were in reality not even close to zeroing in on the right suspect. As the investigation bogged down to a grind and the reward fund(to date, still undisbursed by the FBI) began to grow, this book's principle author, a private investigator, was retained by the families of the missing girls. O'Neal's creativity, her humanity, her determination and talent for pursuing her intuition eventually focused enough of the media spotlight on the actual culprit that the FBI in order to save at least some face, was virtually forced by the community's public outcry to look at Ward Weaver more seriously... Eventually, the FBI came through with a search warrant, finding the two girls' bodies in Weaver's backyard and they followed through on their mandate by putting the dispicable Ward Weaver III behind bars for life. At long last, there was some manner of justice and closure in this tragic set of events. As tough as it was for me to read this book, and I have read and re-read it several times as a proofreader for the authors, Linda O'Neal being my closest personal friend for 40 years, I know in my soul how important this book is to us as a society. I generally tend to stick my head in the sand and pretend all is well with my neighbors and me, preferring not to think on such horrific realities as sexual abductions and murders of innocent children. But this book has a cosmic purpose to it; it sheds much needed light on a tragically all-too-common malady in this nation--the destruction of our young girls at the hands of male predators lurking virtually on EVERY street--often ignored, disregarded or accepted by good people