Exposing Harry Oakes International K-9 Search and Rescue

The unidentified Jane Doe - a long one!

Harry Oakes claims to have found a “third unidentified body” during his search around Weaver’s home after Ashley Pond & Miranda Gaddis were taken in 2002. He states in his book, “I’m convinced the third victim was killed by Ward Weaver and or his son.”

Harry claims that after he was done searching Weaver’s property, he “wanted to continue (his) search to see if there were more victims than just the two that we already located” (direct quote from book/report) so he came back the next day for more searching. This is reported in his book/report as occurring on 3/17/2002 & he reported finding the “third unidentified body” on 3/20/2002.

When Harry says “third unidentified body,” what he really means is “two FRESH femur bones” (direct quote from book/report) and 2 strands of human hair. He states he turned these in to the local law enforcement but they did not care nor credit him for his discovery. I wonder why he calls this person Jane Doe if only 2 femur bones were found..

Incidentally, between 4/21/02-4/23/02, local newspapers reported of discovered skeletal human remains found by volunteers searching the area for evidence related to the disappearance of Ashley Pond & Miranda Gaddis. They quickly announced the remains had been there for 1-2 years, were unrelated to Ashley/Miranda, and a separate investigation would be launched. Sadly, despite an investigation by police including dna analysis and several potential leads/witnesses cooperating with the investigation, this person remains listed on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) as an unidentified person.

According to official public record of that investigation, on 4/20/2002, near complete skeletal human remains were found by volunteer searchers looking for evidence related to Ashley Pond & Miranda Gaddis. These volunteer searchers were identified by full name as witnesses. Several officers & volunteers returned to the area on 4/21/02 to retrieve the remains and search for related evidence. These additional volunteer searchers were also identified by full name. The public record police case file for this incident is 88 pages long and includes reports from several agencies.

If Harry had found human remains (two femur bones) and turned them into police as he states, why is there no case number or investigation with the police department? If he found only two femur bones, how did he find out it was a Jane Doe? Why isn’t this Jane Doe listed on the National Unidentified Persons System?
If the two bones Harry claims to have discovered were in some way related to the remains found on 4/20/02, why wasn’t Harry named as a witness, nor any details of the bones being turned in to police reported in their extensive investigation? If the bones Harry discovered were unrelated, why wouldn’t there be a case number or investigation, if the the police thoroughly investigated the remains found on 4/20/02? Is it believable that police would investigate one set of remains, but not the femurs Harry claims to have found just one month prior in the same area? Why didn’t Harry leave the remains where they were found and call police in to investigate a potential crime scene, as the other witnesses had when they discovered the remains on 4/20/02? Questions that make you go “hmm…”

Here are a few screenshots of Harry’s statements related to the “third unidentified body,” as well as the first 2 pages of the case file related to the John Doe found on 4/20/02. Although this is public information, the private information of the witnesses who discovered the remains have been redacted out of respect for their privacy. If there is any interest to read the full report, I can upload the remaining 86 pages and link it in the comments below.

(Link to blog to find the first screenshot, the rest are either from one of Harry’s public facebooks or his book)
http://findingmissingpersons.blogspot.com/2013/02/finding-missing-people-with-search-dogs.html?m=1

One of Harry Oakes’ favorite claims to fame is that he discovered the bodies of Ashley Pond, Miranda Gaddis, and a third unidentified Jane Doe in March of 2002.

Harry likes to use this NBC article as proof/creditability for his claims. The article also interviews author/private investigator Linda O’Neal regarding her book she wrote on the case (which is also heavily criticized). What’s interesting is Linda’s book has a completely different account of what supposedly happened when Harry Oakes searched Ward Weaver’s property in 2002. The book says Ashley’s family gave kneehigh socks as a scent article. Harry’s official report states it was a pillow case and backpack of Ashley’s he used. Not to mention, the article & the book never mentions Harry searching the shed. That detail has been added over time… Hmm, interesting.

As it turns out, Harry Oakes himself has shared several different versions of what he claimed happened in March 2002. Some versions, there is no mention of the death alert in the hallway. Some versions, he states the dog alerted to the freezer and that’s where he reported Miranda was (not the shed). Here are a few screenshots of those variations…

As for the unidentified Jane Doe that he also has claimed to have discovered during this time; this is certainly another lie; more to come on that later!

(Link to referenced article):
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/wbna11065622

(Link Harry’s blog from his website with one of the different version of events; posted 07/2009)
http://k9sardog.blogspot.com/2009/07/facebook-harry-oakes.html?m=1

(Linda O’Neal’s book)
https://books.google.com/books?id=H1Y_mzgJ_2cC&pg=PA53&lpg=PA53&dq=%22harry+oakes%22+lori+pond&source=bl&ots=x9XcWi95qT&sig=ACfU3U3TD2UTtVI-LHoZEUy_3twHLXgCcw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj88vzWlrz-AhVgITQIHTyRBaA4FBDoAXoECAIQAg =onepage&q=%22harry%20oakes%22%20lori%20pond&f=false