OREGON CITY, Ore., March 20 (UPI) -- Authorities Wednesday announced rewards totaling $60,000 and a released detailed list of the clothing that two missing Oregon girls were last seen wearing in hopes of jogging the memories of potential witnesses who may have seen something on the days they disappeared.
Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis, both 13, were dressed in blue jeans, sweatshirts and white tennis shoes and were carrying backpacks when they headed off to catch their bus to school on separate dates this year.
Ashley disappeared Jan. 9 and Miranda has not been seen since March 8. Both girls lived in the same apartment complex in the Portland suburb of Oregon City and attended the same middle school.
FBI officials announced Wednesday that a reward fund of up to $50,000 had been established for the safe return of the girls or information leading to the arrest of the suspected abductor.
"Often times, it is someone out in the community who really holds the key to this kind of investigation," said Charles Mathews, special agent in charge of the FBI's Portland office. "It may be some small piece of information -- such as a license plate -- that they think is unimportant."
The Oregon City Police Department said an anonymous donor had posted an additional $10,000 reward.
The task force that has been searching for the two girls has received nearly 1,000 tips since Miranda was reported missing, but it appears that no one in the 125-unit Newell Creek Village complex saw the girls or anything else suspicious on the mornings the went missing.
Investigators have repeatedly stressed, however, that a breakthrough lead could come from someone other than a resident of the complex. The public has been asked to report co-workers, friends or relatives who may have missed work, gotten rid of their vehicles, or appeared stressed or exhausted around the time of the disappearances.
"It may be someone who is close to the kidnapper who is suspicious of the person's recent behavior and attitude," Mathews said. "Either way, we encourage anyone and everyone with information to come forward."
(Reported by Hil Anderson in Los Angeles.)
