  GRB 050709 was the first short Gamma-ray Burst (sGRB) with an identified
optical afterglow. In this work we report a re-analysis of the publicly
available data of this event and the discovery of a Li-Paczynski
macronova/kilonova that dominates the optical/IR signal at t $>$ 2.5 days. Such
a signal would arise from ~0.05 M$_\odot$ r-process material launched by a
compact binary merger. The implied mass ejection supports the suggestion that
compact binary mergers are significant and possibly main sites of heavy
r-process nucleosynthesis. We have re-analyzed all afterglow data from nearby
short and hybrid GRBs. A statistical study of sGRB/macronova connection reveals
that macronova may have taken place in all these GRBs though the fraction as
low as 0.18 cannot be ruled out. The identification of two of the three
macronova candidates in the I-band implies a more promising detection prospect
for ground-based surveys.
