Part 2B:
Remains ID'd as Amber Dubois
The remains of the missing Escondido teenager were found near Pala
Updated 4:45 PM PST, Sun, Mar 7, 2010
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The remains were found early Saturday in an area described as very rugged and remote area of Pala, in northern San Diego County. With the help of dental records, investigators were able to identify Amber's body. Escondido police and San Diego County Sheriff's investigators were following a lead in the case when they made this discovery, said Escondido's Police Chief Jim Maher. Media packed the briefing room at the Escondido police department on West Grand Avenue at 3:30 p.m. Sunday after news leaked that there had been a major development in the case.
John Albert Gardner III pleaded not guilty in the rape and slaying of 17-year-old Chelsea King. After the discovery of a body in the King search, the search for Amber intensified.
Amber's father has said he can't help but draw connections between his daughter's case and Chelsea King's and that he's spoken with investigators with Escondido police as well as the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
Even the television program "America's Most Wanted" has profiled the case. The family told producers of the show that Amber sent four texts to her grandmother before leaving the house that morning for the roughly mile long walk to school. Amber’s family says Amber was a model student who never talked about running away and they believe she was abducted.
Raw Video: Amber Dubois Remains Found
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Amber_Dubois_Remains_Found__Raw_Video_San_Diego.html
Article:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...nt-in-Amber-Dubois-Case-Sources-86763297.html
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Amber's friends take the news hard
They get the news on the way out of 'Avatar'
Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 6:05 p.m.
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Amber Dubois' closest friends took the sad news hard Sunday.
“Even if she was in another country, like maybe as long as she was still alive, it would have been OK,” said Hailey Kosinski, a 15-year-old Escondido High School sophomore. “I was telling myself she’s not dead, she’s somewhere else, she’s somewhere, she can’t find us. But I guess I was proven wrong.”
Hailey got the news as she was exiting Avatar, a movie she said Amber would have loved for its message and nature scenes. “She was always so kind of connected with nature, sort of the whole circle of life, balance, everything,” she said. “I think the graphics would catch her, the lush green forests and the creatures. It would be something she’d be into.”
She’s been missing so long, Hailey said, “It’s hard to even remember how she acted around you.”
Tomorrow will be a tough day at school, she said.
Article:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/07/ambers-friends-take-news-hard/?imw=Y
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Amber’s mystery
With no solid clues since the Escondido teen disappeared a year ago, family and police remain frustrated and heartbroken over …
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 12:04 a.m.
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On a dresser in Amber Dubois' bedroom sits a pile of neatly folded clothes. For the longest time, Carrie McGonigle, Amber’s mother, was unable to make herself clean her daughter’s jeans and blouses. Just last month she finally washed the items, almost a year after Amber went missing.Saturday marks the anniversary of her disappearance. She was 14 at the time and would be 15 now, if she is alive.
“I never want to say it, but I would rather lose a child to death then to have a child missing,” said McGonigle, 42. “I have a friend whose daughter died. She said she would rather know that (her child) was in heaven than not know where she is at all.”
The school is less than a mile from where Amber lived on Fire Mountain Place with her mother, her mother’s boyfriend, David Cave, and her younger sister, Allison. A few months after Amber disappeared, McGonigle felt she had to move out of the house. “I couldn’t be a mom to my 5-year-old; she’s 6 now,” McGonigle said. “I would just go up to Amber’s room and cry and yell at her if she would come near me. I isolated myself. I just couldn’t function in this house with the memories and everything.” Allison has been seeing a counselor since the second week. At first she was angry and said terrible things, such as that she hated Amber, McGonigle said. “She just didn’t know how to deal with it.” She’s much better now, her mother said.
When McGonigle moved from Cave’s house to another home in Escondido, she took with her the small futon that Amber slept on. When she returns to her boyfriend’s house now, she said, she usually curls up on the floor where the futon had been and cries. Amber’s books, including the Harry Potter series that Amber, a voracious reader, read in its entirety in three weeks, are still in a bookcase. The posters and photographs of wolves that Amber loved so much still adorn the walls. A cat named Robin that Amber got on her 10th birthday cries at night to be let in and sleep like she did before Amber went away.
Last summer, dogs from Texas hired by the family appeared to have traced Amber’s scent to the community of Pala, specifically to the Pala library. But no one in Pala remembers having ever seen Amber. Bloodhounds used by the FBI smelled no hint of her in Pala several months later. Police think the most likely scenario is she willingly got into a vehicle with someone. “Whatever happened after that is anybody’s guess,” Benton said.
Police doubt she was forcibly abducted off the street because it was too crowded with students heading to school and someone would have seen it. Two witnesses who knew Amber saw her walking on North Broadway near the football field north of the school’s entrance with a tall, dark-skinned, but not black, sort of “doughy” boy who has yet to be identified, Benton said. Security cameras near the front of the school show Amber never made it that far.
McGonigle said her life has changed dramatically. She said she has become obsessive about certain things yet at the same time has trouble focusing on tasks at hand.
How people react to her has changed, as well. “Some of my friends that I thought would really have my back and really be my support system, not a thing from them,” McGonigle said. “And the ones I never would have guessed to be there have been there through everything.”
There is a $100,000 reward in the case. An additional $30,000 has been raised, money spent largely on the printing and distribution of fliers and the production of glossy pamphlets sent a few months ago to every law enforcement agency in the United States.
“As investigators, you go by your gut feelings,” said Russo, the Escondido police sergeant. “But over the course of the past year our gut feelings have taken us in a dozen different directions. We have nothing to base a gut feeling on.”
*Much More At Link!
Carrie McGonigle, mother of missing Escondido teenager Amber Dubois, spoke about how her life has changed dramatically in the past year, from her behaviors to her friends to her home.
Amber Dubois: Complete coverage
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/amber-dubois-missing/
Article:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/feb/10/ambers-mystery/
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Amber's remains found; father thanks supporters
Police say discovery near Pala ends 13-month search for Escondido teen
Originally published March 7, 2010 at 9:15 p.m., updated March 7, 2010 at 10:45 p.m
<snipped>
The remains were found west of Pala Temecula Road, about three miles north of the historic Pala Mission — the same area where the remains of 7-year-old Leticia Hernandez were discovered 15 months after she disappeared from her Oceanside home in 1989.
Amber’s mother, Carrie McGonigle, appeared disconsolate and did not speak to reporters at the news conference. McGonigle had granted dozens of interviews since her daughter went missing in the hope of generating clues by keeping the case in the limelight.
In the Amber case Sunday night, Escondido police had perimeter tape set up west of Pala Temecula Road. Pala Creek runs to the east of it.
Investigators have openly questioned whether Gardner might be responsible in Amber’s disappearance. Bill Garcia, a private investigator hired by Amber’s family shortly after she disappeared, said he was told by a person with firsthand knowledge of the case that the tip about the location of the remains did not come from Gardner.
“The entire Chelsea King event emotionally pulled at somebody who had this information,” Garcia said. “They’ve seen the community in a lot of pain. Someone who had been afraid to say something finally came forward.”
Garcia said he has long suspected the remains might be in the Pala area, because any abductor would have wanted to get away from high-traffic areas quickly, and many of the back roads out of Escondido lead into the Pauma Valley area. “We’ve spent a lot of time in the past year, working that canyon,” Garcia said. “It’s no mystery to me that’s where she was found.”
San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis has consistently refused to discuss the case against Gardner since he was arrested Feb. 28. Dumanis’ spokesman declined to comment Sunday on any possible connection between Amber and Gardner.
Legal experts say it would not be out of the question for a defendant facing the death penalty to cooperate with prosecutors and divulge key information in exchange for a life sentence. But those deals usually take longer than a few days to work out.
“It’s possible but it’s not likely,” said San Diego defense attorney Kerry Steigerwalt, who has followed both cases but is not involved in either one. “There are so many variables that would have had to come together in a short period of time.” In the hours immediately following Gardner’s arrest at Hernandez Hide-A-Way in Del Dios, authorities said the suspect was refusing to cooperate with interrogators.
Last night, the woodsy site where the body was found was guarded by a lone Escondido police officer who declined to comment.
Authorities gathered Sunday night at the site of the discovery of Amber Dubois’ remains, about three miles north of the Pala Mission.
Escondido Police Chief Jim Maher was joined by Amber Dubois’ parents, Carrie McGonigle and Moe Dubois, at a news conference Sunday where officials announced the remains of the teen, who had been missing 13 months, were found.
Scott Pfaucht (right) was among the volunteers who gathered in May to search for missing 14-year-old Amber Dubois in an area north of Escondido. Amber had vanished a few months earlier.
Video
ress conference about remains of Amber Dubois found in Pala 3:27
http://www.signonsandiego.com/video/?bcpid=34444171001&bctid=70621522001
Article:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/07/site-ambers-remains-north-pala-mission/
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Teen loved reading and animals, large and small
Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 10:27 p.m.
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As a young girl, Amber Dubois would read under her sheets with a flashlight when she should have been sleeping. Later, she would lose herself in books as her teachers taught class around her. It was the closest she ever came to trouble. “She was the person who would be caught by the teacher for reading, and the teacher would be like, ‘Put that book away,’ ” said Hailey Kosinski, 15.
Sunday, family, former teachers and close friends shared memories of Amber, the Escondido teenager whose remains were found near Pala in North County more than a year after her disappearance.
She was last seen shortly after 7 a.m. Feb. 13, 2009, on her way to Escondido High School, where she was a 14-year-old freshman. She had planned a happy day, evidenced by the Valentine’s Day gifts she carried for friends and a $200 check to buy a lamb for a National FFA Organization project.
As much as she loved reading, Amber adored animals and the lamb would have been the newest in her beloved menagerie. She had decided on a French name for the lamb, Annette, after consulting with her paternal grandmother, Eugenie Dubois, who lives in La Mirada. Her father, Moe Dubois, lives in Buena Park.
The walk to campus was less than a mile from where Amber lived with her mother, Carrie McGonigle, her mother’s then-boyfriend, and her little sister, Allison. Along the way, she sent a text message to her other grandmother, Sheila Welch, about the bag of handmade Valentine’s Day gifts she had given 5-year-old Allison.
Her poetry reflected her love of nature and animals, said Pat Gross, Amber’s eighth-grade English teacher at Rincon Middle School in Escondido. Amber, her mother and sister had moved to Escondido from Los Angeles County before Amber started eighth grade. She had previously attended Nazarene Christian School near Paramount.
*Much More At Link!
Amber Dubois adored animals and had looked forward to the animal husbandry program at Escondido High School.
Article:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/07/teenager-loved-reading-and-her-menagerie-animals-l/
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UPDATED: ESCONDIDO: Skeletal remains of Amber Dubois found near Pala Reservation
Police say 13-month search for missing Escondido girl is now a murder investigation
Posted: March 7, 2010 2:29 pm
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Police said they found the skeletal remains of 14-year-old Escondido High School freshman Amber Dubois in a remote area Saturday near the Pala Indian Reservation, bringing a tragic end to a 13-month search for the girl who was last seen walking to school on a drizzly winter morning. The grisly discovery transforms what was a missing person's case into a murder investigation, Escondido police Chief Jim Maher said Sunday during a news conference at the Escondido Police Station.
"I'm extremely sad," Amber's grandmother, Sheila Welch, said when contacted by telephone at her Los Angeles-area home. "I don't think that thoughts really describe what happens when you find out someone you love so much was murdered."
Amber's aunt, Nicole Elsbernd, struggled to stay composed. "We are having a difficult time putting anything into words right now," Elsbernd said during a telephone interview. "We are all just taking this in. It's a very, very difficult time for us." Elsbernd said her teenage daughter, Kelly, is "very much in shock." The weekend before Amber disappeared, she and Kelly went to a movie and played in the rain.
More than 1,000 tips
Numerous searches organized by authorities and Amber's family have taken place over the last year. Searchers have fanned out throughout the region, and police departments nationwide were blanketed with fliers. Private investigators, FBI agents and lost-children advocacy groups helped in the search
Amber's parents also said that police were slow to respond to what they believed was an important scent trail to the Pala Library picked up by a team of highly trained East Coast search dogs brought in by the family in August. No one connected with the library remembered seeing anyone matching the girl's description.
Plans to buy a lamb
On the last morning Amber was seen, she ate a bowl of cereal, slipped on a hoodie and jeans and left for school, family members have said. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary that drizzly winter day. Her mother awakened her to say goodbye. They spoke about a lamb that Amber was looking forward to buying and raising as part of the school's Future Farmers of America program.
A couple of neighbors told police they spotted her on her way to school. A boy was seen walking next to her minutes before she went missing. On Feb. 14, 2009, Amber's cell phone was turned on briefly and then went silent, police said. A neighbor who had dropped his son off at school said he noticed Amber walking on the sidewalk as he drove north on Broadway.
The next day, Amber's cell phone was turned on when someone attempted to check the phone's voice mail, police said. The signal was picked up by a cell tower on Amber Lane in northern Escondido. The tower covers a 5-mile radius, which means the phone could have been just about anywhere in Escondido.
*More at link!
Article:
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/article_24b443c5-8634-598e-a5ff-2bea337f6d73.html
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America's Most Wanted host speaks about Amber
12:41 AM PST, March 8, 2010
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The Amber Dubois case has received national media attention and the host of 'America's Most Wanted' believes there's a link to the Poway teen, Chelsea King, murder case. John Walsh of 'America's Most Wanted' (AMW) believes that John Albert Gardner III, the known sex offender arrested in connection with the murder of Chelsea King, could be responsible for Amber Dubois disappearance.
Walsh said, "He probably had something to do I say...he's the guy that probably took Amber Dubois." He also said believes Gardner should have never been released from jail. "He [Gardner] should have been stopped on the first rape that they're accusing him with. Not out there until they got little Chelsea King and murdered her so it makes people angry. It makes me angry. That's why we still try to change things," Walsh explained. Walsh is using his television platform to push for tougher laws against sex offenders.
Photo Gallery» Remembering Amber Dubois
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-pg-amber-dubois,0,5247380.photogallery
Article:
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-john-walsh,0,6202589.story
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Amber's parents' emotional journey
8:14 PM PST, March 7, 2010
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Grieving parents of Amber Dubois faced the cameras Sunday in Escondido, fighting back tears to thank all of the people who never gave up on finding their daughter. It's been a long year for Maurice Dubois and Carrie McGonigle, parents of the Escondido teenager who went missing February 13th, 2009. The pair put in countless hours and showed a spectrum of emotions since the search began to the discovery of their daughter was announced Sunday evening.
They described emotional rollercoaster at the press conference Wednesday, days before the Amber's skeletal remains were found in Pala area. Wednesday, Maurice said, "my frustrations are immense we've had a long, long year."
Both Carrie and Maurice had intuitions that news of their daughter's whereabouts would surface with the death of Poway teenage, Chelsea King, and the arrest of John Albert Gardner III. "When I heard about it Thursday night, my first thoughts were that it was connected to Amber," said Carrie.
The heartbroken parents plastered their daughter's picture all over the media and county, hoping for leads to her disappearance. They went on countless searches with thousands of volunteers. The pair never gave up hope.
Video: Police: Search For Amber Is Over 2:48
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/videobe...07f8ea9e/News/POLICE-Search-for-Amber-is-Over
Video: Location Of Amber/'s Remains 1:44
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/videobe...9ea731a15257/News/Location-of-Amber-s-remains
Video: Community Mourns Amber 1:29
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/videobe...8b6f-5f5404af0b7b/News/Community-Mourns-Amber
Video: Private Investigator Bill Garcia Talks About Amber Investigation 3:15
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/videobe...s/Bill-Garcia-Talks-About-Amber-Investigation
Video: Timeline Search For Amber Dubois 1:26
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/videobe...c26f2a7/News/Timeline-search-for-Amber-Dubois
Video: Local Businesses React To Discovery Of Amber 2:01
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/videobe...ws/Local-business-react-to-discovery-of-Amber
Video: Amber's Parents Speak At News Conference 0:49
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/videobe...News/Amber-s-Parents-Speak-at-News-Conference
Related Links:
Search for Amber one year since disappearance
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-amber-one-year-parents,0,6708958.story
Video: Amber Dubois parents interview one year after she disappeared
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-tv-amber-parent-one-year,0,7603508.tivideo
WEBSITE: Megan's Law
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-sd-megans-law,0,5917572.storylink
Anguished dad writes Father's Day letter to missing daughter
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-dubois-fathers-day-letter,0,2373362.story
Parents of missing Escondido teen frustrated by search
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kwsb-amber-frustration,0,978536.story
Video: Dogs Brought in to Pick Up Trail of Missing Teen
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-tv-amber-dogs,0,3160467.tivideo
Photo: Maurice Dubois and Carrie McGonigle speak about discovery of daughter
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-photo-amber-dubois-parents,0,58956.photo
Article:
http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-amber-dubois-parents-timeline,0,4172874.story
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Video: Amber Dubois Update
Human skeletal remains found in Pala were positively identified as those of missing 14 year old Amber Dubois. 02/07/2010
http://www.sandiego6.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=754137@xetv.dayport.com&navCatId=5
Video: Gardner Attorney
Did John Gardner play a role in the murder of Amber Dubois? 02/07/2010
http://www.sandiego6.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=754135@xetv.dayport.com&navCatId=5
Video: Amber Dubois Found Dead
Entire news conference announcing the search for Escondido teen Amber Dubois has ended. Amber's father also comments. 3/7/10
http://www.sandiego6.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=754098@xetv.dayport.com&navCatId=5
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Amber Dubois candelight vigil set for Monday night in Escondido
Monday, March 8, 2010
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A candlelight vigil will be held Monday night at Escondido High School for Amber Dubois, whose skeletal remains were found in Pala more than a year after she disappeared while walking to the school when she was 14 years old. The vigil is set for 6:30 p.m. at the high school at 1535 N. Broadway, Escondido.
Despite a prolonged search by law enforcement, her family and volunteers, her body was not found until Saturday.
Article:
http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-0...light-vigil-set-for-monday-night-in-escondido
:angel: