CA-Amber Leeanne Dubois (14 YO)- Escondido Thread # 2

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  • #341
ESCONDIDO: Mom of missing teen struggles not to lose herself

This was not supposed to happen, this first anniversary marking Amber Dubois' disappearance.

How does a 14-year-old vanish in front of her high school on a crowded Escondido street just 20 minutes before school starts? Everyone is stumped about what happened to Amber after she was last seen at 7:09 a.m. on Feb. 13, 2009.

"I just never thought she would be gone this long," said her mother, Carrie McGonigle. "With nothing, no leads."

[snip]

In the weeks before Amber vanished, there had been two attempts by gun-toting strangers to abduct girls in inland North County. (Police said they were unable to find links between those incidents and Amber's disappearance.) The attempts prompted McGonigle to talk with Amber twice about abduction. She warned her daughter to be more alert and told her to "run like hell" if someone came after her.

"She said, 'Mom, I won't forget,'" McGonigle recalled. She said Amber added: "'And I know you'd find me.'"

Much more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/escondido/article_ab025bff-a153-5b3e-964e-8808b15a0735.html
 
  • #342
Amber - we are all praying that you come home soon!

Salem
 
  • #343
Feb 12, 2010
ESCONDIDO: Where is Amber Dubois?
A year later, police remain mystified by Escondido teen's disappearance

[snipped]
The last time anyone saw Amber that Friday morning was about 7:09 a.m., police say.

She was walking south on North Broadway near Escondido High School's athletic field. Had she walked another 200 yards, past the school's football stadium, Amber may have come within view of a security camera mounted on top of the gym.

"Every morning, she meets her friends, believe it or not, right under the video camera," Benton 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. Another neighbor who was heading south on the same road to drop off her son said she nearly stopped to give Amber a ride because it was drizzling that morning.

She told police she did not stop because she believed Amber was walking with a boy, Benton said. Both neighbors were seen on the school's security camera video dropping their kids off within minutes of each other, between 7:08 a.m. and 7:10 a.m.

The young man is described as tall and dark-skinned, about high school age. No one has come forward to identify him or even to verify he was walking with Amber and wasn't just someone walking past her.

Police said he may have been the last person to see her.

"To this day, we have yet to identify who this boy is," Benton said. "But we believe he holds the key to what happened to her."

[snipped]
On any typical school day, North Broadway is a commuter's nightmare shortly before school starts at 7:30 a.m. Hundreds of vehicles crowd the four-lane road as parents drop off their children at the high school.

On Feb. 13, 2009, the road was even busier and harder to navigate, say school officials and police. More parents drove their kids to school because of the wet weather.

Construction trucks delivering material to the school also were lined up by the curb near the football stadium, forcing parents to drop off their students farther north on the road and closer to where Amber was last seen, Benton said.

"Based on the amount of traffic and the amount of people (in the area), her being kidnapped off the street is not likely," Benton said. "If there was a commotion, it would have been seen by somebody."

The following Tuesday, police set up a roadblock at the northern end of the school, where Amber was last seen, to question everyone traveling through the area. They asked whether anyone had seen anything. They also asked the parents who saw her last to look at yearbooks to see whether they could identify the boy.

Their efforts yielded nothing.

Unlike the police, family members don't believe the boy may be the key to unraveling the mystery of Amber's disappearance. They say the girl that people saw may not have been Amber at all, and the boy may simply have been someone walking by.

Amber, who was wearing black jeans and a black hoodie that day, was probably wearing her hood up because of the rain, making her difficult to recognize even for those who knew her, said Welch, her grandmother.

"When you're walking along Broadway and people are wearing hoodies, it's very difficult to spot someone," she said.

[snipped]
The next day, Amber's cell phone was turned on, police said. Someone attempted to check the phone's voice mail. The signal was picked up by a cell tower on Amber Lane in northern Escondido. The tower covers a five-mile radius, which means the phone could have been just about anywhere in Escondido.

[snipped]
Early in their investigation, police said they were looking for a red truck that was seen on the school's blurry security tape for a moment shortly before Amber's disappearance. Police sent the video to Department of Defense image laboratories for sophisticated analysis.

The truck was identified as an early 2000s model red Dodge Ram with aftermarket chrome rails and running boards.

Detectives later learned that the truck belonged to the parent of a student at the high school. They questioned the parent and determined the truck probably had nothing to do with the girl's disappearance.

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/e...c-657a-5398-8295-4b1ada991f56.html?mode=story
 
  • #344
  • #345
Feb 12, 2010
ESCONDIDO: For Amber's friends and family, a cruel year

"It is the most unbelievable disaster that can happen to a family," Maurice "Moe" Dubois, father of missing teen Amber Dubois, said last week in a telephone call from his Buena Park home. "You want everyone to drop everything no matter who they are and find your kid.

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/e...5-3c79-5cf3-93dc-3bb32aecac88.html?mode=story
 
  • #346
Wow. I can't believe she has been missing a year.
I don't even know what to say. This is just so heartbreaking.
My heart goes out to Amber's family.
I hope they don't have to go another year without answers.
I pray that Amber will be back home with them soon.
 
  • #347
  • #348
I wasn't able to attend Ambers walk a thon today as I was busy working at the Lindsey Baum Search Center.. but one of the first things we did this morning was light a candle for Amber.

Carrie, Moe and the rest of Ambers family and friends remain in my daily thoughts and prayers.
 
  • #349
Always come here to see if Amber has come home or if there was any news. I cannot believe its been a year.

Prayers for her family and to tell them to stay strong.
 
  • #350
cloudajo said:
Feb 12, 2010
ESCONDIDO: Where is Amber Dubois?
A year later, police remain mystified by Escondido teen's disappearance

[snipped]
The last time anyone saw Amber that Friday morning was about 7:09 a.m., police say.

She was walking south on North Broadway near Escondido High School's athletic field. Had she walked another 200 yards, past the school's football stadium, Amber may have come within view of a security camera mounted on top of the gym.

"Every morning, she meets her friends, believe it or not, right under the video camera," Benton 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. Another neighbor who was heading south on the same road to drop off her son said she nearly stopped to give Amber a ride because it was drizzling that morning.

She told police she did not stop because she believed Amber was walking with a boy, Benton said. Both neighbors were seen on the school's security camera video dropping their kids off within minutes of each other, between 7:08 a.m. and 7:10 a.m.

The young man is described as tall and dark-skinned, about high school age. No one has come forward to identify him or even to verify he was walking with Amber and wasn't just someone walking past her.

Police said he may have been the last person to see her.

"To this day, we have yet to identify who this boy is," Benton said. "But we believe he holds the key to what happened to her."
 [snipped]
On any typical school day, North Broadway is a commuter's nightmare shortly before school starts at 7:30 a.m. Hundreds of vehicles crowd the four-lane road as parents drop off their children at the high school.

On Feb. 13, 2009, the road was even busier and harder to navigate, say school officials and police. More parents drove their kids to school because of the wet weather.

Construction trucks delivering material to the school also were lined up by the curb near the football stadium, forcing parents to drop off their students farther north on the road and closer to where Amber was last seen, Benton said.

"Based on the amount of traffic and the amount of people (in the area), her being kidnapped off the street is not likely," Benton said. "If there was a commotion, it would have been seen by somebody."

The following Tuesday, police set up a roadblock at the northern end of the school, where Amber was last seen, to question everyone traveling through the area. They asked whether anyone had seen anything. They also asked the parents who saw her last to look at yearbooks to see whether they could identify the boy.

Their efforts yielded nothing.

Unlike the police, family members don't believe the boy may be the key to unraveling the mystery of Amber's disappearance. They say the girl that people saw may not have been Amber at all, and the boy may simply have been someone walking by.

Amber, who was wearing black jeans and a black hoodie that day, was probably wearing her hood up because of the rain, making her difficult to recognize even for those who knew her, said Welch, her grandmother.

"When you're walking along Broadway and people are wearing hoodies, it's very difficult to spot someone," she said.

[snipped]
The next day, Amber's cell phone was turned on, police said. Someone attempted to check the phone's voice mail. The signal was picked up by a cell tower on Amber Lane in northern Escondido. The tower covers a five-mile radius, which means the phone could have been just about anywhere in Escondido.

[snipped]
Early in their investigation, police said they were looking for a red truck that was seen on the school's blurry security tape for a moment shortly before Amber's disappearance. Police sent the video to Department of Defense image laboratories for sophisticated analysis.

The truck was identified as an early 2000s model red Dodge Ram with aftermarket chrome rails and running boards.

Detectives later learned that the truck belonged to the parent of a student at the high school. They questioned the parent and determined the truck probably had nothing to do with the girl's disappearance.

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/e...c-657a-5398-8295-4b1ada991f56.html?mode=story
Click to expand...

BBM

Seems like in an instant she was gone. I wonder if a car pulled up as part of a plan, and the boy she was walking with shoved her into the car. There are witnesses that saw her. This was not a remote place which makes me think they'd have to subdue her quickly and get out of the area quickly without being noticed.

Suppose she was walking with this boy? Did she go off in a different direction with him? Seeing as Amber disappeared right after being seen near this boy - it would be of utmost importance to find out who he is. I hope it's possible somehow.

I lit a candle for Amber praying she is found soon.
 
  • #351
If you plug in 1734 N Broadway, Escondido, CA into Google Maps, then go to Street View, then look north, you’ll see there is a bus stop on the east side of N Broadway which is almost directly across the street from the entrance to the school bus maintenance yard (use link below).

In looking at the bus schedule, there is a 359 route that passes that bus stop – would pass between 7:10 and 7:18 (use link below for schedule and route map). The Mon-Fri bus schedule is:

7:03 Escondido Transit Center (south of Escondido H.S.)
7:10 N Broadway and Park Ave (Senior Center, still south of Escondido H.S.)
7:18 Country Club Lane & N Broadway (north of Escondido H.S. & Vista)

I wonder if the bus driver and/or anyone routinely riding the bus/taking that route ever noticed Amber walking to school, and if LE questioned them to see if they noticed anything the day Amber went missing or any previous day. I guess that was probably done early on. If I were family I'd probably ride the bus route a few times and talk to driver/riders myself. Maybe that was done already too.

Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...d=uHHvZWHf9_YkXz-dDLAc8w&cbp=12,18.31,,0,7.99

Bus Route: http://www.gonctd.com/html_breeze_routes_Jan2010/358_359.htm
 
  • #352
  • #353
cloudajo said:
If you plug in 1734 N Broadway, Escondido, CA into Google Maps, then go to Street View, then look north, you’ll see there is a bus stop on the east side of N Broadway which is almost directly across the street from the entrance to the school bus maintenance yard (use link below).

In looking at the bus schedule, there is a 359 route that passes that bus stop – would pass between 7:10 and 7:18 (use link below for schedule and route map). The Mon-Fri bus schedule is:

7:03 Escondido Transit Center (south of Escondido H.S.)
7:10 N Broadway and Park Ave (Senior Center, still south of Escondido H.S.)
7:18 Country Club Lane & N Broadway (north of Escondido H.S. & Vista)

I wonder if the bus driver and/or anyone routinely riding the bus/taking that route ever noticed Amber walking to school, and if LE questioned them to see if they noticed anything the day Amber went missing or any previous day. I guess that was probably done early on. If I were family I'd probably ride the bus route a few times and talk to driver/riders myself. Maybe that was done already too.

Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...d=uHHvZWHf9_YkXz-dDLAc8w&cbp=12,18.31,,0,7.99

Bus Route: http://www.gonctd.com/html_breeze_routes_Jan2010/358_359.htm
Click to expand...

Brilliant thinking, cloudajo. I hope LE has been thinking along these lines. I wonder if the family has gone to the area and got a feel for what might have happened. It seems like something should have been noticed by someone!
 
  • #354
  • #355
Bumping the thread for Amber...
 
  • #356
Thats great they were able to raise that much $!!

As far as Cloudajo points out about the bus in the area the morning Amber was abducted...do city busses have surveillance camera inside? If they do they may also be able to capture anything outside a window as well. And I wonder if they do, how long do they keep the videos?

Whats bothered me all along is the lack of info coming from students themselves. I live in the same area as Amber and have never once seen an interview with friends or students. Kids are a bigger source of knowledge than we realize sometimes.
 
  • #357
It was quick. Poof, she was gone. She must have not had any time to fight them off. Was it planned by someone to grab her and take off? They have to find that person seen near her at that moment. How much was that location watched after she went missing? Seems like that person would be in that area on a regular schedule and might be spotted again.

Yes, the students were probably encouraged to come forward if they knew anything, but I wonder how many students did come forward. Didn't anybody see her in those few minutes she went missing after those parents passed by? I've been mystified by this.

I pray for Amber and her family for the strength to keep going until Amber is found.
 
  • #358
glitterghost said:
Thats great they were able to raise that much $!!

As far as Cloudajo points out about the bus in the area the morning Amber was abducted...do city busses have surveillance camera inside? If they do they may also be able to capture anything outside a window as well. And I wonder if they do, how long do they keep the videos?

Whats bothered me all along is the lack of info coming from students themselves. I live in the same area as Amber and have never once seen an interview with friends or students. Kids are a bigger source of knowledge than we realize sometimes.
Click to expand...

Thanks for bringing this up. this has also bothered me as well. Early on in the investigation it seemed LE was frustrated that none of the kids were talking. There have been other crimes in Escondido where this has happened as well. I don't know if it's fear, general mistrust of the police, or just not wanting to be involved. Here's one case, the murder of Julian Rodriguez, who was stabbed at a party. His murder remains unsolved.

www.findjulianskiller.com

But there have been other crimes in Escondido where the kids definitely kept silent.
 
  • #359
  • #360
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