CA-Amber Leeanne Dubois (14 YO)- Escondido #1

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I heard on NG this evening that the mother didn't know Amber was missing until 4:30 that afternoon. Amber usually called her when she got home from school. Amber's mom tried to call her cell phone (it went straight to voice mail) and when she didn't answer she went home. It was there that she heard a msg. from the school on the answering machine that Amber didn't attend school that day.

Every parent (and I'm not blaming Amber's mom...it's just we learn something every time a tragedy like this happens) should give the school a cell phone number where they can be reached any time of day. It might have given LE a few hours head start. Then again, since they normally think that missing teens are automatically runaways it might not have done any good.

I pray for Amber's safe return.
 
My heart is breaking over this. I hope they find her soon.

Amber and her family are in my prayers.
 
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0902/26/ng.01.html

GRACE: How many millions of parents let their children walk to school every day? I did. My brother and sister did, seemingly millions of children every morning walking to school, walking home in the afternoons. That is what happened with Amber Dubois, just 14 years old.

Straight out to Phil Farrar with KOGO. Phil, what`s the latest?

PHIL FARRAR, NEWS ANCHOR, REPORTER, KOGO RADIO, COVERING STORY: Well, the latest is right now Bill Garcia is out searching, the private investigator, back out searching once again. I talked with him this morning. He has told me of a couple of new developments.

One of the developments was they found four kids who were taking some of the flyers off of poles and these parents saw that they put these flyers back up and once again, these kids took these particular flyers back down so they`ve been kind of looking at these particular kids as well.

Once again, Friday the 13th. That unlucky day, the significance of that. Did that play a role as well? Garcia also told me that he would be searching particular areas today near Lake Wolford which is due east of Escondido. There was a report of two men on Friday the 13th that late evening who had a plastic bag and they dumped something near the lake.

GRACE: Joining me right now, the mother and father of little Amber, Carrie McGonigle and Maurice Dubois, joining us from San Diego. Thank you to the two of you for being with us.

To Carrie, Miss McGonigle, tell me about the morning she disappeared.

CARRIE MCGONIGLE, MOTHER OF MISSING 14-YR-OLD, AMBER DUBOIS: I went to work early that morning. I saw her before I left for work, and I went in and I told her she was getting her baby lamb, that she was -- been wanting for a year to -- she guaranteed she`d take care of it. I went over and gave her a hug, a kiss, told her I loved her and told her I`d see her later that evening.

GRACE: She wanted to get the -- to purchase the baby lamb for her Future Farmers of America project?

MCGONIGLE: It was for her -- it was actually for her science, but she is part of the Future Farmers of America.

GRACE: And where were you going to keep it?

MCGONIGLE: The Escondido High School keeps it at the high school. They have, I think, a five-acre farm there and they raise it for four months and then they auction it off at the county fair.

GRACE: And she was excited about having one for herself and plan to name it Nannette?

MCGONIGLE: Yes.

GRACE: To Amber`s father Maurice Dubois. Mr. Dubois, thank you for being with us again. I don`t understand this new theory that`s emerging about her disappearance being part of some kind of a prank. What does it mean?

DUBOIS: It`s a little confusing to us. I wouldn`t understand any prank that would go on this way, you know? I don`t see any student who could pull a prank on a family that`s this devastating. I just couldn`t see it.

GRACE: So is the theory behind the prank that they kidnapped Amber as a cruel joke and they`re holding her somewhere? That doesn`t make any sense.

DUBOIS: I don`t -- I don`t see any sense in it either.

GRACE: And you know what else, too, Mickey Sherman and Peter Odom, they may call it a prank, but I call it felony kidnapping, Odom.

ODOM: Well, first of all, Nancy, if that`s a theory, then it`s a theory in search of evidence and frankly, if there`s no evidence to back it up I think they ought to stay away from saying anything about it.

GRACE: I agree, Mickey Sherman. This is not a prank.

SHERMAN: No, frankly.

GRACE: If it started as a prank it is felony kidnapping at this point.

SHERMAN: I don`t believe it even started as a prank.

GRACE: I don`t either.

SHERMAN: I think that`s an absolutely ridiculous theory. A prank is when you throw water balloons to somebody or order too many pizzas to go to their home. This is serious as a heart attack. Our hearts going out to these folks. And they should be going down different avenues.

GRACE: To Mike Brooks, former fed with the FBI. Mike, much more legitimate is the fact that there have been multiple kidnappings and attempted kidnappings in the area. In fact, one was very near a school, an elementary school.

MIKE BROOKS, FMR. DC POLICE DETECTIVE SERVED ON FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: All around in the same school district, Nancy. There, apparently, were three in an eight-day period. Now law enforcement, they`re all -- the vehicles that were used in this were all different. There was, apparently, a firearm on the dash of one of the vehicles of these attempted kidnappings, but right now they don`t believe that they`re connected, but it`s something I would definitely be looking into.

And the other thing, too, you know, when she walks all that way, she was seen 300 yards, Nancy, from the school. My question is, do any of the homes along where she was walking, do any of them have any kind of surveillance video? You know, a lot of people nowadays have surveillance cameras around their house.

If I was law enforcement I`d make sure that I`d -- checking to see if any of these homes along her route had any surveillance cameras.

GRACE: You know, Mike, you`re absolutely correct. Practically anyone that has a nanny cam these days can have one trained on the front door which also shows the yard, the driveway, the road in front of the home.

I want to go back to Carrie McGonigle, this is Amber`s mother. Again, thank you for being with us. You said Amber had her cell phone with her. Did she take her charger as well? Did she carry that with her?

MCGONIGLE: No, her charger was left at the house.

GRACE: Did she have a debit card or a credit card of any type, Miss McGonigle?

MCGONIGLE: She had no access to any money whatsoever. She has -- she hides her money in her room and I found it and it was $8 and she puts it in a secret spot and that`s all the money she had on her besides the check to -- made out to the school.

GRACE: You know, how people are suggesting she ran away, Maurice Dubois, is beyond me. She -- her cell phone`s gone dead, she didn`t have any money. She only had the check to buy the little lamb at school. Did she take anything with her such as clothes or any of your or her mom`s money?

DUBOIS: Absolutely not. There`s nothing -- nothing else is missing from the house.

GRACE: Out to Marc Klaas, where do we go from here, Marc? I mean the police have -- stopped the searched because -- not to their discredit, they followed up on all of the leads. They don`t know where to search -- where to search next. What about it, Mike Brooks?

BROOKS: Tell you what, Nancy, they`re going to continue to look for any kind of leads that they can find. You know there`s a lot of things -- she was seen within 300 yards of that school. Someone else had to have seen her. Was she by herself? Was she with friends? You know, if this -- if this -- whole prank theory which I don`t think -- I would totally discount that.

GRACE: I wish nobody had even said that. That`s hurting the investigation. That`s BS!

BROOKS: I think you`re absolutely right, too, Nancy.

GRACE: Look at this girl. Amber Dubois, the tip line, 888-55-AMBER. It is anonymous. There is a reward. Go to www.bringamberhome.com. Please help us find this girl.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DUBOIS: Typical home life. I mean, I`m not going to paint a golden picture. I mean everything is great there. I mean she loves her house, she loves her life. Great friends. No problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight back out to Amber`s parents, joining me today, the father, Maurice Dubois, and her mother, Carrie McGonigle.

To Carrie, have you and the father done any ground searches, any searches yourself for Amber?

MCGONIGLE: I did last weekend. I went up on Amber`s horse up into -- all through up a big park near us. We did -- we covered about 15, 20 miles of searching.

GRACE: Miss McGonigle, when did you realize Amber was missing?

MCGONIGLE: About 4:30.

GRACE: Oh, no. So the whole day had gone by before anybody realized?

MCGONIGLE: Well, yes. She -- called me when she gets home from school. And when she didn`t call, I was at work, I called her cell phone and it went straight to voice mail. And then I left work. Thinking she was.

GRACE: So.

MCGONIGLE: Thinking she would be at a friend`s house, or, you know, just being a teenager. But there was no sign of her.

GRACE: So Mr. Dubois, the whole day passes and no one realized she was gone, the school didn`t call home or anything?

DUBOIS: The school called and left a message at the house. And once Carrie got home, she listened to the message and received it. But, yes, we had no -- no notification that.

GRACE: Mr. Dubois, you are speaking to the public tonight. What is your message?

DUBOIS: Help. You know what? Help us find our daughter, you know. Keep her in your mind. Go to her Web site. Print up a flier. Keep it on your dash. You know keep it somewhere nearby so that if you see her or see someone that looks like her, you know, look at the picture, keep it for reference.

GRACE: Everyone, the tip line, 1-888-55-AMBER.
 
Every parent (and I'm not blaming Amber's mom...it's just we learn something every time a tragedy like this happens) should give the school a cell phone number where they can be reached any time of day. It might have given LE a few hours head start. Then again, since they normally think that missing teens are automatically runaways it might not have done any good.

I pray for Amber's safe return.

From my experience, the school may well have had her cell phone number and not used it. Our elementary school is very good about tracking you down, but the high school is a different story. When my 6-year-old was a couple of minutes late one day and the teacher didn't mark her down on the attendence list, they called my cell phone to find out where she was, but when our high school-aged child missed a day of school, all we would get is an automated message on the home machine saying that she was not in attendance that day.
 
As we, Amber's Family, continue to search and pray for our Amber's safe return, we invite you to join us in a Candlight Vigil to help us guide Amber's way home.
WE NEED YOUR LIGHT!
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27TH AT 6:00PM
in front of Escondido High School
N. Broadway in Escondido.

Volunteers are encouraged to register Saturday, February 28 and Sunday, March 1
for door to door flyer distribution.

Thank you so very much for your continued support.
AMBER'S LOVING FAMILY


http://www.bigcatdesigns.com/amber/amber.htm
on a personal note...I have been on websleuths for several years, first as a lurker for many months and then as a non-posting member/lurker. This missing girl really hits home for me. I don't know how my co-worker is holding on. Please keep Amber and her family in your thoughts and prayers as I know you all are.​
 
Continue to keep us updated groovygrl. My prayers go out to you, to her family and especiall to Amber..stay strong we are looking for you.
 
I was half asleep while watching NG last night, but didn't Amber's father say that he called a number that was on her cell phone? The number belonged to one of Amber's female friends boyfriend. The boyfriend claimed he didn't know Amber.

Did I hear that right?
 
Mellen, I just graduated from high school a year ago, and they do not call right away if you're absent and sometimes not at all. I live in San Marcos right next to Escondido. You would not believe how many kids have almost been kidnapped on thier way to school. Vista, San Marcos and Escondido is all bad.
 
A couple weeks ago, i got a phone call from the middle school.
It was an automated message saying that my son wasn't in school.
He's in 6th grade.
I started shaking and almost crying.
I told my husband and my best friend and i called the school right away.
I told them that he IS supposed to be there...that my husband dropped him off in the morning.
But i was nervous, cuz i was like...what if my husband didn't actually see him go all the way into the school or something and something happened to him?
I was so sick to my stomach!
The school was like "oh.....okay"
I was like..."What do i do know? I'm freaking out here!"
They just said "Hold on a minute" and then came back and said since he was a little late, he was marked absent and it went to the computer!!! :(
OH MY GOD!!!
THE worst 5 minutes....:(
I can't even imagine! :(
 
I was half asleep while watching NG last night, but didn't Amber's father say that he called a number that was on her cell phone? The number belonged to one of Amber's female friends boyfriend. The boyfriend claimed he didn't know Amber.

Did I hear that right?

I think i heard that too. Why would Amber have a number of a guy who didn't even know her on her cell phone?
And i'm sorry if this sounds dumb, but i'm confused...when did her father call the number? Cuz he doesn't have Amber's phone right now right?
Amber does right?
So when was that phone call made?
 
As we, Amber's Family, continue to search and pray for our Amber's safe return, we invite you to join us in a Candlight Vigil to help us guide Amber's way home.
WE NEED YOUR LIGHT!
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27TH AT 6:00PM
in front of Escondido High School
N. Broadway in Escondido.

Volunteers are encouraged to register Saturday, February 28 and Sunday, March 1
for door to door flyer distribution.

Thank you so very much for your continued support.
AMBER'S LOVING FAMILY


http://www.bigcatdesigns.com/amber/amber.htm
on a personal note...I have been on websleuths for several years, first as a lurker for many months and then as a non-posting member/lurker. This missing girl really hits home for me. I don't know how my co-worker is holding on. Please keep Amber and her family in your thoughts and prayers as I know you all are.​

Is your co-worker one of her parents or someone close like that?
 
Is your co-worker one of her parents or someone close like that?

I want to protect their privacy because going through this is hard enough as it is, the microscope (but understandable scrutiny must make it even worse.

They are very close to one of the parents---

I wish there was more I could do but this was the first place I thought of.
 
From my experience, the school may well have had her cell phone number and not used it. Our elementary school is very good about tracking you down, but the high school is a different story. When my 6-year-old was a couple of minutes late one day and the teacher didn't mark her down on the attendence list, they called my cell phone to find out where she was, but when our high school-aged child missed a day of school, all we would get is an automated message on the home machine saying that she was not in attendance that day.

I think this is pretty common: in elementary and middle school the school will call within the first 60-90 minutes to ask where your child is, but in high school you don't get an automated call until evening, saying "your child was not in 3rd period today, so have him/her stop by the attendance office to discuss."

I do know, however, that on a number of occasions across the U.S., even elementary and middle schools have failed to call home, with tragic consequences. (I get to read too many news stories of missing kids. :mad:)

IMO, it's unconscionable for a school to fail to call home or to call home and leave a message that asks for the whereabouts of a child. I mean, hello????? How is that going to help track down a child? The school needs to talk to a parent/guardian, not an answering machine.

Hoppy
 
I know this is not likely, but do we know where she was going to pay for this pet lamb and take care of it. I mean, she had the check to pay for it....what she going to the farm or whereever that afternoon, or when? How was she going to get there? Maybe she decided to skip school, since she was so excited, and go pay for the lamb. There may have been farm workers around there...jut sayin'.

It just seems a coincidence that she had this check and was going to go somewhere and give it to somebody...and then she disappears???
 
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29432035/

Family, Friends to Hold Vigil for Missing Teen

Another candlelight vigil will be held Friday night for an Escondido teenager who was last seen two weeks ago.

Have You Seen Amber Leeanne Dubois?

Amber Dubois, 14, Amber went to school on the morning of Feb. 13 and was spotted once or twice in the following days, but has not been spotted since Feb. 15. The girl's parents said she was especially excited to get to school to exchange Valentine's Day gifts with friends.....

More at link.
 
IMO, it's unconscionable for a school to fail to call home or to call home and leave a message that asks for the whereabouts of a child. I mean, hello????? How is that going to help track down a child? The school needs to talk to a parent/guardian, not an answering machine.

Hoppy[/QUOTE]

When I am not home I forward my home phone to my cell phone so if the kids are trying to reach me they can without calling several different numbers. Maybe those with small kids or school age kids should try and do this.

It seems like there is so much to worry about in order to protect our children. I hope Amber is found soon.
 
Re: Friend prob called her boyfriend from Ambers phone so he might not know Amber at all.
Praying they get with it in this investigation. I just adore young people like Amber. Horses, animals, its just such a healthy livestyle.
Praying for Amber.
 
has anyone seen the new movie, "Taken"? The white van and "group of men" is a really scary thought. Praying for Amber!!!!

I did see this movie and it scared the carp out of me! I know that stuff goes on right here in the US and I'm convinced many of our missing girls have been taken in this manner. It's frightening.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, until they begin punishing the pigs who "patronize" these children, we will not EVER see any change. They need to splash the disgusting faces of these freaks all over the news, humiliate and destroy them. It won't stop all of the abuse, but it will make a significant difference - IMO.

I sincerely hope Amber is not a victim of this type of trafficking and I pray she will be found safe soon.
 
That HS usually leaves messages after school to let you know that the child was not in school, but sometimes the message does come earlier in the day. I took my child out of this school because there is a pretty tough crowd there and my child was really unhappy. We live in the country and that was our designated HS. There are SO many kids walking to school in the morning and walking home in the afternoon, I am surprised that someone did not see her get abducted. This is very scary.
 
I wonder if the high school has sent notes home to all students or even an email asking if anyone has any information.
 
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