CA - Chelsea King (17) Rancho Bernardo (north San Diego County) #1

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I thought I would post a link to this article on 150 law enforcement officers turn search for missing 17-year-old Chelsea King from land to water

http://myvalleynews.com/story/45800/

I found it interesting that the dogs being used today were tracking dogs not dogs trained in cadaver.
 
Just as an aside, I saw two of the tracking dog units yesterday, one from San Diego and one from Riverside. The dogs have a very nice ride, with their names painted on the side and I believe the words "Tracking K-9" on the side of the nice black and white SUVs. They are particular about letting people know these are tracking dogs, not cadaver finders. For any animal lovers out there, so they know the dogs are treated well.
 
Let there be a break in the clouds today. Let them find Chelsea today.
 
After seeing the pictures you posted of the park and surrounding areas, it seems almost crazy to me to think the security guard at Casa actually saw Chelsea park and get out of her car to start running. ..(snipped)...

To be honest, I agree. I find it hard to believe that the guard saw her unless a) he was actually in the park (on break or for some other reason) or b) she was running on the paths in the park or the trails that go along the street which would pass by Casa.

As a matter of procedure, I'd take a good look at the security guard -as in, "Who was the last person who claimed to have seen her?" This may/may not be the case here, but oftentimes someone stepping up like that could be the perp (or just someone wanting their 15 min in the spotlight).

OT: Some of you may recall that I've often recommended the book Protecting the Gift, which offers wonderful advice about following your intuition to avoid dangerous situations/people. One of the recommendations is to stop telling kids to find a policeman (find a woman instead) because: 1) policeman are rarely just standing around and a child may fall victim to someone else while searching for a policeman, and 2) children will mistake a security guard for a policeman. The author goes on to say that if you knew the background of many of these security guards, then that's the last person you'd want your child to run to when alone and vulnerable.

Just putting it out there...
 
It does occur to me though that we should not rule out her deciding to take a route that doesn't "make sense," as it were. After all, if she ran into somebody on the trail who gave her a creepy feeling, she might have made a deliberate decision to head in the opposite direction of that person. (Just a thought!)

I was thinking the same thing. I have mountain biked on the North side of Lake Hodges many times, and there are many hikers, bikers, & runners that park where Chelsea did (or nearby on the street or dirt lots) and then follow the street across the footbridge. From that point there are a few trail options that one could follow, and eventually end up at a boat launch area parking lot with a bathroom (just over 3 miles from the dirt lot immediately North of where she parked). That would be a good route if she wanted to do some "hill work" and then be able to stop for a drink of water/potty stop and head back. My husband and I biked to Hernandez Hideaway and on Valentine's Day. The parking lot at the start was packed with cars and plenty of folks were on foot headed North. There are a few places along route options that have tree cover/are not exposed.

I don't think she would have gone this far, but there is a parking lot at the end of the most Northern finger of the lake (close to Del Dios Hwy). I only mention that because your last comment made me remember last night how I was glad that I wasn't riding alone that day. On the way to Hernandez Hideaway, we passed by a guy at that parking lot who kinda creeped me out. He looked like a transient -- on foot, disheveled and dirty, with a black garbage bag. We said hi to him and he just looked weird (didn't acknowledge, just smiled in a strange way). On the way back, I almost ran into him just walking along - but now without the bag he had been carrying. I was surprised to see him since he'd been headed in the other direction when we saw him, and had made "good" time getting to where I saw him the second time. My husband caught up to me about the same time (he'd sent me ahead while dealing with a bike issue) and I was a little relieved. He just seemed "off".
 
Unfortunately it will have been a hard night to search. Unless it's significantly clearer right at the water's edge, it's incredibly foggy/soupy out with very limited visibility.

After church I'm going to see if they're still accepting searchers, and if not I'll try to take some photos of some areas that might help illustrate some areas I've not found photos for online.

Praying, though, that they find Chelsea in the next few hours so the morning search crew is able to go home celebrating she's been found safely instead!
 
Sorry that I haven't read all the articles and posts. Has there been anything mentioned about a boyfriend? I think she is wearing a ring on a chain around her neck in post #7 on this thread. Does that still indicate a "steady" boyfriend like it did when I was a teen?
 
Here are two links to the attack of the jogger in the same park that happened in December.


http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local...n-Rancho-Bernardo/wQY_KHtjkUWuBy3sHvcJiQ.cspx

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/rancho-bernardo/article_975772c1-e315-5fb2-9291-613f1f687293.html

I was listening to 10 news this morning and the reporter said that Chelsea is anemic and sometimes faints when she is running. The terrain around the lake can be a little rough, maybe there is a possibility that she fell and sprained or broke something and couldn't make it back to her car.

There are search teams out in full force looking for the young woman, so I am crossing my fingers that she will be found safe.

There was another similar incident to the December 2009 attack that occurred in September 2009 at Kit Carson Park in Escondido. A 17-year-old San Pasqual High School cross country runner was grabbed in the park by two males. The general description of the attacker in the December account has general similarities to the description of the Kit Carson incident. For those not familiar with the area, Kit Carson Park is located one exit north of Rancho Bernardo Community Park. The article regarding this incident is at http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/escondido/article_2aeec58d-38bb-5065-9c6e-590ec91b029a.html.
 
Chelsea King Update – Sheriff Continues Search



lake-hodges2-300x228.jpg


king-line-rescue-300x223.jpg


king-2-300x225.jpg
 
Sorry that I haven't read all the articles and posts. Has there been anything mentioned about a boyfriend? I think she is wearing a ring on a chain around her neck in post #7 on this thread. Does that still indicate a "steady" boyfriend like it did when I was a teen?


Twinkle,

As far as I know there hasn't been any mention of a boyfriend.

As for the ring on the chain, it could mean several different things these days, IMO. Now, you can often buy necklaces like that or it may be a ring she really liked but could no longer fit on her finger. I could be very wrong, though.
 
A Couple of observations & theories:

1. If she ran on the north side of the lake, most people exit the community center onto W. Bernardo and cross the bridge to the north side. That would put her running right past Casa.

2. If she ran south, she would enter the paths off the community center parking lot and there are many routes she can take from there.

3. Good investigators assume nothing. Don't assume she even started her run; and don't assume she didn't finish it (thereby returning to her car). Don't assume the north or the south routes; follow up on all routes as possible. Don't assume this wasn't an abduction. Many abductions go down in public locations, in broad daylight, with witnesses around, but no one seeing anything suspicious (people just get caught up in there own lives and are just not looking for anything like this).

4. Ask for a permissive search of Casa. The guard has no expectation of privacy. Management can grant the search.

5. The December alleged attack that was reported by a woman who entered the paths off of Poblado/Duenda, follow up stronger on that. The media had her running in the opposite direction of a passing caucasian male, who said hello to her, and then reportedly circled back and assulted her, with what she believed to be an attempted robbery. From the media perspective (and possibly SDPD's perspective) that case seemed to die. No more details; no suspect sketch published, etc. Leads me to believe they either doubted the victim's story, or another LE reason I won't get into here.

6. Where is she? If it's not an abduction, she's in the water. Sounds sad and direct (apologize for that), but suspects really like to dispose of victims in the water. Also, given the animal population in this area, her body could have been moved man times in the last two days, and not necessarily in one piece.

7. If its an abduction, she's not far (statistically). At this stage, a wider search pattern is definitely needed.

More to come. Would appreciate your opinions/comments.
 
Up until last year I lived in Westwood and frequently used to run the trail head off of Poblado between Moon Song and Smokesignal, and honestly I am in a bit of shock.

One thing that keeps popping in my head, assuming she made it on the trails was assaulted or otherwise and abducted, is that she had to have been dragged/carried a pretty long distance. The amount of active people in that community always amazed me, so I'm really finding it difficult to imagine this happening in the middle of the day in a frequently used area.

I know I am being a bit naive here, and assuming a lot of the story, but maybe you have some thoughts/theories.

Also, I know the thread has mentioned the proximity of the housing area, but I really don't think it is very close to the bulk of the trails and furthermore, I would think that moving her towards the houses would increase the likelihood that someone would see her being dragged/carried.

Desperately praying for her return today.
 
I was thinking...it says she changed into her running clothes. Where? In the bathroom there? In her car? Obvioulsy the more appropriate place to change would be in the bathroom but she is a teenager and they dont always make the best choices. If she changed in her car I hope a creep/perpatrator didnt see her. I know I have been sitting in my car in a parking lot thinking all the other cars were empty and then all of a sudden see one drive off or someone exit a car. You cant always tell with tinted windows, glares from the sun, etc.

And Im sure if there is a suspect behind this, its definitly a local/neighbor. To be comfortable/confident enough to abduct someone tells me they were very in tune with the routes, parking, exits, etc. This is why flyers are so important, not just for someone to recognize the MP but so if anyone knows something or thinks they may know something but are afraid to rat out someone they know or love, they will be haunted by the MP's poster day and night until they do the right thing.
 
Up until last year I lived in Westwood and frequently used to run the trail head off of Poblado between Moon Song and Smokesignal, and honestly I am in a bit of shock.

One thing that keeps popping in my head, assuming she made it on the trails was assaulted or otherwise and abducted, is that she had to have been dragged/carried a pretty long distance. The amount of active people in that community always amazed me, so I'm really finding it difficult to imagine this happening in the middle of the day in a frequently used area.

I know I am being a bit naive here, and assuming a lot of the story, but maybe you have some thoughts/theories.

Also, I know the thread has mentioned the proximity of the housing area, but I really don't think it is very close to the bulk of the trails and furthermore, I would think that moving her towards the houses would increase the likelihood that someone would see her being dragged/carried.

Desperately praying for her return today.

This is why IMO that its very likley something happened in the parking lot before or after her run and not on the trails.
 
This is why IMO that its very likley something happened in the parking lot before or after her run and not on the trails.

This would be a logical assumption and probably why we should be seeing LE assets being peeled off the primary search site starting COB today.
 
This is why IMO that its very likley something happened in the parking lot before or after her run and not on the trails.

I'm not sure about that. Considering the isolated stretches of trails, I think it's more likely that someone knew her routine, saw her preparing for a run, and took off shortly after she did. Probably abducted her on the trail and her body is hidden somewhere "out there"... :(

The other scenario is the one you mention: abducted in the parking lot. In that case, I think she's probably not close by but maybe over the border.
 
I was thinking...it says she changed into her running clothes. Where? In the bathroom there? In her car? Obvioulsy the more appropriate place to change would be in the bathroom but she is a teenager and they dont always make the best choices. If she changed in her car I hope a creep/perpatrator didnt see her. I know I have been sitting in my car in a parking lot thinking all the other cars were empty and then all of a sudden see one drive off or someone exit a car. You cant always tell with tinted windows, glares from the sun, etc.

And Im sure if there is a suspect behind this, its definitly a local/neighbor. To be comfortable/confident enough to abduct someone tells me they were very in tune with the routes, parking, exits, etc. This is why flyers are so important, not just for someone to recognize the MP but so if anyone knows something or thinks they may know something but are afraid to rat out someone they know or love, they will be haunted by the MP's poster day and night until they do the right thing.


i agree and wrote this in an earlier post...someone knows someone who hangs around that area and who is now not accounted for or is "away" for a few days...they need to call an anonymous tip in, if this is the case, it is better than doing nothing until it is too late and we have to hear about how someone kind of suspected this guy or whatever...
 
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