Major Development in Amber Dubois Case: Sources
Updated 2:14 PM PST, Sun, Mar 7, 2010
<snipped> More than one year after the disappearance of Escondido teen Amber Dubois sources say there has been a major development in the case.
Investigators have scheduled a 3.30 p.m. news conference regarding Amber's case but would not reveal any other details.
Amber was last seen walking on Feb. 13, 2009 with a man about 200 yards from Escondido High School. She was 14-years old at the time.
In late February, Poway teenager Chelsea King's disappearance launched an extensive search in the area around Lake Hodges with officers from multiple agencies. A body was found along the southern edge of the lake and a registered sex offender was charged with murder and rape in Chelsea's death.
After the discovery of a body in the King search, the search for Amber intensified.
On Friday, law enforcement officers were in Kit Carson Park in Escondido following up on a tip that a group of children found a bag with hair inside. On Saturday, police drained the pond in the park for a second day of searching. Investigators found no clues, Lt. Craig Carter said.
Sheriff to hold press conference on Amber Dubois
Originally published March 7, 2010 at 1:35 p.m., updated March 7, 2010 at 2:25 p.m
<snipped> The Sheriff’s Department has scheduled a press conference for 3:30 p.m. today at its Kearney Mesa Headquarters in connection with the investigation into disappearance of Escondido teenager Amber Dubois.
It is unclear what information will be revealed at the press conference but reached by phone Dubois’ grandmother Sheila Welch said, “I am a very sad grandmother today,” She would not elaborate.
Investigators have been working to determine if John Albert Gardner, a 30-year-old registered sex offender who was arrested in connection with the murder of 17-year-old Chelsea King, may have also been connected to the Dubois case.
Gardner was living about two miles away from the area where the girl vanished.
Sheriff’s department calls Sunday press conference on Amber Dubois
Sunday, March 7, 2010
<snipped> Just a day after the search of a pond at Escondido’s Kit Carson Park proved to be unfruitful in the search for missing teenager Amber Dubois, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department Sunday called a news conference about the case.
There was no immediate indication of the nature of any announcement. The Sheriff’s Department has not had a major role in the Dubois case, as the girl disappeared in Escondido and the the Escondido Police Department has been the lead law enforcement agency investigating her disappearance
The search at Kit Carson Park stemmed from a tip received Thursday that last May, three girls found a black plastic bag and human hair at the edge of a pond, said Escondido police Lt. Craig Carter. Detectives found a bag Thursday night, but it contained only mud and debris, Carter said. It was given to the FBI to analyze.
BREAKING: Surprise news conference called in Amber Dubois case
Posted: March 7, 2010 2:29 pm
<snipped> Sheriff's officials have called a Sunday news conference regarding missing Escondido teen Amber Dubois.
No details were released in advance of the briefing, scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the Escondido Police Department.
On Friday and Saturday, search and rescue personnel from the Sheriff's Department, Escondido Police Department and FBI searched a southeast area of Kit Carson Park in Escondido for clues to Amber's disappearance.
However, on Saturday Escondido police said the search had turned up no links to the missing girl.
Sheriff's hold Amber Dubois Press Conference
2:43 PM PST, March 7, 2010
Updated: 6 minutes ago
<snipped> Just a day after the search of a pond at Escondido's Kit Carson Park proved to be unfruitful in the search for missing teenager Amber Dubois, authorities today scheduled an afternoon news conference about the case.
Police refused to tip their hand as to any development sparking the news conference, which had originally been called by the Sheriff's Department for its headquarters, but then moved to the Escondido Police Department station.
The Sheriff's Department has not had a major role in the Dubois case, as the girl disappeared in Escondido and the Escondido Police Department has been the lead law enforcement agency investigating her disappearance.
However, Amber returned to public attention since the arrest -- by the Sheriff's Department -- of John Albert Gardner III in connection with the disappearance and death of 17-year-old Chelsea King in nearby Rancho Bernardo. Gardner is a registered sex offender who lived recently in Escondido. Investigators were looking into any involvement he might have had with Amber, or in other unsolved crimes.
LIVE STREAM: Press Conference Related to Amber Dubois
Posted: Mar 07, 2010 4:56 PM EST
Updated: Mar 07, 2010 5:27 PM EST
<snipped> The Sheriff's Department has scheduled a press conference for 3:30 p.m. today.
Breaking News: SD County Sheriff's Dept. News Conference re: Amber Dubois at 3:30
Last Update: 2:25 pm
<snipped> A news conference has been scheduled regarding the Amber Dubois missing person investigation. It will be held at 3:30. San Diego 6 will have team coverage for you tonight at 10 and will be updating the web with information as it comes available.
Escondido police search for missing 14-year-old
Monday, February 16, 2009 at 2 a.m.
<snipped> Police are looking for a missing 14-year-old Escondido girl.
Amber LeeAnne Dubois was reported missing Friday evening. Relatives said they had last seen her walking to Escondido High School about 7:10 a.m. Friday, police said.
Her family said the disappearance was “completely out of character,” police said.
Amber is described as 5 feet 3 inches tall, 140 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.
Police were checking into a possible sighting of her at 6 p.m. Saturday, walking with two other teens near Palomar Medical Center in Escondido.
Video: Pond searched for DuBois clues 3/6/10 2:08 Tonight divers have completed their search of an Escondido pond for possible clues in the disappearance of Escondido teenager, Amber DuBois. http://www.kusi.com/home/86739957.html?video=YHI&t=a
UPDATED: The Body of Missing Escondido Teen Amber Dubois Has Been Located
Last Update: 6:14 pm
<snipped> The body of Amber Dubois was located in the Pala area of northern San Diego County Saturday ending a mystery that began the day before Valentine's Day, 2009. Escondido police made the announcement Sunday afternoon during a brief news conference.
"The discovery was made in the early morning hours of Saturday, in a very rugged and remote section of Pala,'' Escondido police Chief Jim Maher said at a news conference. Pala is in northern San Diego County, about 25 miles from Escondido. The chief said detectives were following a lead when her body was found.
"Positive identification was subsequently made by the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office late Saturday afternoon by way of a dental records comparison,'' Maher said. "Her parents were notified in person by Escondido and sheriff's investigators Saturday night.
Investigators did not reveal Sunday whether Gardner played any role in the discovery of Amber Dubois' remains. There is no information about what lead investigators to the Pala area.
Word of a break in the case became apparent Sunday afternoon shortly before 2:00 p.m. when the San Diego County Sheriff's Department announced a news conference would be held about the case at 3:30 at the sheriff's headquarters in Kearny Mesa. Minutes later an announcement came that the location had been changed to the Escondido Police Department Heaquarters. During the brief news conference, Escondido police chief Jim Maher was the only official who spoke. Sheriff Bill Gore, who is facing his first election after being appointed to the position by county officials, stood silently behind Maher.
Gore told a few reporters after the news conference in Escondido that there would be a news conferece at the Sheriff's department Monday with more details of the case revealed.
The San Diego County Sheriff's department was the lead agency in the King case, even though the search area and crime scene were within the City of San Diego limits and within the jurisdiction of the San Diego Police Department. Sheriff Bill Gore and his public relations spokesperson, Jan Caldwell, conducted all news conferences and major announcements about the King case. *More at link!
Police find skeletal remains of Amber Dubois in Pala
Sunday, March 7, 2010
<snipped> Escondido police announced Sunday the discovery of the remains of Amber Dubois in Pala. The Escondido teen went missing on Feb. 13, 2009 and has been missing since. She was 14 years old at the time.
The Escondido police department said that human skeletal remains found Saturday were positively identified as those of Dubois by the San Diego County medical examiner’s office using dental records.
Officials did not give details on the investigation or whether it’s related to the arrest of John Albert Gardner III, who was charged in the death of 17-year-old Chelsea King last week.
“We’d like to thank everyone involved in the search for Amber the entire community — everyone that helped search in the effort — and most of all our huge volunteer corps,” said father Maurice Dubois who spoke briefly at the Sunday announcement. ”
The murder case is still under investigation.
San Diego County Sheriff's Department divers head towards a creekside area at Kit Carson Park in Escondido on Friday. Searchers found her remains in Pala late Saturday.
Remains of girl found in area of recent killing Amber Dubois had vanished last year; Chelsea King's death led to arrest
updated 33 minutes ago
<snipped> Escondido Police Chief Jim Maher said the bones of Amber Dubois were found early Saturday in a remote area of the Pala Indian Reservation, and positively identified through dental records later in the day.
Maher declined to answer any questions during a brief news conference Sunday because he said the discovery is part of an ongoing murder investigation.
Amber's father, Maurice Dubois, appeared distraught at the news conference and thanked volunteers for their work on the year-long search.
The search for Amber picked up after 17-year-old Chelsea King was killed and a suspect — convicted sex offender John Albert Gardner III — was arrested and charged last week.
UPDATED: Authorities: Human remains identified as Amber Dubois
Posted: Mar 07, 2010 6:49 PM EST
Updated: Mar 07, 2010 9:42 PM EST
<snipped> During a press conference Sunday, authorities revealed that the skeletal remains of a 14-year-old Amber Dubois were found in a remote area of the Pala Indian Reservation. Dubois disappeared a year ago while walking to school.
Searchers found Amber's skeletal remains early Saturday on the Pala Indian Reservation, a sparsely populated area that occupies more than 12,000 acres in the northeast corner of San Diego County, said Escondido Police Chief Jim Maher. The county medical examiner's office confirmed later in the day the remains were Amber's through dental records, he said.
Remains of Amber Dubois found in Pala
Originally published March 7, 2010 at 1:35 p.m., updated March 7, 2010 at 4:41 p.m.
<snipped> “The discovery was made in the early morning hours Saturday in a very rugged and remote area of Pala,” said Escondido Police Chief Jim Maher. “Escondido police and sheriff’s homicide detectives were following a lead in the case when they made the discovery.”The remains, found north of the Pala reservation, were positively identified through dental records Saturday afternoon.
Maher, flanked by Sheriff Bill Gore and FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Keith Slotter, declined to answer any questions at the 5-minute news conference at the Escondido Police Department, citing the ongoing murder investigation. He said the investigation would be a joint effort between the three agencies. “Any details, no matter how slight, would be inappropriate to reveal at this time,” Maher said.
Amber’s parents, Moe Dubois and Carrie McGonigle, expressed their thanks for the immense search effort. “The entire community, everybody who helped out with the search effort, and above all our huge volunteer corps, they are the most dedicated people and without them we couldn’t have done anything,” said a tearful Moe Dubois.
Robert Smith, Chairman of the Pala Indian Band, said that he was unaware of the investigation and that he first heard about it on the news. “Our prayers go out to the family,” he said.
Two witnesses who knew Amber saw her walking on North Broadway near the football field with a tall, dark-skinned boy described as “doughy.” But she, nor the boy, were ever captured on security cameras near the front of the school.
Authorities renewed the search effort again last week, draining a murky pond at Kit Carson Park after receiving a tip that three girls had found a bag with hair around it in the pond in May. Divers scoured the pond and others combed the banks, but Escondido police concluded Saturday afternoon that no new evidence had been found. They made no mention of the concurrent search happening in Pala. Investigators have not revealed if they’ve been able to interrogate Gardner regarding Amber’s case since his arrest.
Amber’s father on Saturday likened the ordeal to a hellish, never-ending rollercoaster ride that he just wanted to get off. “We need to have our closure. If she’s somewhere around, we won’t stop until we find her,” he said. A $100,000 has been offered in the case. Sheriff’s officials declined to say if the reward money would be paid to anyone.
UPDATED: Skeletal remains of missing Escondido teen, Amber Dubois found
4:27 PM PST, March 7, 2010
<snipped> Amber Dubois' body has been found in Escondido Park, confirmed by San Diego Sheriffs Department. Skeletal remains found in Pala were those of missing Escondido teenager Amber Dubois, the Escondido Police Department announced Sunday. Amber was 14 when she went missing more than a year ago while walking to Escondido High School.
Despite a months-long search by law enforcement, family and volunteers, her body was not found until this weekend. "The discovery was made in the early morning hours of Saturday, in a very rugged and remote section of Pala,'' Escondido police Chief Jim Maher said at a news conference. Pala is in northern San Diego County, about 25 miles from Escondido.
Gardner is a registered sex offender who lived in Escondido when Amber disappeared. Investigators were looking into any involvement he might have had with the girl, or in other unsolved crimes. Because Maher did not take questions, the source of the tip or any possible role played by Gardner was unknown.
Amber's father, Maurice Dubois, took a moment to thank everyone in the search for Amber, especially the hundreds of volunteers who looked for the girl every weekend for much of last year. "They were the most dedicated people you could ever imagine,'' Maurice Dubois said. ``Without them, we couldn't have done anything.''
Dubois tip didn't come from Gardner, source says P.I. says the accused killer of Chelsea King didn't lead authorities to Amber's remains
Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 5:58 p.m.
<snipped> Accused killer John Albert Gardner III had nothing to do with the tip that led law enforcement to Amber Dubois’ remains, according to a local private investigator who worked on the case.
Bill Garcia, hired by Amber’s family shortly after she disappeared, said he was told by a person with first-hand knowledge that the tip about the location of the remains did not come from Gardner, who was charged Wednesday with the rape and murder of Chelsea King, 17, of Poway. “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’s long suspected Amber's body might be found in the Pala area, because any abductor would have wanted to get away from high-traffic areas quickly, and rural routes out of Escondido lead to the Pauma Valley. “We’ve spent a lot of time in the past year, working that canyon,” Garcia said. “You put yourself in the mindset of someone who would perpetrate this crime, and all the indicators point in that direction. It’s no mystery to me that’s where she was found.” He said his “suspicion” is that the remains were found in the northeast corner of the Pala reservation, “in an area that is difficult to get into and an area we have not searched.”
People.com initially reported that a hiker had stumbled on the remains, but a law enforcement source told The San Diego Union-Tribune that is not correct. People.com removed the reference in later versions of its story.
Remains Of Amber Dubois Positively Identified Remains Of Escondido Teen Amber Dubois Found In Pala
POSTED: 3:09 pm PST March 7, 2010
UPDATED: 5:40 pm PST March 7, 2010
<snipped> Skeletal remains found in Pala were those of missing Escondido teenager Amber Dubois, the Escondido Police Department announced Sunday.
"The discovery was made in the early morning hours of Saturday, in a very rugged and remote section of Pala," Escondido police Chief Jim Maher said at a news conference. Pala is in northern San Diego County, about 25 miles from Escondido.
The chief said detectives were following a lead when her body was found.
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