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

[redsky]

Thanks for the updates TB, I was hoping to come home and read that they had found her.

 

[KaylynnCouture]

Here are Chelsea's missing person flyers taken from the Help Find Chelsea King facebook group. I'm putting these here so anyone in the San Diego/Southern California area who wants to print them off and pass them out, can.

 

[TravelingBug]

Here are Chelsea's missing person flyers taken from the Help Find Chelsea King facebook group. I'm putting these here so anyone in the San Diego/Southern California area who wants to print them off and pass them out, can.

Thanks!

The most recent flier/photo is the one with two photos on it.

The photo on the right with her in the rose colour top is from THURSDAY (the day she went missing) - someone had taken it during her photo class at Poway High.

It's this flier here http://www.powayusd.com/doc_library/2009/ChelseaKingFlyer.pdf that has a photo only a day old!

And just reposting, local FedEx/Kinko stores and Pat O'Sullivan at Village Mail & More by Albertsons on Pomerdo and RB Road will print fliers for free. They've got 10,000 printed at the search center for tomorrow ready to go.

Laura Recovery Center is doing the training for tomorrow.

 

[darlin gal]

VOLUNTEER UPDATE FOR CHELSEA: Meet tomorrow at 11858 Bernardo Plaza Court behind Citibank, RB, 92128 at noon, 2 /27/10. Laura Recovery Center will train searchers. Wear long pants, closed toed shoes. Need to be 18 or over. Bring CDL. Will need to fill out volunteer reg. form. They have printed out over 10K flyers. Spread the word!

 

[TravelingBug]

Is someone able to upload the video from here? It was one of the local news stations and would allow others to see the terrain, etc. TIA!


Here's a second video, as well.

And a third.

 

[nadjatheresa]

Thank you for posting the videos. In the second one, you can see the area that's cordoned off where they presumably found the pedometer and shoe.

By now her parents must have seen the shoe.

Gosh, I hope this poor girl is found safe. Her parents must be in complete agony. I hope Tim Miller's crew can help out tomorrow since they are already there and will be using drones in the same area anyway.

 

[TravelingBug]

They didn't say what yet, but the local news (KNSD for locals) just did a 'teaser' saying that they'd have the latest on what the FBI now thinks happened to Chelsea.

I'm glad that a) the FBI appears to be pretty involved, and b) they seem to have some theory upon which they are working.

Unfortunately it won't air until late because of the Olympics, but hopefully other smaller stations will have similar updates coming up in just a bit at 10, or at least the other major stations will at 11.

 

[TravelingBug]

Thank you for posting the videos. In the second one, you can see the area that's cordoned off where they presumably found the pedometer and shoe.

By now her parents must have seen the shoe.

Gosh, I hope this poor girl is found safe. Her parents must be in complete agony. I hope Tim Miller's crew can help out tomorrow since they are already there and will be using drones in the same area anyway.

I agree about Tim Miller and TES.

I've not heard/seen helicopters since about 7:30. Based on the potential shoe/pedometer finding, and now one station saying the FBI has a theory on what happened, I'm hoping that means they have cause to be looking specifically in another way.

I wish KGTV had a video up. They had a slightly more panned out video that I was hoping to see again so I could show you where it seems they have roped things off. I'm hoping they'll show that video again at 11.

ETA: I went further out and the helicopter, instead of being on the more southerly side of the park and lake, which is also where they had indicated the shoe/pedometer were, is now flying more on the northerly side, nearer the Lomas Serenas part of Escondido right along the north side of Lake Hodges.

There's a constant, bright light, though, still off the west side of the 15 freeway, north of the Duenda overpass, where you can see the trail by the park running near West Bernardo on the west side and you can see Escala down through the canyon on the east side.

So not sure if they're ground searching more in that area to the south, but just have the chopper looking more north because they need to check that area, or if something has led them to move the chopper more north. The chopper has a downlight on as they survey, and reportedly is using infrared.

 

[Sharedspirit]

Is it just me? Or do the news reporters keep refering to Chelsea in the past tense? It's driving me nuts! I shouldn't have watched the video. Watching her parents is heartbreaking.

 

[TravelingBug]

This video from yet another news station is one of the older ones, because it has some feed from last night and most of the rest from this morning shows one thing I was saying last night and that was about how we had some fog.

You can see it at several points in the video from early this morning when it's more just low clouds still at that point, but it's getting soupier again out now, which will again make searching by air more challenging...as will searching on the ground overnight as they did last night, because you can't really see into the brush, but only see what's in the clear places right within eyesight.

 

[TravelingBug]

She's listed now on the NCMEC. http://www.ncmec.org/missingkids/se...seNum=1141924&orgPrefix=NCMC&searchLang=en_US

 

[TheMentalist]

Is someone able to upload the video from here? It was one of the local news stations and would allow others to see the terrain, etc. TIA!


Here's a second video, as well.

And a third.

The second video indicates mountain lions in the area where the shoe was found and the pedometer. I would have to say that my earlier comment about her being a victim to a cat sounds like it may have some merit. I hope for the sake of her family it is not the case. They may need to bring in a fish & game tracker...to find her if she has fallen victim of a mountain lion. Cats are nocturnal and do come out in the evening hours and it is best if you are going to jog or bicycle to have someone with you in the event you encounter one. Or to jog with your dog so that you are not alone in these type of areas. I have experienced mountain lions in my second home in Colorado and they are always lurking around my place. I will continue to hold out hope for her family that she will be found unharmed.

 

[TravelingBug]

KUSI 9/51 at 10:

Search crews are using every tool and piece of technology they have to look for Chelsea. Her parents are distraught. They are searching beginning from 4-6 miles distance away since she doesn't typically go beyond that distance.

They are still calling it a missings persons case but aren't ruling out a criminal investigation.

CW 6 News at 10:

A news conference just wrapped up and there are no signs of Chelsea King (I'm guessing that means the shoes/pedometer weren't belonging to her?).

Investigators are also talking to friends and neighbors in case someone knows of something giving her trouble (I think they mean someone)

Chelsea's family is keeping the faith she'll be found. No one has heard a negative thing about her, she is very beloved.

Students at PHS gathered to talk about what they can do to help (principal is being interviewed, too) - and the principal said that many students are helping search and give out posters, and that there is counseling available to those who want it.

Fox 5 News at 10:

They're now retracing all the steps from yesterday looking for her.

They want as many people working with search teams tomorrow as possible - as many feet on the ground looking as they can have

 

[TravelingBug]

The second video indicates mountain lions in the area where the shoe was found and the pedometer. I would have to say that my earlier comment about her being a victim to a cat sounds like it may have some merit. I hope for the sake of her family it is not the case. They may need to bring in a fish & game tracker...to find her if she has fallen victim of a mountain lion. <snip>

While we do periodically get mountain lions, it's really not that common. Coyotes, on the other hand, are definitely prevalent here. They did bring in certain dogs to track any large cats that may have been around but so far found nothing to indicate that.

One area, in particular, does tend to have migrant workers living in the canyon, so a shoe could certainly be from one of them, as well. I often saw discarded clothing in areas that clearly had been used as camps.

 

[TheMentalist]

Picking up her scent with dogs will be hard if the rain does start falling. Mountain Lions can carry and drag a person quite a distance away. They often bury their prey in shallow graves and return to them periodicly. They are known to lurk in tall grasses and they are extremely fast when they attack. This story of Chelsea's sudden dissappearance reminds me of a small boy who was camping with his parents at big bear and dissappeared from the parking lot of a campground. The first thing that occurred was everyone thought he was abducted. I believe a year later or more they found some of his remains and it was determined that the young boy was a victim of a mountain lion. But I believe his remains were found some distance away from the campsite.

 

[nadjatheresa]

<...>

CW 6 News at 10:

A news conference just wrapped up and there are no signs of Chelsea King (I'm guessing that means the shoes/pedometer weren't belonging to her?).

Investigators are also talking to friends and neighbors in case someone knows of something giving her trouble (I think they mean someone)

Chelsea's family is keeping the faith she'll be found. No one has heard a negative thing about her, she is very beloved.

Students at PHS gathered to talk about what they can do to help (principal is being interviewed, too) - and the principal said that many students are helping search and give out posters, and that there is counseling available to those who want it.

<...>

It will be good news if it's confirmed the shoe and pedometer are not hers. That at least leaves room for hope.

 

[TheMentalist]

While we do periodically get mountain lions, it's really not that common. Coyotes, on the other hand, are definitely prevalent here. They did bring in certain dogs to track any large cats that may have been around but so far found nothing to indicate that.

One area, in particular, does tend to have migrant workers living in the canyon, so a shoe could certainly be from one of them, as well. I often saw discarded clothing in areas that clearly had been used as camps.

I do not find anything about wildlife common. Any free animal has the advantage of mobility and the element of surprise. Another thing to consider is that wildlife in general is drawn to water sources. Not only to drink but to prey on other wildlife that may be refreshing itself near a lake or stream. Even coyotes can be a threat if encountered in a pack. I understand how people fear the homeless because they are different when people decide to live outside of society norms and I understand the proximity to the border may also be a factor to consider. A single shoe is alot more disturbing than a pair of shoes...but I doubt a migrant worker would have a need for a pedometer. So, I think the answer to Chelseas dissappearance will come soon. I hope it is good news.

If this is not Chelsea's shoe and pedometer I hope that this does not indicate a possible earlier victim of a cat. Another incident occurred here in Calif. where a bicyclist was attacked while riding with a friend. The cat drug the woman by her face while her girlfriend fought the cat off by throwing rocks at it. When the fish and game arrived to hunt the cat they found a mans body in a shallow grave about a 1/4 mile away. An abandoned bicycle on the trail marked the spot of the earlier victim . The woman survived due to her courageous friend who would not abandon her to the mountain lions grip on her face.

And with all the wildfires...it has made survival of the mountain lion a hardship by having to move farther out of its usual territory to find food. I did read in an update that there are many dogs at the site of the search so maybe we will have some answers soon.

 

[Ghostwheel]

Picking up her scent with dogs will be hard if the rain does start falling. Mountain Lions can carry and drag a person quite a distance away. They often bury their prey in shallow graves and return to them periodicly. They are known to lurk in tall grasses and they are extremely fast when they attack. This story of Chelsea's sudden dissappearance reminds me of a small boy who was camping with his parents at big bear and dissappeared from the parking lot of a campground. The first thing that occurred was everyone thought he was abducted. I believe a year later or more they found some of his remains and it was determined that the young boy was a victim of a mountain lion. But I believe his remains were found some distance away from the campsite.

I think this is the story you are thinking abouthttp://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/hunting/news/story?id=2075458 The article specifies that they searched all over for the boy, and could not find him, yet the bones were found in the vicinity.

The dogs might have some luck for an hour or so if the rain starts lightly, but after that (and if it gets to coming down really hard), the scent will be hard to find. The dogs should have had better luck this morning after the fog, as any scent that was on the surrounding bushes would have settled to the ground, but there was no report of any dog finding a scent to follow. Since they are asking for volunteers around noon, they probably figure that the dogs will no longer be of any help by then, and it's time to slowly walk the grid, looking for anything unusual that might be helpful. While it's good to pay attention to everything, pedometers and shoes (even single ones) are not that uncommon to find while out hiking. (I am constantly amazed at what I come across, even when not bush-whacking)

 

[TravelingBug]

KFMB 8:

Family trying to still remain optimistic. Absolutely no evidence or belief she would have (or did) run away.

Search crews have been going for 24 hours straight (many of them) but they're starting to shift some out to give rest and have alternating crews.

KGTV 10:

Clothing was found in the search this evening but it was BAGS of clothing, and they have not determined it to be of any relation to Chelsea. There is no news on the shoe.

They had a large group out at Poway High tonight, and it was the topic of conversation all over campus today. They're hoping and praying and telling everyone about Chelsea hoping it will bring information forward.

LEO and extra counselors were on campus today to talk with students.

The peer counselor banquet planned tonight was cancelled since she was a peer counselor, and they had this gathering for all students instead.

The search is spanning more than 40 acres.

They are closing watching the weather knowing rain should be coming around 8/9 am tomorrow morning. The good news is the cloud cover has caused the temperature to increase a bit to be in the low 50's.

 

[TravelingBug]

TES is offering their drones that are here in the McStay search to look for Chelsea and should be used in the days to come as well, now. That's great news - with the resources already here I'm so glad they're putting them to use for Chelsea, as well!