Amber Dubois -- Found Deceased 3/6/10 -- UPDATE: John Albert Gardner III admits he murdered Amber

AMBER LEEANNE DUBOIS




DEscriptION

Date of Birth:	October 25, 1994	Place of Birth:	Lakewood, California (Los Angeles County)
Sex:	Female	Hair:	Brown (short to medium length)
Height:	5'5" (at the time of disappearance)	Eyes:	Blue
Weight:	125 pounds (at the time of disappearance)	Race:	White

THE DETAILS

On February 13, 2009, Amber Dubois (age 14) disappeared while walking from her home in Escondido, California, to her nearby high school. At approximately 7:10 a.m., someone saw Amber walking hurriedly toward her school in the direction of the school's athletic practice field. Shortly thereafter, Amber was seen walking about a block further at a normal pace. She was in the company of an unknown male. It is possible that this male may have been the last person to see Amber before her disappearance.

Additionally, there was a red pickup truck that pulled into a parking lot on the school grounds near where Amber was last seen. This truck was parked only for several minutes before leaving the area. Law enforcement is interested in interviewing the driver of the truck.

The truck is described as a newer model,possibly a Ford, GMC, or Toyota, with chrome both above and below the grill. The vehicle is a full size, four-door crew cab pickup truck, red or maroon in color. The truck has chrome wheels and running boards and may be equipped with chrome rails or capsalong top of the bed sides. The truck may also have a fifth-wheel trailer hitch.

REMARKS

Amber was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black pants. Her jewelry consisted of a blue sapphire ring worn on her middle left finger. She was also wearing a silver claddagh ring, which is a traditional Irish ring given in friendship or worn as a wedding ring. It is described as two hands clasping a heart, and the heart is surmounted by a crown. Amber was carrying a black shoulder bag, which is similar in appearance to a computer laptop carrying case.

PERSON OF INTEREST

The unidentified male reportedly seen with Amber immediately prior to her disappearance is not a suspect in this case, but is someone that law enforcement would like to interview. Thisindividual is described below.

Age:	Approximately 13-18 years old (possibly middle- to high-school age)	Clothing:	Dark (Individual was possibly wearing a dark-colored backpack.)
Sex:	Male	Hair:	Dark (average length to short)
Height:	Tall	Complexion:	Dark
Build:	Medium build	Race:	Unknown

http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/dubois_a.htm

Tip Sparks Major Search at Kit Carson Park

Police are acting on an unusual tip concerning a bag containing hair

By MICHELLE WAYLAND, ARTIE OJEDA and GENE CUBBISON
Updated 3:06 PM PST, Fri, Mar 5, 2010



A tip regarding a bag possibly containing hair that was found three months after the disappearance of Amber Dubois sparked a major search of Escondido's Kit Carson Park Friday.

Thursday night three children, an 8-year-old and two 11-year-olds, reminded their parents about seeing a "bag with what looked like hair coming out of it," Escondido police Lieutenant Craig Carter said.

The children made the discovery nine months ago and recalled it in light of the Chelsea King story. One of the children's parents immediately called police.

Thursday night, police secured an area near a pond in a wooded section of the park along a waterway and waited for daylight to further investigate the scene.

Escondido police called in a huge showing of search and rescue personnel including the sheriff's underwater search and recovery team. They found a sack in the southern reaches of the park, but said there was nothing inside.

"From what we understand, they don't feel it's going to be a body of any type. Because if it was, being this close to a snack shack where everybody has a party every weekend, someone would've noticed it by now," said Amber's father Maurice Luque.

A lot of other bags were found in the area, indicating transient camping. As long as all the resources were deployed -- boats, divers, search and rescue volunteers -- Escondido police said they would widen the search to see if anything useful turns up.

The area is about two miles northeast of the area where a body, believed to be that of Poway teenager Chelsea King, was found Tuesday after an extensive search. It’s also south of where Escondido teenager Amber Dubois disappeared.

Amber was last seen Feb. 13, 2009. She was 14 years old when she left to walk to Escondido High School from her home a few blocks away. Two witnesses said they saw her on the sidewalk just a few hundred yards from the school's main entrance. She never made it.

Registered sex offender John Albert Gardner III, the man charged in the murder and rape of Chelsea King, could be tied to Amber's case, according to Amber's father Maurice Dubois.

At the time Amber disappeared, Gardner lived just two miles from Escondido High School in the Rock Springs East apartment complex.

Amber's father said he can't help but draw connections between his daughter's case and Chelsea King's and that he's spoken with investigators with Escondido police as well as the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.

On Friday he said he was happy that investigators were being aggressive in the search for his daughter.

Police said they were planning to start canvassing the neighborhood again to search for leads in the case.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Homicide-Investigators-Search-Kit-Carson-Park--86646937.html

FBI Will Analyze Contents of Bags Found in the Area

KNX 1070 News
Posted: Saturday, 06 March 2010 3:41AM

ESCONDIDO, Calif. (AP) -- Police drained a pond in a park north of San Diego on Friday, in their efforts to find a girl who vanished about a year ago in the same region where 17-year-old Chelsea King disappeared last week. And they planned to search the area through the weekend.

Investigators located a bag near the pond in Kit Carson Park that three children reported finding in May — three months after Amber Dubois, 14, vanished while walking to school, Escondido police Lt. Craig Carter said. The children told their parents the bag contained what looked like human hair, but the parents didn't think it significant at the time.

Read more: http://www.knx1070.com/Pond-Drained-Near-San-Diego--in-Search-for-Missing/6508785

Police end pond search for Amber Dubois

Mar 6 2010 4:55PM
Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) Police in Escondido, Calif. say they've found no clues after draining a pond in the search for a missing teen, Amber Dubois.

A woman reported that her children had found what looked like a bag of human hair at Kit Carson Park.

Authorities say the search ended when police uncovered nothing of evidentiary value after draining the pond for a second day.

Police say the woman didn't make the connection to the search for Amber until another teen 17-year-old Chelsea King vanished last week about 10 miles south in San Diego. A body presumed to be Chelsea's was found Tuesday in a shallow lakeside grave.

Amber disappeared last year while walking to school. She was 14 years old at the time.

http://www.kxnet.com/getArticle.asp?ArticleId=533496

I was hoping they'd find some clues to Amber. It's hard to believe it's been a year already since Amber went missing and the pain and anguish her family continues to suffer. Just not knowing.

Amber Dubois Found Dead

EmailWritten by Deena on Mar-7-10 8:03pm

Amber Dubois, a 14-year-old girl who disappeared in February last year, has been found dead, authorities in San Diego County confirmed today. Her remains were found in north San Diego, according to LeftCoastRebel.com.

People feared John Albert Gardner, the man charged with 17-year-old Chelsea King's rape and murder in the same area, was also involved in Amber's disappearance. It is still unclear if the cases are connected. Amber's body was recovered in a different area of San Diego.

“The discovery was made in the early morning hours Saturday in a very rugged, very remote area of Pala," said Escondido Police Chief Jim Maher. “Escondido police and sheriff’s homicide was following a lead in the case when they made the discovery.”

http://www.zimbio.com/Amber+Dubois/articles/FX4i8u5ZJt6/Amber+Dubois+Found+Dead

Amber Dubois Found Dead: Map of Dissapearance, Escondido High School to 'North of' Pala, Scroll for UPDATES

by the Left Coast Rebel
3.07.2010

As many know, there have been several recent developments in the Amber Dubois case, the missing teen from 2009. Investigators had been working overtime near Kit Carson park on a lead. It turns out by chance that her body has been found in an entirely different area of San Diego, Pala to be exact. This just in from 10 News San Diego:

ESCONDIDO, Calif. -- Skeletal remains found in Pala were positively identified as those of missing Escondido teenager Amber Dubois, the Escondido Police Department announced Sunday.

Sign on SD (U/T) has more details:

“The discovery was made in the early morning hours Saturday in a very rugged, remote area of Pala," said Escondido Police Chief Jim Maher. “Escondido police and sheriff’s homicide was following a lead in the case when they made the discovery.”

The remains were positively identified through dental records, Maher said.

The discovery comes just days after the body of 17-year-old Poway girl Chelsea King was found buried in a shallow grave along the shores of Lake Hodges.

Investigators have been working to determine if John Albert Gardner III, a 30-year-old registered sex offender who was arrested in Chelsea’s slaying, may have also been connected to Amber’s disappearance. Gardner was living about two miles away from the area where the Amber vanished.

Sheriff’s officials are continuing to provide further information during a news conference in Escondido.

The discovery ends the painstaking search for Amber that took family members, law enforcement and hundreds of volunteers throughout southern California and into Mexico over the past 13 months.
Her family said it was unlikely she ran away. She had no extra clothes, and she was excited to purchase a lamb she was going to raise through the school’s agricultural program. The $200 check she carried to school that day has never been cashed, police said.

Instead, authorities have said she most likely got into a vehicle with someone, possibly someone she knew.

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. Escondido police, with help from the FBI and other agencies, have spent thousands of hours investigating the case.

Last summer, search dogs from Maine hired by the family apparently traced her scent to the Pala library, but no one there remembered having seen her. Bloodhounds used by the FBI several months later found no hint of her there.

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.

Investigators have not revealed if they’ve been able to interrogate Gardner regarding Amber’s case since his arrest.

Amber’s father, Maurice Dubois, 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 case. It was unclear Sunday if the reward money would be paid to anyone.

Investigators have said Amber’s disappearance bore many similarities to Chelsea’s.

Chelsea, a senior at Poway High School, vanished Feb. 25 after apparently going for a run in Rancho Bernardo Community Park. She never returned home. Her black BMW was found in the parking lot.

A breathless five-day search in the vicinity ended Tuesday with the discovery of her body.

Gardner, who was arrested at a nearby restaurant, Hernandez Hide-A-Way, on March 28, has been charged with murder in Chelsea’s case, as well as assault with the intent to rape in a separate attack on a 22-year-old jogger Dec. 27.

Authorities identified Gardner from semen on a piece of Chelsea’s clothing that was run through a national DNA database at a state lab last weekend, California Department of Justice said.

http://www.leftcoastrebel.com/2010/03/amber-dubois-found-dead-amber-dubois.html

Remains of girl found in area of recent killing
Amber Dubois had vanished last year; Chelsea King's death led to arrest

updated 2 hours, 43 minutes ago

ESCONDIDO, Calif. - The bones of a 14-year-old Southern California girl who vanished more than a year ago while walking to school were discovered in a rugged, remote area, authorities said Sunday, less than a week after a registered sex offender was charged with murdering another Southern California girl, 17-year-old Chelsea King.

The search for Amber Dubois had produced few leads until King disappeared Feb. 25, last seen wearing running clothes in a park about 10 miles south of where Amber was last seen walking with a man. A body presumed to be Chelsea's was found in a shallow, lakeside grave five days after Chelsea disappeared.

Searchers found Amber's skeletal remains early Saturday on the Pala Indian Reservation, north of San Diego, and the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed later in the day they were hers through dental records, said Escondido Police Chief Jim Maher.

Maher declined to answer questions during a news conference Sunday because he said the discovery was part of an ongoing murder investigation. He said a "lead" brought investigators to the reservation, but he did not elaborate.

"I certainly had hoped that when the day came to do a press conference on Amber it would be under much different circumstances, but that was not to be," he said.

Amber's parents, Maurice Dubois and Carrie McGonigle, appeared distraught at his side. Maurice Dubois briefly thanked everyone who searched for Amber since her Feb. 13, 2009, disappearance near Escondido High School, particularly volunteers.

"They were the most dedicated people you could ever imagine," he said. "Without them, we couldn't have done anything."

The search for Amber produced few leads until 17-year-old Chelsea King disappeared Feb. 25, last seen wearing running clothes in a park about 10 miles south of where Amber was last seen walking with a man near school. A body presumed to be Chelsea's was found five days after Chelsea disappeared in a shallow, lakeside grave.

John Albert Gardner III, 30, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murdering Chelsea and raping or attempting to rape her and attempting to rape another woman in December, a potential death penalty case.

Gardner was registered as a sex offender in Escondido, a north San Diego suburb, from January 2008 to January 2010, with some gaps, police say.

He served five years of a six-year prison term for molesting a 13-year-old neighbor in San Diego in 2000; he saw her at a bus stop and lured her to his home to watch movies, authorities said. He completed parole in September 2008.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35753586/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts

I was hoping for a better outcome. My prayers are with Amber's family. I wonder if the "lead" came from Gardner.

My heart goes out to her family. I can't imagine what they've been through. Now they have to face the reality of her death. Only 14 years old with such a promising life ahead of her.


J4A, I have to wonder about Gardner as well. He's extremely violent and should have never been walking the streets.

For me, it's just TOO coincidental that the remains were found so close together... I was hoping for another resolution to Amber's case... but I hope that somehow her parents can find some closure - it must be hell to think that your child is out there somewhere alive, enduring who knows what.... Now they know that she's not in that situation anymore...

i am with the rest of you.. i was really hoping that amber would be brought home alive.

at least now, for her family, the wondering is over, and they can lay her to rest properly.

my thoughts and prayers are with the family.

Escondido classmates mourn Amber Dubois

By Michael Burge, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Monday, March 8, 2010 at 9:21 a.m.

Tears mingled with raindrops outside Escondido High School Monday morning as students returned for class, a day after learning classmate Amber Dubois’ remains were discovered in Pala.

Students left flowers, cards and lighted candles at a banner calling for Amber’s safe return outside the school’s gates and signed a memory book, the ink running as the sodden skies soaked the pages.

“She was just one of the sweetest people I knew,” said Hailey Kosinski, a sophomore and Amber’s friend. “It’s horrible this happened to her.”

Amber, a 14-year-old freshman, had been missing for 13 months after she vanished while walking to school in February 2009. The search for her ended Saturday, when her remains were found in a remote area of Pala, in rural North County.

“When we heard we all broke down and we cried and cried and cried,” Hailey said. Asked about her grief, Hailey, who said Amber was one of her lunchtime companions, said,” It’s something that can’t be put into words.”

The search for Amber gained momentum after Chelsea King, a 17-year-old Poway High School student, disappeared Feb. 25. Chelsea’s remains were found Tuesday in a shallow grave near Lake Hodges.

John Albert Gardner, 30, has been charged in Chelsea’s rape and killing and police are investigating whether he played any role in Amber’s disappearance.

Escondido high school district spokeswoman Karyl O’Brien said the school has brought in crisis counselors to help students in their grief. She said many teachers and staff members are also affected, and will meet after school to support each other.

She said teachers also are aware to watch for students who may need help during the day and to refer them to counselors.

Escondido High School Principal Rich Watkins said in a statement the school staff appreciated the support of the community and police in helping search for Amber over the past year. The school was a hub for search and communication efforts.

“Our hearts go out to her family and friends, and it is a loss for our school and community,” Watkins said. He also praised the Escondido police.

“They interviewed hundreds of students this school year in an effort to find Amber. They never stopped looking,” he said.

O’Brien said the school may host a vigil this evening, but plans are still tentative.

Renee Harter, a ninth-grader, said, while Amber’s discovery brings closure for her family, “We were always hoping it was going to end in good news.”

Renee said Amber’s disappearance affected students in many ways.

“I’m a little more aware now,” Renee said. “I always get a ride to school so I don’t have to worry, but it always makes you a little more alert.”

Cards left at the banner for Amber, which has now become a makeshift memorial, expressed the feelings of many.

“Dear Amber — You’re in a much better place now. May you rest in peace,” one read.

Another, addressed to her family, said, “May memories bring comfort.”

Mark Rantz, an Escondido resident and rabbinical intern, stopped at the school to say a prayer.

“I prayed the mourner’s kaddish,” said Rantz, describing it as a prayer of grief, and a prayer to celebrate the life God gave everyone.

“I can’t imagine the horror (the family’s) or the horror of the King family,” Rantz said. “We carry the kids in our heart.”

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/08/amber-dubois-classmates-escondido-high-school/

My thoughts are with the family of Amber. I hope that they find some closure in this heartbreaking loss of their daughter. The past year must have been hell for them.

At least there is some closure now...I pray that they can find solace in the fact that she is with God...Their search is over...

Parents of dead SoCal teen urge new predator laws

By ELLIOT SPAGAT, Associated Press Writer Elliot Spagat, Associated Press Writer – Tue Mar 9, 3:49 am ET

ESCONDIDO, Calif. – The father of a 14-year-old girl whose bones were found more than a year after she vanished walking to school urged supporters to behave like his late daughter's favorite animal, the wolf, to hunt down child predators.

"Wolves hunt to survive, wolves hunt to together to catch their prey," Maurice Dubois told more than 1,000 mourners at a candlelight vigil Monday night for Amber Dubois. "We as parents and the community need to make a change for the protection of our children."

Mourners held a moment of silence for Amber, whose remains were found early Saturday in a rugged area north of San Diego, and 17-year-old Chelsea King, who disappeared Feb. 25 in a north San Diego park. A body presumed to be Chelsea's was found March 2 in a shallow, lakeside grave.

John Albert Gardner III pleaded not guilty last week to murdering and raping or attempting to rape 17-year-old Chelsea King of Poway and attempting to rape another woman in December in the same park where King disappeared.

His public defender, Michael Popkins, did not respond to a phone message.

The registered sex offender was expected in court Tuesday for a brief hearing to address procedural issues.

Escondido police say Gardner, 30, is also a focus of their investigation into Amber's death.

Carrie McGonigle, Amber's mother, said laws need to be changed.

"I still see a lot of children walking by themselves and it scares me," she said on a chilly night in the courtyard of Escondido High School, near the spot where Amber disappeared Feb. 13, 2009, in the north San Diego suburb.

Police said Sunday that Amber's remains were identified through dental records. They have not said what led them to the remote area near Pala because the discovery is part of a murder investigation.

"Yesterday was my personal time for tears," Dubois told the audience. "Now, for Amber, it is our time to take action."

Amber, a member of Future Farmers of America, left home with a $200 check to buy a lamb on the day she vanished. It was never cashed, fueling suspicion of foul play.

But, as Dubois noted in his remarks, rumors that she was a runaway hampered the family's efforts to bring national media attention to their search. Gardner's arrest three days after Chelsea King disappeared renewed interest in Amber.

Amber was an avid reader and animal lover who had a horse at her grandmother's stable in the Los Angeles area.

Kelly Elsbernd, a cousin, said she and Amber grew up drawing animals together and pretending to be seals and otters when they went swimming.

"They never really played with dolls," said Nicole Elsbernd, Kelly's mother. "They played with bugs."

Jade Fidel, Amber's best friend, said Amber had two dogs, a cat and a bird but wolves were her favorite.

"She liked them," Fidel said. "They were free, independent."

Gardner was registered as a sex offender in Escondido from January 2008 to January 2010, with some gaps, according to police. He served five years of a six-year prison term for molesting a 13-year-old neighbor in San Diego in 2000 and completed parole in September 2008

Escondido Police Chief Jim Maher told the crowd he would do everything possible to find Amber's killer.

"If not closure, we can certainly get justice," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100309/ap_on_re_us/us_missing_teen;_ylt=Ak6MkBun03.lWd6okhQMKLhH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTM0dGN0dDkzBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwMzA5L3VzX21pc3NpbmdfdGVlbgRjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzUEcG9zAzUEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNwYXJlbnRzb2ZkZWE-

"But, as Dubois noted in his remarks, rumors that she was a runaway hampered the family's efforts to bring national media attention to their search."

This seems to be the major issue in almost all missing people....I wish everyone would be treated as kidnapped until prove otherwise. It wouldn't be a waste of time or resources as it is a human who has gone missing, regardless of the reason...

I completely agree pi-girl - and this girl did NOT fit characteristically with normal runaways - she was happy - there was no evidence that she took clothes, or planned to leave - she was going to buy a lamb that very day for FFA - so to the contrary, everything pointed to the FACT that she DIDN'T run away, esp since her lamb check was never cashed and no doubt she would have had to have that $$ to survive if she ran away... But the media continued to imply that she might be a runaway... that in turn swayed the public opinion (as it always does) I truly don't think that LE ever portrayed her as a runaway, but I might be wrong on that as well, i just don't recall them ever saying that was a possbility. IMO, even if they might be a runaway, i think they should be looked for - they should be assumed kidnapped until proven otherwise...

Memorial set for Amber Dubois

March 14, 2010 10:00 AM NEWS

A March 27 public memorial is planned for Amber Dubois in Escondido High School's stadium.

The body of the 14-year-old girl, who was last seen walking to school on Feb. 13, 2009, was found March 6 about three miles north of state Route 76 near the Pala Casino.

A cause of death has not been established, but 30-year-old John Albert
Gardner III, who has been charged in the slaying of 17-year-old Chelsea King, is being investigated in connection with her disappearance and death.

Amber is expected to be buried during a private ceremony in Escondido on March 26.



http://www.lajollalight.com/news/267078-memorial-set-for-amber-dubois

‘Upbeat’ memorial to celebrate Amber
Escondido girl’s love of animals to be highlighted


Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 2:31 a.m.

AMBER DUBOIS MEMORIAL
When: 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday

Where: Escondido High School stadium, 1535 N. Broadway, Escondido

Shuttles: Noon to 3 p.m. from Escondido United Reformed Church, 1864 N. Broadway


Amber Dubois, then 13, and her father, Moe Dubois, at a family Christmas party.



Amber and her mother, Carrie McGonigle, on a trip to San Francisco when Amber was 13.



On a trip to San Francisco when Amber was 13.


When Amber Dubois went missing more than a year ago, family members, friends, law enforcement agents and strangers set out to find the Escondido teenager.

In the months that followed, an awful uncertainty gnawed at the hopes many initially held that the 14-year-old girl would be found alive.

On Saturday, a memorial for the freckle-faced freshman will be held at the Escondido High School stadium, an event her family has designed to celebrate Amber’s life and to comfort those aching over her death.

Amber’s remains were found March 6 in a rugged hillside area north of Pala. She had vanished while walking to school Feb. 13, 2009.

“I think it’s going to be very upbeat in Amber’s honor,” said Tina Leach, part of a core group of volunteers who spent most weekends for 13 months searching for Amber and blanketing the county with thousands of fliers. “I think it will bring resolution. It’s just very hard to believe this has happened.”

Leach didn’t know Amber or her family when the teen disappeared, but the mission of finding her brought Leach close to Amber’s parents, Carrie McGonigle and Moe Dubois. Leach was with McGonigle when word came of the discovery in Pala.

“I felt that Amber was alive the whole time,” Leach said. “The volunteers became a family, and we wanted to bring Amber home. We did bring her home — not in the way we had hoped, but at least now we know she’s safe.”

No arrests have been made in Amber’s death, but Escondido police have said convicted sex offender John Albert Gardner III is a focus of their investigation. Gardner is being held without bail after pleading not guilty to charges of rape and murder in the death of Poway teenager Chelsea King. Chelsea, 17, disappeared Feb. 25 after going for a run in Rancho Bernardo Community Park. Her body was found in a shallow grave near Lake Hodges five days later.

Amber’s memorial will pay tribute to Chelsea and to Danielle van Dam and Polly Klaas, two other slain children whose parents offered support to Amber’s parents over the agonizing months.

Brenda and Damon van Dam lost their 7-year-old daughter, Danielle, in 2002, when she was abducted from their Sabre Springs home by a neighbor and murdered.

Polly Klaas, 12, was kidnapped from her Northern California home by a stranger and murdered in 1993. Dubois and McGonigle asked Polly’s father, Marc Klaas, and his KlaasKids Foundation for Children to help search for Amber.

On Saturday, the parents of all four girls will release doves in their honor.

Chelsea’s parents, Kelly and Brent King, said the parents are forever linked by their children’s tragic deaths.

“The only other people who can truly understand what you’re going through and walk in your shoes are, unfortunately, the ones who have been there themselves,” Kelly King said. “So, I think you’re forever bound in experience and grief.”

Amber’s love of animals will be reflected at her memorial in ways that surely would have tickled the teen. She was the kind of girl who wore the same necklace for months because the ebony center on its silver pendant set off the shape of a tiny shining wolf. Amber loved wolves — their beauty, strength and the natural world they represented.

At the memorial, Frankie the TV star wolf will be one of a number of special animal guests. Frankie will be brought from Working Wildlife ranch north of Los Angeles, which is home to more than 100 animals that perform in television and movie productions.

The year-old black male wolf has appeared on late-night talk shows and the HBO vampire series “True Blood.”

Fallbrook-based Pacific Animal Productions will bring a llama, miniature horse, monkey and python as well.

“We were asked to bring them as a tribute to Amber’s love for animals, and we were happy to do that,” said Karla Majewski, owner of the private zoo that offers educational programs. “We chose these animals because we were told they were some of her favorites.”

Amber had been carrying a check for $200 the morning she disappeared. The money would have paid for a lamb she planned to raise as an FFA project.

The Escondido High FFA raised the animal and sold it last year in Amber’s name, donating the proceeds to search efforts.

Agriculture teacher Mark Reyburn will join Amber’s parents and friends as a speaker Saturday. Amber also leaves behind a younger sister, Allison, now 6.

McGonigle said her hope for the memorial is that “everybody leaves knowing who Amber was and that everyone leaves knowing that she lived a good life.”

One legacy of Amber’s disappearance has been an increased awareness of the need to teach teens self-defense strategies.

Escondido High Principal Rich Watkins said that awareness surged after Chelsea was killed.

“Amber was just being a kid when she was walking to school,” Watkins said. “It’s our job as adults to heighten their awareness but not to create fear. What would be truly tragic is if we didn’t learn from this.”

Escondido High and other schools in the district have emphasized that students shouldn’t walk alone and runners should train in groups. Last weekend, the school hosted a self-defense course for students.

Amber’s death “just opened our eyes,” said parent Lisa Schmitt, whose daughter, Jenna, took an agriculture class with Amber. “We can’t raise victims. Kids have to know what’s out there.”

In recent days, students from Escondido schools have collected 2,000 signatures on a petition calling for better enforcement and more funding for laws regarding sex offenders.

The petitions were presented at a forum Tuesday in Escondido about sexual-predator laws. Forum participants included state Sen. Mark Wyland, R-Solana Beach, Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego, Escondido Police Chief Jim Maher and Escondido Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler.

“Amber was just walking on the street, and a lot of kids do that. It could have been anybody,” said Escondido High junior Hannah Navarra. “We’re doing this to show that there are kids at our schools who don’t feel safe and need these laws enforced.”

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/25/upbeat-memorial-to-celebrate-amber/

"Amber’s memorial will pay tribute to Chelsea and to Danielle van Dam and Polly Klaas, two other slain children whose parents offered support to Amber’s parents over the agonizing months."

The parents of all four girls will release doves in their honor....this will be a beautiful tribute to these slain girls.

wow - how amazing to see these families pull together - that is EXACTLY what it's going to take to get SO laws changed.
This is a "club" that NO ONE wants to be part of - and I admire them for their bravery and endurance - no parent should ever have to bury their child, esp when they have been stolen from them and them molested and murdered... My prayers are with all of these families as they continue to grieve...

My feelings exactly, Tish. You don't hear anything from the van Dam's but they are apparently reaching out to help others. They were put through hell during the trial. I despised that defense attorney.

It is very classy of Amber's parents to pay tribute to Chelsea, Danielle, and Polly during their time of grief.

10news.com will have the livestream of Amber's memorial on Saturday at 1pm Pacific/4pm Eastern at the following link.

http://www.10news.com/video/15013365/index.html

Remembering Amber

By R. STICKNEY
Updated 4:22 PM PDT, Sat, Mar 27, 2010



With music, laughter and a variety of animals, family, friends and members of the community celebrated the life of Amber Dubois Saturday.

The 14-year old Escondido teenager was the focus of a year-long search until her body was found a rugged, remote area of Pala, in northern San Diego County.

One after another, speakers stood on the stage in front of a huge bouquet of purple flowers and talked of Amber's love for animals and her dream to work with them as a career. In front of them, a huge flower arrangement spelled out Amber's name on the stage.

Amber’s father Moe Dubois thanked the crowd for attending and supporting the family and then asked for their help to demand legislation be enforced.

For every tear that may have been shed for a child who was abducted and killed, Dubois asked the crowd to spend one minute of action protecting our children.

“Amber didn’t need to die for nothing. Chelsea [King], Danielle [van Dam], Polly [Klaas], these are all children taken far too young,” Dubois said. “We need to protect the children we have left.”

Amber Dubois’ death struck a chord with many according to Escondido High School Principal Rich Watkins who recalled the moment at a recent candlelight vigil where someone spontaneously started singing “Amazing Grace.”

“My prayer today for Moe and Carrie and the family and everyone else here is that grace, that amazing grace would manifest itself in peace and comfort today and in the days ahead,” Watkins said.

Taylor Doyle, a longtime friend of Amber, talked of reading and laughing with Amber. She dreamed of growing up and continuing her friendship with Amber as they graduated high school, got married and raised kids. “Whoever did this robbed me from having this legacy. We were supposed to be friends forever,” she said.

Photos of Amber’s life were edited in a video to several songs including Elton John’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” and Cindi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”

Amber was a smart and loving student, as well as one who really cared about people, her fourth grade teacher told the crowd. She left an imprint on his heart one day when he asked if he could pet her horse. “First you have to look into its eyes,” she told him. “Do you see it?” she asked him. “Look hard, don’t you see its spirit?”

The ceremony, started at 1 p.m. in the football stadium at Escondido High on 1535 N. Broadway.

Amber's family and friends held a private funeral service Friday in Orange County ahead of Saturday's public memorial.

Escondido police announced they were acting on a tip when they found skeletal remains near Pala March 6. Later that day they had identified the remains using dental records and had contacted McGonigle and Moe Dubois.

“It’s not the outcome that we wanted but you know what, we know where she’s at," Amber's mother said several days after the discovery of her daughter's body. "I would hate to go through life not knowing.”

“We know she’s safe now, she’s not being hurt anymore but there’s still a lot of justice that needs to be done,” said her father.

Convicted sex offender John Gardner -- who has been charged with the murder and possible rape of Poway teen Chelsea King, who was slain last month -- has been connected by police to the investigation into Amber's death.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Funeral-Held-for-Amber-Dubois-89306212.html

Slain teen’s dad: ‘We need to protect children’
Calif. girl who disappeared on way to school recalled as ‘kind, innocent’

updated 4:00 a.m. ET, Sun., March. 28, 2010


Sandy Huffaker/AP - Allsion Cave reads a poem in honor of her sister Amber Dubois during a celebration of her life ceremony at Escondido High School in Escondido, Calif., on Saturday.

ESCONDIDO, Calif. - More than 1,000 people paid tribute Saturday to a 14-year-old girl whose remains were found more than a year after she disappeared walking to school. Her father urged anyone who cried for her to demand a crackdown on child predators.

Amber Dubois was a voracious reader with a fertile imagination and a profound love of animals, friends, family and teachers told the audience on a sun-drenched track field at Escondido High School, north of San Diego. Her favorite animal, the wolf, appeared in front of the stage along with a llama, snake, monkey and goats.

The ceremony ended when the parents of Amber and three other California girls who have been kidnapped and killed each released a dove on stage. They included the parents of Chelsea King, a 17-year-old whose body was found five days after she was last seen running Feb. 25 in a San Diego park.

Amber's bones were discovered March 6 in a rugged, remote area north of San Diego. She vanished Feb. 13, 2009, carrying a $200 check to purchase a lamb she was to raise for Future Farmers of America. The check was never cashed.

'Robbed'
Taylor Doyle, a friend, recalled riding horses with Amber at summer camp, reading books with her in bed and seeing her "radiance and beauty" at freshman homecoming. She hoped to attend college with Amber and raise children together.

"Now I'm robbed," she said. "Whoever did this robbed me of having this legacy."

John Albert Gardner III, 30, is the only suspect that police have named in Amber's death but he has not been charged. Authorities have not said what led them to the remains.

Three days before Amber's bones were found, Gardner pleaded not guilty to murdering Chelsea King and attempting to rape another woman in December. He served five years of a six-year sentence for molesting a 13-year-old neighbor in San Diego in 2000.

Maurice Dubois, Amber's father, recalled how his daughter teased him — how she laughed when a goose attacked him at a park and fiddled with his ear while he was driving. On a more serious note, he pleaded with the audience to demand that laws aimed at stopping child predators are funded and enforced.

"We need to protect the children we have left, the children we have around us," he said. "I don't want this to go in vain. I want us to make a change."

Marc Klaas, who founded Klaaskids Foundation after his 12-year-old daughter was abducted from a slumber party in 1993 and later found slain, also demanded tougher enforcement.

"We worked so hard, we passed so many laws, we keep thinking we've made a difference, but it keeps continuing, it keeps going on. Ladies and gentlemen, we have to hold our politicians accountable," said Klaas, who helped in the search for Amber.

Speakers remembered a quiet but self-assured girl who made friends easily.

Carrie McGonigle, Amber's mother, said her daughter collected rat's bones as a young girl and kept them in her bedroom.

Carrie McGibney, an eighth-grade teacher, said Amber read books while walking down the hallway and flipped the pages under her desk while simultaneously taking history notes.

Another eighth-grade teacher, Pat Gross, said Amber stayed after class to discuss books. She last saw Amber a week before her disappearance when her former student dropped by to tell her of her plans to raise a lamb.

"It was the Amber I knew and remember — kind, enthusiastic and innocent," Gross said.

Mark Reyburn, her high school agriculture teacher, Amber was a talented public speaker who found her niche in his agriculture class and looked forward to a career in animal sciences.

Reyburn said he had to admonish Amber to stop reading while he was lecturing.

"She would reply with her big blue eyes, 'While I was reading, I could hear you,'" he said.

Gardner pleads guilty to murders of Chelsea, Amber

By Dana Littlefield, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Originally published April 16, 2010 at 2:29 p.m., updated April 16, 2010 at 4:11 p.m.

John Albert Gardner III pleaded guilty Friday afternoon to murdering Chelsea King and Amber Dubois, ending weeks of speculation as to whether he would be charged in the deaths of both teenage girls.

As a result of the plea agreement, the 31-year-old convicted sex offender will avoid facing the death penalty and instead be sentenced to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Gardner also pleaded guilty to the special circumstances of raping or attempting to rape both teenagers. In addition, he pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting a jogger in Rancho Bernardo Community Park on Dec. 27, 2009. The sentence is the maximum under the law other than the death penalty.

As part of the agreement, Gardner waived his right to appeal the convictions. Dressed in a dark blue jumpsuit and orange sandals, Gardner mostly kept his gaze lowered or on San Diego Superior Court Judge David Danielsen. Gardner gave one-word answers acknowledging his guilty pleas, and the judge accepted the pleas.

Attending the hearing were Chelsea’s parents, Brent and Kelly King, and Amber’s parents, Moe Dubois and Carrie McGonigle.

Deputy District Attorney Kristen Spieler said District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis had consulted parents of both teenagers before making the plea agreement with Gardner.

“Both families understand the reasons behind this decision and support this decision,” Spieler told Danielsen.

Gardner’s admissions during the hearing revealed new information in the circumstances of both girls’ deaths.

Gardner acknowledged to Danielsen that he took Amber to a remote area near Pala, raped and stabbed the 14-year-old Escondido girl within 90 minutes of first contacting her, then buried her in a shallow grave. Amber disappeared on Feb. 13, 2009 while walking to Escondido High School.

Gardner admitted in court that he attacked Chelsea while she was running in Rancho Bernardo Community Park on Feb. 25, then dragged her to a remote area where he raped and strangled her before burying her.

The 17-year-old Poway girl’s body was found five days later in a shallow grave in a tributary of nearby Lake Hodges. Thousands of volunteers and law enforcement officials had searched for the girl.

Gardner was arrested Feb. 28 and arraigned the next day on charges he raped and murdered Chelsea. He was linked to the crime through DNA evidence found on a piece of Chelsea’s clothing.

On March 6, authorities announced they had found Amber’s skeletal remains 13 months after she went missing. Escondido police said Gardner was a focus in the investigation into Amber’s death but would not discuss any further details. Citing a gag order, lawyers in the case refused to answer any questions about Gardner, including whether he had led authorities to Amber’s body.

The gag order remains in effect until a hearing scheduled for Thursday.

The families were joined in court Friday by about 10 supporters, some wearing buttons with Amber’s face on them. Some wore T-shirts emblazoned with, “Hope never sleeps, bring Amber home” and “Amber’s eyes will always shine.” Three people wore shirts promoting Chelsea’s Light Foundation with the phrase, “They can because they think they can.”

After the hearing, supporters gathered outside the courtroom and hugged each other but declined to comment.

Gardner’s attorneys, deputy public defenders Mel Epley and Michael Popkins, declined to make statements after the hearing.

Dumanis and Sheriff Bill Gore also attended the hearing, sitting in the front row of onlookers.

Staff writers Janet Lavelle and Matthew T. Hall contributed to this article.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/16/gardner-pleads-guilty-murders-chelsea-amber/

Read Gardner's plea at the following link.

http://media.nbcsandiego.com/documents/04-16-10+-+John+A.+Gardner+-+Charges.pdf

Charges against Gardner and his admission.

CHARGES

COUNT 1 - MURDER
On or about February 25, 2010, JOHN ALBERT GARDNER did unlawfully murder Chelsea K., a human being, in violation of PENAL CODE SECTION 187(a).

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCE
And it is further alleged that the murder of Chelsea K. was committed by defendant JOHN ALBERT GARDNER while the said defendant was engaged in the commission and attempted commission of the crime of Rape, in violation of Penal Code Section 261, within the meaning of PENAL CODE SECTION 190.2(a)(17).

COUNT 2 - ASSAULT WITH INTENT TO COMMIT A SPECIFIC FELONY
On or about December 27, 2009, JOHN ALBERT GARDNER did unlawfully assault Candice M., with the intent to commit rape, in violation of PENAL CODE SECTION 220(a).

COUNT 3 - MURDER
On or about February 13, 2009, JOHN ALBERT GARDNER did unlawfully murder Amber D., a human being, in violation of PENAL CODE SECTION 187(a).

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCE
And it is further alleged that the murder of Amber D. was committed by defendant JOHN ALBERT GARDNER while the said defendant was engaged in the commission and attempted commission of the crime of Rape, in violation of Penal Code Section 261, within the meaning of PENAL CODE SECTION 190.2(a)(17).

Gardner’s Admission

As to Count One, I admit that on February 25, 2010, I attacked Chelsea King while she was running. I dragged her to a remote area where I raped and strangled her. I then buried her in a shallow grave. I admit that this killing was done with premeditation and deliberation. I further admit that this murder occurred during the course of a rape, within the meaning of Penal Code Section 190.2(a)(17). This murder took place within an hour of my initial contact with Chelsea King.

As to Count Two, I admit that on December 27, 2009, I attacked Candice Moncayo while she was running and unlawfully assaulted her with the intent to rape her.

As to Count Three, I admit that on February 13, 2009, I took Amber Dubois to a remote area of Pala where I raped and stabbed her. I then buried her in a shallow grave. I admit that this killing was done with premeditation and deliberation. I further admit that this murder occurred during the course of a rape, within the meaning of Penal Code section 190.2(a)(17). This murder took place within an hour and a half of my initial contact with Amber Dubois.

I don't even know what to say, except for the fact Amber's parents now know where their daughter was while they were frantically searching for her. They know when she was abducted, what he did to her and how she died.

Unfortunately, it will not bring their child back to them. And they will replay the 90 minutes of the end of her life over and over again in their minds for the rest of their days. I wish them peace.

For Amber's Family, Closure

By ERIC S. PAGE
Updated 5:30 PM PDT, Fri, Apr 16, 2010



Amber Dubois' mother, Carrie McGonigle, strained for emotional control on Friday as District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis discussed why her office accepted a plea deal with now-convicted double murderer and rapist John Gardner.

For the first time, officials explained how they found Amber's body since her disappearance on Feb. 13, 2009, as she walked to class at Escondido High School. Dumanis said on Friday that Gardner led sheriff's deputies on March 5 of this year -- shortly after his arrest -- to the 14-year-old's body in the remote area of Pala where he raped and stabbed her to death less than two hours after he first came into contact with her. He also admitted Friday that he then buried her body in a shallow grave, as he did a little over a year later after raping and strangling Chelsea King in Rancho Bernardo Community Park.

Under the terms of the deal Gardner worked out for leading investigators to the body, though, prosecutors could not use that information against him. However, they would be allowed to use evidence found at the scene. Because no DNA evidence was found to link the killer to the girl, and because nothing seized through search warrants tied the two together, prosecutors ultimately agreed to take the death penalty off the table in exchange for guilty pleas to murder charges in the deaths of both Chelsea King and Amber Dubois.

After Dumanis spoke Friday about accepting a deal which, in all likelihood, will result in a life sentence without the possibility of parole in lieu of a death sentence -- "a hollow promise" anyway, according to the DA -- Maurice "Moe" Dubois stepped forward to talk about his daughter's case.

Video: Amber's Father Talks About the Case's Turn of Events

Dubois first thanked the District Attorney's office for its diligence in prosecuting both cases and also extended his appreciation to law enforcement for their efforts. He then discussed how shocking the developments of the last 24 hours were since they learned of the turn in the case.

"As you can imagine, this turn of events in the case came as a surprise to us when we were informed about the details yesterday," Dubois said. "As a parent, I am thankful for the work put forth by the D.A.'s office and the defense team in coming forth with a resolution in the case and allowing us to have justice and closure for Amber's case."

Dubois concluded his remarks by thanking the community for the support it has offered to his family and the King family, and requested that the media and public grant them the time to heal.

"We ask that after today's press conference, you once again allow our families a bit of time to grieve, and we thank you for your understanding," Dubois said.

Gardner is due for sentencing on June 1. At that time, both families will be able to tell the court about their losses during victim impact statements.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/For-Ambers-Family-Closure-91114589.html

Amber's Stepfather Explains His Rage
Police questioned David Cave for months after Amber Dubois disappeared

By KATIA LÓPEZ-HODOYÁN and MICHELLE WAYLAND
Updated 1:55 PM PDT, Sun, Apr 18, 2010



Amber Dubois’ stepfather says a trial for John Albert Gardner III would have been a waste of taxpayer’s money. Now he hopes this ordeal will somehow trigger change.

David Cave was questioned by Escondido Police for months in Amber’s disappearance.

“Opened my house, gave them my computers, opened my vehicles up for them, gave them all my corporate account information,” Cave said. “I said, ‘you guys investigate me, do what you have to do, but hurry up so you can find the right person’.”

He says detectives always treated him with respect, but until recently, never ruled him out as a possible suspect.

Video: Dave Cave Explains His Rage

Now that the right person is behind bars, Cave says he feels a sense of closure -- but still, plenty of rage.

“The jerk does not realize how many people's lives he's affected and destroyed,” Cave said.

Now, his focus is on changing the state's law. He calls the death penalty "a joke."

“How many millions of dollars get spent a year by Californians on people who have been sitting on death row for 30 years, for 20 years for 10 years?” Cave said.

His plea is for legislators to take action and leave all the talk behind.

“Last time I checked, they worked for us,” Cave said.

Amber vanished in February 2009 with a $200 check to purchase a lamb she was to raise for Future Farmers of America. The check was never cashed.

The investigation produced few solid leads until Chelsea King disappeared Feb. 25 near the site where Amber went missing.

Gardner led authorities to the 14-year-old Escondido teen’s body on March 5 with the agreement that it couldn’t be used against him in court. Her bones were discovered March 6 in a rugged, remote area north of San Diego.

On Friday, Gardner pleaded guilty to kidnapping, raping and stabbing Amber one and a half hours after he met her. In the plea deal, he will avoid the death penalty and get two consecutive life terms without parole and a third life term with a minimum of 33 years. He relinquished his right to appeal.

On Saturday Cave had a tearful message for his stepdaughter.

”I love you Amber. I miss you and I love you and I'm going to keep missing your forever,” Cave said.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Ambers-Stepfather-Explains-His-Rage---91393939.html

Amber's Dad Grateful to Gardner: Report
There is one thing Moe Dubois would thank John Gardner for. Just one.

By R. STICKNEY and TONY SHIN
Updated 7:29 AM PDT, Mon, Apr 19, 2010



John Gardner admitted he killed and raped Amber Dubois, the Escondido teenager who disappeared in February 2009 and whose body was found near Pala more than a year later.

Even after that disclosure, Amber’s father, Moe Dubois, told a local television reporter that he would actually thank the killer for one thing – telling him where his daughter was.

"Is he a monster? Of course. Did he ruin my life? Yes. Did he allow my family to have closure and be able to bury our daughter? Yeah, he did. So, I would actually thank him for giving us the closure, and I wouldn’t say anything else to him," Dubois told KGTV.

Gardner accepted a plea deal with the San Diego county district attorney’s office. He would plead guilty to raping and murdering Poway teenager Chelsea King, as well as Amber but would avoid the death penalty.

Gardner's attorneys would only agree to the deal if it meant life in prison without the possibility of parole. Chelsea’s parents Brent and Kelly King agreed, so Amber’s parents could have closure.

"I have to thank the King family for going the route they did or we wouldn't have the closure you know," said Amber’s mother Carrie McGonigle. "It put a lot of weight on them to say, give the Dubois family some closure."

McGonigle, who said she learned the details of the plea in a secret parking-lot meeting with the DA’s office, found Friday’s court appearance nearly unbearable.

"Rage, wanting to go up there and just kill him myself basically," McGonigle said. "It's a lot to handle.”

“Just looking at him and seeing that kind of person hurting our girls and killing them,” she said. “There's no words for it, the disgust."

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Ambers-Dad-Grateful-to-Gardner-Report-91463634.html

It's sad that the DP can't be used BUT, in all actuality, he probably wouldn't have been put to death anyway. What I mean is this...most of the time, the perp ends up dying in prison of old age before they can be put to death. Between all the mandatory appeals & the ones these scumbags come up with to file, well, they usually don't get the DP anyway. At least this way, there is closure for these families now.

Workers Report Seeing Amber Alive

By TONY SHIN
Updated 8:23 AM PDT, Tue, Apr 27, 2010

Amber Dubois may have been alive when John Gardner took her to the spot where he buried her, according to details in a search warrant released late Monday.

Shortly after Gardner was arrested and Amber's remains were found, Escondido police got a call from two San Diego Gas & Electric employees.

The utility workers said on Feb. 13, 2009 -- the same day the Escondido teenager was last seen -- they saw a man and someone who they thought was a young woman near a silver Ford Escort in Pala. The sighting was about 8 a.m., about 50 minutes after witnesses spotted Amber as she walked to Escondido High School.

"They may have been the last persons to see Amber alive," Amber's mother Carrie McGonigle said Monday. The sighting gives her some answers when it comes to her daughter's death.

McGonigle spoke to Escondido Police investigators on Monday afternoon to get more details about the sighting. She said investigators told her that the utility workers didn't think the sighting was unusual.

"They thought they were a couple of drunk people who were there after going to a casino," McGonigle said. "They thought the girl was a woman about 20 years old."

McGonigle also said investigators told her that the workers didn't realize they had seen Amber and Gardner until after his arrest on Feb. 28 when it was learned that the convicted sex offender was driving a silver car.

McGonigle said she doesn't blame the workers for not reporting the incident sooner. She believes at the time of the sighting the men didn't have any reason to think anything was unusual because local law enforcement didn't react quickly to the disappearance, like they did with Poway teenager Chelsea King's abduction.

"We didn't even have the big command center and search teams for three weeks, so had [law enforcement] put something out there, an alert of some sort, maybe the two guys would have said "Hey, what about the two guys we saw today?"

An Escondido police lieutenant declined to comment Monday about the sighting.

McGonigle is having a video put together showcasing Amber's life. She plans to play that video during Garnder's upcoming sentencing, hoping he will feel her pain.

"I don't know if he'll watch it or not, but he took away our baby," McGonigle said. She's also putting together a speech that she'll read to Gardner that will include questions still unanswered.

"Why her?” McGonigle is waiting to ask, “Was she in the wrong place at the wrong time? How did you come in contact with her?"

Gardner, who accepted a plea agreement April 16 and pleaded guilty to the deaths of both Amber and Chelsea, will be sentenced to life in prison without parole on June 1.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Workers-Think-They-Saw-Amber-Dubois-Alive.html

My heart just broke as I read the words of Amber's parents. The grief they must be feeling is so beyond my wildest ability to comprehend. I can only imagine what they must be dealing with, as I KNOW I have never had to deal with pain even remotely close to that which they are now facing.

Although I believe strongly in the death penalty for monsters of Gardner's type, I agree with Fysty in that even if he had received the death penalty, it would have been years before he was executed. It is so much better that Amber's parent have the peace of having their little girl back with them, albeit not in the way they had hoped. And frequently, LWOP can be much worse for an inmate. Sometimes, the DP is the easy way out.

God bless the families of Amber and Chelsea.

Gardner Refuses to See Amber's Mom


NBCSanDiego.com
updated 19 minutes ago
May 5, 2010

Carrie McGonigle, the mother of murdered teenager Amber Dubois, was turned away from a visit with her daughter's killer, John Gardner.

Gardner, 31, pleaded guilty to killing Dubois and Poway teenager Chelsea King and had said he would talk to his victim's parents if they wanted more information.

"I'm calling him out on what he said, so let's see if he does it," McGonigle said.

She called deputies on Monday, to try and get a visit, but there weren't any times available. She called back on Tuesday several times until she said deputies went up to Gardner's cell to ask him if he'll meet with her.

"He wanted me to speak to his attorneys and he was asking deputies 'Should I or shouldn't I?' and the deputy said you just need to say yes or no, 'Do you want to meet? Yes or no? I can't give you advice,'"McGonigle said.

Gardner's attorneys told McGonigle that she couldn't meet with their client until after his sentencing on May 14.

McGonigle said Gardner eventually declined. But she's hoping he will say yes before the sentencing when she and other family members will give their victim impact speeches.

"I've waited 15 months for answers and I want them before sentencing because it completely changes what I'm going to say at the hearing," McGonigle said."I don't want to have to hold back on my statement because of being afraid of him saying 'You know what? I'm never going to give this family the answers that they want.'"

McGonigle has a list of 20 questions for Gardner. The number one question is "Why Amber?" She says the rest of the questions are private.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36960853/ns/local_news-san_diego_ca/

Dad of murdered girl fights back

By DENISSE SALAZAR
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Published: May 7, 2010



BUENA PARK – For nearly 13 months, Moe DuBois hoped that his blue-eyed daughter who loved books, bugs and animals would be found alive. But his hopes for a happy ending evaporated when her remains were found in a rugged area of the Pala Indian Reservation.

Amber DuBois vanished while walking to Escondido High School in February 2009.

Her father remembers getting a call from Amber's mother saying she didn't go to school and immediately knew something was wrong.

Amber had a $200 check in hand to adopt a lamb through her school's Future Farmers of America Program. Her father said Amber had been looking forward to getting the lamb for a year and a half and had already picked out a name: Nanette.

"You can't describe all the thoughts that go through your head," DuBois, who lives in Buena Park, said during an interview. "It's just a devastating experience."

The agony of not knowing what happened to his only child went on for days, weeks and months. One of the hardest days was Oct. 25. It would have been Amber's 15th birthday.

On March 6, Moe DuBois and Amber's mother, Carrie McGonigle, were called to the Escondido Police Department.

"It's a hard sinking moment because you know what they are going to tell you," DuBois said. "It's awful. It's an awful thing to go through."

Amber's remains found

Amber's remains were discovered in a rugged, remote area of Pala. An autopsy revealed she had been stabbed.

The discovery was made just days after convicted sex offender John Albert Gardner III was arrested in connection with the slaying of 17-year-old Chelsea King. The senior at Poway High School disappeared on Feb. 25 after going for a run at Rancho Bernardo Community Park in San Diego. Her body was found five days later in a shallow grave along the shores of Lake Hodges. She had been raped and strangled.

DuBois later learned that Gardner confessed to killing Amber after he was arraigned on charges of murdering Chelsea.

"They took him out at three in the morning and he led them to Amber's body," DuBois said.

Gardner pleaded guilty to both murders April 16 and will be sentenced next week.

What happened to Amber has inspired her father to protect children.

"Amber was my only child. I have no more children I can protect for myself," DuBois said. "I want to be there for other families who have lost their children and help them get them back."

DuBois is working with lawmakers on legislation that would help authorities respond more quickly when children are abducted and to keep better track of registered sex offenders.

Standardized procedures

DuBois is recommending standardized statewide procedures when a child goes missing to ensure a faster, more efficient recovery. This would ensure that all agencies have similar resources and guidelines to handle missing children cases.

He is also proposing to establish a system to quickly identify all registered sex-offenders within a five-mile radius after a child is reported missing.

To realize his goal of protecting children, DuBois wants to speed up notifications of missing children from four hours to two hours through the National Crime Information Center.

Ernie Allen, president of The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said he has not seen a draft of the legislation, but is in favor of the intent for rapid response because time is the enemy on missing children cases.

Allen said data shows that 75 percent of the children who are abducted and murdered by strangers are dead within three hours.

"We believe that if the laws are the best that they can be and if law enforcement has the kind of resources it needs...that many more of these children's lives can be saved," Allen said during a phone interview. "Would they have saved Amber? I don't know. They certainly would have helped."

Dubois is also proposing that registered sex offenders carry state driver's licenses that identify them as such. This would help police immediately know who they are dealing with and raise red flags for signs of inappropriate contact with children.

"I think there is going to be a lot of pushback on that one," said Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley, who is working with DuBois. "That is going to be very difficult because of individual rights issues."

Other states like Louisiana and Delaware already use driver's licenses to identify sex offenders.

DuBois is also working with Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, to help close gaps in the system.

The legislation wll be unveiled later this month.

"We don't hold our agency that handled our case at fault for anything, but we did realize throughout this time many, many gaps in the system, leaks in the bowl...and that's what we are trying to patch up," DuBois said.

Need to prevent attacks

Elliott Carrie, a professor of criminology, law and society at UC Irvine, said the problem with the proposed measures is that they are reactive, not preventive.

"They don't speak to what I believe are the most pressing needs if we really want to keep kids safe: working to prevent people from becoming sex offenders in the first place, and working with those who have already committed crimes to reduce the likelihood that they'll offend again," Currie said in an e-mail.

DuBois, who resigned from his job as an electrical engineer the day Amber was abducted, said helping keep children safe has helped him cope with the pain of losing Amber.

"Once I stop I start to get frustrated and get upset, lose my focus, get depressed. I just completely roll down that hill, fall on my face and it's hard to get back up. I gotta keep going everyday. I gotta keep doing something."

For more information about DuBois' efforts, go to morekids.org.

http://www.ocregister.com/news/dubois-247697-amber-children.html

Source: Gardner, Amber's mom meet up
FOX 5 San Diego Staff
7:36 PM PDT, May 12, 2010



SAN DIEGO - Amber Dubois' mother Carrie McGonigle confronted her daughter's killer in a jailhouse meeting Wednesday, according to a source.

Fifteen months after the Escondido teenager was murdered by John Albert Gardner III, the confessed killer of both Amber and Chelsea King, the 14-year-old's mother personally spoke with him at the San Diego Central Jail.

The source close to McGonigle said she received a phone call Wednesday telling her she could go to the jail and meet with Gardner for 30 minutes.

None of the details of the conversation were released Wednesday, yet the source said she felt a sense of closure she'd been hoping for since Amber disappeared February 13, 2009.

http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-ambers-mom-gardner-talk,0,5307431.story

Killer heads to prison amid changes to Calif laws

May 13, 2010

SAN DIEGO — A man once imprisoned for molesting a child is going back — this time to serve a life term for raping and murdering two girls in a case has sparked calls to change the way child sex predators are punished.

John Albert Gardner III, 31, will be sentenced in San Diego Friday under a plea agreement that spared him the death penalty but denies him any possibility of parole.

Gardner's guilty plea last month to killing 14-year-old Amber Dubois and 17-year-old Chelsea King has sparked a far-reaching review of how California deals with sex predators, a campaign that advocates hope to take to Washington and other state capitols.

Calls to stiffen penalties for child sex offenders began almost the moment Gardner was arrested Feb. 28, three days after he attacked Chelsea on an afternoon run in San Diego, strangled her, and buried her in a shallow, lakeside grave.

Gardner served five years of a six-year prison sentence for beating and molesting a 13-year-old girl in San Diego in 2000. He faced a maximum of nearly 11 years in prison, but prosecutors called for six years.

A court-appointed psychiatrist urged the maximum sentence allowed by law. He said in court documents that Gardner was a "continued danger to underage girls" and "an extremely poor candidate" for treatment.

Maurice Dubois, Amber Dubois's father, says in a statement to be read Friday that psychiatrist Dr. Matthew Carroll "was the only one who saw Gardner for what he is, a dangerous predator interested in young girls."

In the statement, Dubois likens his daughter's killer to a mountain lion, whose instincts are to stalk and attack. If the zookeeper frees the lion from captivity, he asks, who is responsible for the killings that come after?

Dubois heaps blame on the criminal justice system.

"It's obvious the legal system failed us here, with all of the missed opportunities that ultimately allowed this monster to stalk our streets and harm our loved ones," Dubois writes in his statement, released Thursday in San Diego Superior Court.

The case has put California's parole system under the microscope.

Gardner lived little more than a football field's length from a San Diego preschool for at least 16 months while on parole from 2005 to 2008. That violated a condition of parole that prohibited him from living within a half-mile of a school.

A corrections department official let him stay until his lease expired in 2006 but no one noticed he was still living there until a year later. The parole board could have sent him back to prison but kept him on parole, where he had six other less serious potential violations.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered a state board to review the parole system.

Brent and Kelly King, Chelsea's parents, are leading a campaign for "Chelsea's Law" to allow life sentences for some convicted child molesters in California and lifetime electronic monitoring of others. The bill, which cleared its first legislative committee last month, would also ban sex offenders from parks.

"I will channel my rage and commit to spending my life to making our society safe from the incurable evil," Brent King said at a memorial service in March. "Known sexual predators are not curable ... If anyone — anyone — believes that this evil is treatable, let them live next door to you and your children, not ours."

http://ap.thecabin.net/pstories/us/20100514/638817926.shtml

Piper wrote:Killer heads to prison amid changes to Calif laws

May 13, 2010

...
"I will channel my rage and commit to spending my life to making our society safe from the incurable evil," Brent King said at a memorial service in March. "Known sexual predators are not curable ... If anyone — anyone — believes that this evil is treatable, let them live next door to you and your children, not ours."

The entire article is very well written and contains a lot of great suggestions. They should not be let out ever. When they are free to roam - and they are free because 1/2 mile from a school is not far enough away - and if they are still allowed in parks... ???? It's our children who are basically locked away while these jerks roam at will.

Amber's mom to appear on 'Good Morning America'
Carrie McGonigle will talk about Friday's sentencing of her daughter's killer

By Kristina Davis, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Saturday, May 15, 2010 at 2:34 p.m.



The mother of slain Escondido teenager Amber Dubois is scheduled to appear on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday to speak about the sentencing of her daughter’s rapist and killer.

Carrie McGonigle arrived in New York Saturday afternoon with her daughter, Allison, and a friend, said a family spokesman. The show is scheduled to air from 7 to 9 a.m. on KGTV-Channel 10. The specific time of her interview has not been set.

Sex offender John Albert Gardner III was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the chance of parole in the rape and murder of Amber, 14, and Chelsea King, 17, of Escondido.

It is unknown if McGonigle will discuss portions of the jailhouse talk she had with Gardner Wednesday. She has said Gardner answered many of her questions during the face-to-face meeting, including how he abducted Amber.

McGonigle has said that she wants to share the information with family before she discusses it publicly.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/15/ambers-mom-appear-good-morning-america/

John Gardner May Be Linked to Other Crimes, Police Say
Confessed Murderer Spoke About Other Cases in Post-Sentencing Interview With Police

By SARAH NETTER and BRIAN BRAIKER
May 17, 2010



In the hours after he was sentenced to life in prison for the rapes and murders of two southern California teenagers, John Gardner told authorities there are other crimes he may have been involved with.

At a news conference today, officials from several police agencies and the district attorney's office released previously withheld information about the Gardner cases, including the DNA evidence that initially led police to arrest the 31-year-old convicted sex offender in the February murder of 17-year-old Chelsea King.

The investigation into any other crimes Gardner may have committed is ongoing. Officials declined to elaborate on what specific criminal activity he may have been involved with beyond the possibility of other assaults.

Gardner didn't implicate himself in any other murders, police said, but investigators are taking a closer look at every missing persons case in the area involving women in their teens and 20s.

A task force comprised of members of nine agencies, including the FBI, was set up after King's murder to investigate any other crimes that could be tied to Gardner. It is still active even with Gardner behind bars for life.

Police declined to reveal exactly how Gardner was able to overtake King, who was last seen jogging in a park near her home. The DNA evidence that initially linked Gardner to her murder, they said, was "body fluid" on her clothes that would normally be found during the course of a sexual assault.

King's DNA was also on the clothing, they said.

Gardner was sentenced Friday to three consecutive life sentences without parole for the rape and murders of King and 14-year-old Amber DuBois, and the attempted rape of another woman.

Amber DuBois' Mom Tells 'GMA' About Talking With the Killer

Amber's mother, Carrie McGonigle told "Good Morning America" today that Gardner told her in a jailhouse meeting that he forced Amber into his car on Feb. 13, 2009 by trapping her on a fenced street and threatening her with a knife and gun.

He "told her to get in the car or it would be a lot worse for her," McGonigle told "Good Morning America" today. "She had nowhere to go. She was stuck."

McGonigle, who had spoken with Amber about being approached by strangers in the weeks before her murder, pushed hard to meet with Gardner before he was sentenced to learned why he targeted Amber and how he captured her.

"She was in the wrong place at the wrong time," the mom said.

McGonigle said Amber had apparently taken a different route to school that morning for reasons she'll never know. Gardner said he found her one block over from her normal path.

"He said, 'I had a knife and a gun,'" she said. "He says he didn't show it. I don't know."

Gardner has said he drove Amber about a half-hour north of her hometown where he raped and killed her. McGonigle said she intended to keep most of the details of her conversation with Gardner private out of respect for Amber's father and the rest of her family who don't want to hear the details.

"I needed answers," McGonigle said. "I waited 15 months, and I needed some answers."

Gardner's response, she said, gave her closure.

Now focused on her younger daughter, 7-year-old Allison, McGonigle said she needs to let go of the miserable emotions she let overtake her in the past 15 months.

"I don't want to hold on to all that anger and all that hate," she said.

And while she has vowed not to let Amber's death make her unreasonably overprotective of Allison, McGonigle said a recent comment by a construction worker about Allison got to her.

""He said, 'Oh your daughter is beautiful.' I snapped," she said. "I yelled at him. It does rear up."

Confronting a Killer

On Friday, parents of both girls used Gardner's sentencing to speak directly to him, to try to make Gardner understand exactly what he had ripped from their lives.

"You dismantled a family life that was built on love, trust and faith, but you did not destroy it," Kelly King, Chelsea's mother, said Friday. "Look at me!"

Gardner refused to look at her.

Parents of both teens played video tributes to their daughters.

"You have taken a bright shining star from this community and our world away, and for what purpose?" she asked Gardner. "To serve your sick, twisted, perverted mind."

"I hope you suffer 100 times the amount of pain that we have suffered because of your crimes," said Amber's father, Maurice Dubois.

Gardner also pleaded guilty to attempting to rape Candice Moncayo, a 22-year-old jogger, near the spot where he attacked Chelsea.

With his head bowed -- tears staining his kelly-green prison garb -- a seated and shackled Gardner occasionally contorted his face uncomfortably throughout today's hourlong sentencing hearing.

McGonigle said she got a glimpse of the rage Gardner has talked about during sentencing when Moncayo taunted him about his nose, the spot where she hit him to get away.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/killer-john-gardner-lured-amber-dubois-threat-knife/story?id=10664589&page=1

I wish these families peace, I hope they are able to let go of the immense anger inside them. If Gardner's responses gave Amber's Mom some closure, I'm glad for her. As she stated, she desperately needed those answers to try and understand, help herself heal.

Proposed laws from Amber's father to be unveiled
Moe Dubois wants sex offender driver's licenses to be branded

By Michael Gardner, U-T SACRAMENTO BUREAU
Monday, May 24, 2010 at 5:24 p.m.



The father of slain Escondido teenager Amber Dubois recognizes that legislation he plans to unveil Tuesday could receive a hostile reception in some Capitol corners.

Nevertheless, Moe Dubois is convinced that requiring convicted sex offenders to always carry a distinctive driver’s license or state-issued identification card will help police and businesses better protect children from predators.

“Do I think it’s going to pass through smoothly? No,” Dubois said in a telephone interview.

If it stalls, Dubois vows to bypass lawmakers by appealing directly to voters.

“I have a feeling it will get stopped in one of the committees. Then we’ll pursue it via an initiative,” he said. “There are many more people who want protection for their children from predators.”

Assemblymen Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley, and Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, have signed on to jointly carry the driver’s license measure as part of a four-bill package aimed at sex offenders.

Those proposals are designed to help law enforcement authorities more quickly respond when children are taken, including the formation of a state rapid response team of experts to assist local authorities responding to abductions.

Amber, 14, disappeared while on her way to school on Feb. 13, 2009. Her body was not found until a year later. John Albert Gardner III, 31, a convicted sex offender who had been released from parole supervision, earlier this month pleaded guilty to the rape and murder of Amber and 17-year-old Chelsea King, 17, of Poway. He is serving two life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Chelsea’s parents, Kelly and Brent King, have been active in the campaign to pass “Chelsea’s Law” that increases penalties for violent sexual crimes. Assembly Bill 1844 goes before the Assembly Appropriations Committee Friday.

Dubois and supporters plan to release his proposals Tuesday because May 25 is National Missing Children’s Day, first proclaimed by President Reagan in 1983.

Under Assembly Bill 589, all registered sex offenders would be issued special driver’s licenses that would identify them as such. If they do not drive, they must obtain a state-issued identification card, also with a distinctive mark.

The licenses or identification cards would have to be carried “at all times, outside of his or her place of residence,” the bill states.

Supporters say that will help police quickly identify sex offenders and scrutinize circumstances such as a child as a passenger or a toy in the back seat.

“The second they walk up to a vehicle they should know who they’re dealing with,” Dubois said.

Also, businesses could voluntarily require identification at events catering to children to ensure that sex offenders are not scouting for their next victim, supporters say.

Nava and Cook agreed with Dubois that the measure will face stiff resistance from civil libertarians and others who argue that tighter restrictions will not necessarily make the streets safer. Opposition has yet to emerge, given the newness of the proposals. Cost estimates have not been prepared. Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, a frequent critic of crime crackdowns, said he had not seen the legislation.

“It’s going to be tough,” said Cook, adding law enforcement authorities he has talked to welcome the license. “They really like it. It gives them a chance to react quickly. It could make a big difference.”

Said Nava, “I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Legislature objects to the reasonable approach. Then the citizens of this state will take it upon themselves to get the results.”

Some states are ahead of California . Delaware, for example includes the letter “Y” on sex offender licenses. In Louisiana, it’s “SEX OFFENDER” in all-capital orange letters.

Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said his organization has not taken a position on marking driver’s licenses.

“We haven’t analyzed the effect ... We’d have to know a lot more about how it would help,” he said in a telephone interview.

But Allen is enthusiastic about other proposals to speed up responses.

“Time is the enemy in searching for a missing child,” Allen said.

Less controversial, but far from a guaranteed signature by the governor, are three other measures:

— Assembly Bill 1022 would establish within the Department of Justice the “California Missing Children Rapid Response Team” that would be available to help local police when children disappear. The team would also assist local officials with protocols, programs and technologies related to abductions.

— Assembly Bill 34 would require the state to file within two hours information about a reported missing child under the age of 16 to the Violent Crime Information Center and the National Crime Information Center. The current requirement is four hours.

— Assembly Bill 33 would require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to develop specialized guidelines and courses for law enforcement related to investigating missing children cases. That measure also seeks to make it easier for law enforcement to target sex offenders who live within five miles of the scene of a crime.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who supports Chelsea’s Law, has not reviewed the new measures and does not have a position, said a spokeswoman.

Dubois has come up with a new proposal, which is much earlier in the formative stages. He wants to prevent impact statements from being released before victim families get to read them in court at sentencing. Dubois’ statement was released before Gardner was sentenced on May 14.

“I truly felt victimized,” Dubois said. “I want a law so that doesn’t happen to a victim’s family again.”

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/24/proposed-laws-ambers-father-be-unveiled/

Amber's Law Advances in Sacramento

June 23, 2010

ESCONDIDO - Legislation proposed by the father of slain Escondido teen Amber Dubois unanimously passed by the state Senate Public Safety Committee Tuesday.

The legislation, called Assembly Bill 34, seeks to require law enforcement to report child abductions to national databases within two hours instead of the current four hours.

Maurice "Moe" Dubois has been working with legislators to come up with new laws for better coordinating law enforcement efforts when a child is abducted because his own 14-year-old daughter was abducted, raped and murdered last year.

Tuesday's approval comes one week after the state Senate Transportation Committee rejected other legislation backed by Dubois. In that instance, Dubois sought to require registered sex offenders to have distinctive driver's licenses.

Committee members worried over how such a law might brand minor offenders. They also complained that it did not include penalties for noncompliance.

Dubois conceded the points were valid and he would have to rework it.

Dubois also is pushing Assembly Bill 1022, a measure that would create a director's job within the Department of Justice that would be in charge of helping local agencies maintain strategies and technologies for finding missing children.

The Dubois family spent more than a year looking for their 14-year-old daughter, who disappeared in Feb. 13, 2009 while walking to Escondido High School.

After his arrest for the Feb. 25 rape and murder of 17-year-old Chelsea King, sex offender John Albert Gardner III led authorities to Amber's remains in Pala.

Gardner, 31, later pleaded guilty to raping and murdering both teens and was sentenced to a pair of life prison terms without the possibility of parole. He also admitted attacking another young woman in December in the same park where Chelsea was killed, but that victim managed to get away.

http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/Ambers-Law-Advances-in-Sacramento/fb4x8ktmaUGnPOU6MKP-4Q.cspx

Family of Amber Dubois seeks damages from California

Updated: Jul 01, 2010 9:09 PM EDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The parents of a Southern California teenager who was raped and murdered by a convicted child molester have filed damage claims against the state, according to documents released Thursday to The Associated Press.

Maurice Dubois and Carrie McGonigle, the parents of 14-year-old Amber Dubois, alleged the state corrections department missed chances to send John Albert Gardner III back to prison while he was on parole. They are seeking unspecified damages of more than $25,000.

The documents, which were filed June 10, were disclosed in response to the AP's inquiry.

Gardner is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty in April to murdering the girl after he was off parole. He also admitted to raping and murdering 17-year-old Chelsea King.

King family spokeswoman Sara Fraunces said the family will not comment because Thursday was their daughter's birthday. The King family has not filed a claim, said Lynn Margherita, a spokeswoman for the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board.

Amber Dubois was kidnapped, raped and murdered in February 2009 as she was walking to Escondido High School in the San Diego area. Gardner led police to her body in March 2010 after his arrest in Chelsea's death.

The DuBois family's damage claims were made public the same day state lawmakers approved a $20 million payment to the family of Jaycee Dugard, who was kidnapped as a girl and held captive in Northern California for 18 years by a paroled sex offender, Phillip Garrido. The state agreed to pay the money to Dugard and her two daughters.

The allegations by Amber's parents are similar, alleging that parole agents failed to do their job.

Gardner "violated his parole at least five times while on probation (sic) for molesting and beating a teenage girl in 2000, and each time he was left on the street," said the claims filed by attorney Robin Sax. "Our claim follows the meeting (of the) California Sex Offender Management Board which questioned why John was not sent back to prison for parole violations in 2007 and 2008. Had he been returned to prison, he would have been evaluated for commitment to a state mental hospital as a sexually violent predator."

Margherita said the board had not yet begun processing the claims. She said it was unclear if they will be negotiated in the same way as the Dugard family settlement.

Christine Gasparac, a spokeswoman for the state attorney general, declined to comment.

Sax and the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=12745050

Amber Dubois' mother launches website

By J. Harry Jones, UNION-TRIBUNE
Monday, August 23, 2010 at 2:45 p.m.

The mother of murdered Escondido teenager Amber Dubois has launched a website in memory of her daughter.

The Team Amber Rescue site, at http://teamamberrescue.com was put together by Carrie McGonigle to honor her daughter and to help train people in ways to search for missing children.

Read more: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/aug/23/amber-dubois-mother-launches-website/