HELP FIND CHELSEA AND AMBER

By Debbie Bulloch



Two Southern California families are going through a parent’s worst nightmare: the disappearance and possible murder of a beloved child.

On February 25, a 17 year old California girl, Chelsea King went missing. Chelsea King is a straight-A student, who plays French horn for the San Diego Youth Symphony, runs on the school cross-country team and actively volunteers in a peer-counseling program.

Chelsea was born in Poway, a well-to-do suburb of homes and office parks northeast of San Diego. Chelsea is taking four Advanced Placement courses and applied to 11 colleges, with an eye toward a career that would combine her interests in writing and environmental protection. She has been accepted to two schools, University of Washington and University of British Columbia, Canada.



"She is one of the most driven, personable, caring people that you could ever meet," her father Brent King, said. "Her goal in life is to brighten everyone's day. That's what she does, and when she walks into the room, you know she's there."

Chelsea often stays up studying past midnight, working so hard that her parents urge her to ease off and spend more time with friends. Long-distance running was her escape.

On Sunday, San Diego police arrested John Gardner III, 30. Gardner remains in custody, without bail after his arrest outside a Mexican restaurant in suburban Escondido (San Diego). The police were led to Gardner by the discovery of DNA on some articles of clothing belonging to Chelsea and which were found next to the running trail near where Chelsea was last seen.

The police reports that Gardner, of Lake Elsinore, pled guilty in May 2000 to molesting a 13-year-old female neighbor and was sentenced to six years in prison. He is now a registered sex offender.

Gardner is now a primary suspect in the December 2009 attempted sexual assault of a female jogger in the same park. Police are also looking into the possibility that Gardner may be linked to the disappearance of another young San Diego area girl, Amber Dubois.



Amber Leanne Dubois, a 14-year-old San Diego, California girl, has been missing since February 2009. On February 13, 2009, Amber Dubois 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.

Like Chelsea’s parents, Amber’s parents have been devastated by the disappearance of their daughter. In the days following Amber’s disappearance, her father wrote her the following letter:

March 06, 2009

Amber,

Hello my sweetheart, this is Dad. It's late Friday night and I wanted to write you this letter since you are not here with me. This was supposed to be our weekend together and this afternoon at about the time I should be picking you up from the train station, I was thinking about what I could do to talk to you like we would be doing right now. So I decided that tonight I would write you this letter and get it out where you might get a chance to read it.

One of your friends brought over a CD with pictures of you and your friends at their birthday beach party. Some cool pictures of you guys, one is of you running in the water at night by the pier with a cool sunset behind you. It reminds me of our midnight grunion run while camping last summer and all the fun we had that night catching all those darn fish with our hands. I guarantee on our next run, I will catch more than you!!!

Your Teacher Mr. Reyburn is keeping your lamb, ( Nénette ) for you till you get back. You can bet your Mom is looking as hard as she can for you since she will be doing your barn clean-up duties until you return.

This is still my weekend, so I will be waiting to hear from you so I can come get you. Next Friday is the 13th again and it will be a month that you have been away, I don't want to wait that long before I get my next hug from you. Well, I really just wanted to say we all miss you and love you very much. I hope you get to read this, or better yet I hope you are back in my arms soon, so I can tell you in person. Don't lose hope in our finding you. I will never lose hope in our search for you.

Always Loving You,

DAD xoxo

Amber Dubois from Carrie MCGonigle on Vimeo.

The incidence of violent attacks, including sexual assault, kidnapping and murder, against girls and women is on the rise. Scientists now agree that there is a direct link between violence against girls and women and hard core pornography depicting explicit acts of violence against women.

Our society would never stand for the graphic depiction of violence, including rape, humiliation, mutilation and murder against a specific ethnic group. Yet, society turns a blind eye towards the depiction of those same acts against females.

Pornography, of all kind, objectifies people. When persons cease to be seen as humans then it is just one short step away from turning those persons into objects of abuse. The 19th century slave trafficker turned Africans into chattel by robbing them of their humanity. More recently, Adolf Hitler and his henchmen attempted to turn Jews into objects (they even branded Jews with numbers) to better justify the genocide of a race of people.

To find out more about Chelsea King, please go here:
Find Chelsea

To find out more about Amber Dubois, please go here:
Bring Amber Home

If you have any information about Chelsea or Amber, please contact your local law enforcement agency, or contact the San Diego police departments (619.531.2000). You may also contact the FBI’s unit on missing and exploited children.

Thank you.

SAD UPDATE:

SAN DIEGO— A body found in a shallow grave Tuesday is believed to be that of 17-year-old Chelsea King, whose disappearance led to the arrest of a registered sex offender, authorities said.

The remains were found buried in a park about 10 feet from the shoreline of Lake Hodges, San Diego County Sheriff William Gore said.

"Although positive identification has not been made, there is (a) strong likelihood that we have found Chelsea," he told reporters.

Gore said he had informed the teen's parents.

"Obviously they are devastated and I ask that you respect their privacy during this extremely difficult time," he said.

Missing California teen's body believed found


EDITOR’S NOTE: If you have children, please read and follow the following “25 Ways to Make Your Kids Safer” for protecting your child. There are no guarantees in life, but if parents are prepared (and if they prepare their children) perhaps the odds of a horrible tragedy occurring will be minimized.

25 ways to make kids safer

At Home

1. Teach your children their full names, address, and home telephone number. Make sure they know your full name.

2. Make sure your children know how to reach you at work or on your cell phone.

3. Teach your children how and when to use 911 and make sure your children have a trusted adult to call if they’re scared or have an emergency.

4. Instruct children to keep the door locked and not to open the door to talk to anyone when they are home alone. Set rules with your children about having visitors over when you’re not home and how to answer the telephone.

5. Choose babysitters with care. Obtain references from family, friends, and neighbors. Once you have chosen the caregiver, drop in unexpectedly to see how your children are doing. Ask children how the experience with the caregiver was and listen carefully to their responses.

On the Net

6. Learn about the Internet. The more you know about how the Web works, the better prepared you are to teach your children about potential risks. Visit www.NetSmartz.org for more information about Internet safety.

7. Place the family computer in a common area, rather than a child’s bedroom. Also, monitor their time spent online and the websites they’ve visited and establish rules for Internet use.

8. Know what other access your child may have to the Internet at school, libraries, or friends’ homes.

9. Use privacy settings on social networking sites to limit contact with unknown users and make sure screen names don’t reveal too much about your children.

10. Encourage your children to tell you if anything they encounter online makes them feel sad, scared, or confused.

11. Caution children not to post revealing information or inappropriate photos of themselves or their friends online.

At School

12. Walk the route to and from school with your children, pointing out landmarks and safe places to go if they’re being followed or need help. If your children ride a bus, visit the bus stop with them to make sure they know which bus to take.

13. Remind kids to take a friend whenever they walk or bike to school. Remind them to stay with a group if they’re waiting at the bus stop.

14. Caution children never to accept a ride from anyone unless you have told them it is OK to do so in each instance.

Out and About

15. Take your children on a walking tour of the neighborhood and tell them whose homes they may visit without you.

16. Remind your children it’s OK to say NO to anything that makes them feel scared, uncomfortable, or confused and teach your children to tell you if anything or anyone makes them feel this way.

17. Teach your children to ask permission before leaving home.

18. Remind your children not to walk or play alone outside.

19. Teach your children to never approach a vehicle, occupied or not, unless they know the owner and are accompanied by a parent, guardian, or other trusted adult.

20. Practice "what if" situations and ask your children how they would respond. “What if you fell off your bike and you needed help? Who would you ask?”

21. Teach your children to check in with you if there is a change of plans.

22. During family outings, establish a central, easy-to-locate spot to meet for check-ins or should you get separated.

23. Teach your children how to locate help at theme parks, sports stadiums, shopping malls, and other public places. Also, identify those people who they can ask for help, such as uniformed law enforcement, security guards and store clerks with nametags.

24. Help your children learn to recognize and avoid potential risks, so that they can deal with them if they happen.

25. Teach your children that if anyone tries to grab them, they should make a scene and make every effort to get away by kicking, screaming, and resisting.