Amber Dubois' Bones Found in Rugged Indian Reservation, Say Police
ESCONDIDO, Calif. (CBS/AP) The search for missing 14-year-old Amber Dubois has now shifted to the search for her killer.
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The bones of the Southern California girl, who vanished more than a year ago while walking to school, were discovered in a rugged, remote area, police said Sunday. The search for Amber had produced few leads until another teenager, Chelsea King, disappeared Feb. 25. A body, presumed to be Chelsea's, was found five days later. A link between the two cases has not been confirmed.
Searchers found Amber's skeletal remains early Saturday in Pala, a small town in the Pala Indian Reservation, a sparsely populated area that occupies more than 12,000 acres in northern San Diego County, said Escondido Police Chief Jim Maher. The county medical examiner's office confirmed later in the day the remains were Amber's through dental records, he said.
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."
A spokesman for the San Diego County district attorney's office, Paul Levikow, declined to comment Sunday on the investigation into Amber's death.
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