Transcripts For WRC Dateline NBC 20140323

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Now, a dateline mystery and dont watch alone. This is an Important Message regarding a missing juvenile at risk. Amber leann dubois. A teenager disappears. Please. Amber never made it and i knew right then someone had her. Kept us up at nights going over in our head what is happened in front of the school. Then another gone. She needs to come home. Theres a lot of desperation. Maybe shes tied up somewhere. Maybe shes being held captive. Two missing girls, one man with a secret. Did you get any sense of the sort of personality you were dealing with . Yes. Psychotic. Came up and he went right to here to the edge and says right there. Two families, two mysteries, two journeys for justice. Its a lesson to be learned from amber then i want it out there. On the evening of february 12, 2009, in a Hillside House north of san diego, california, the negotiation was finally complete. The girl had won. I made her write a onepage letter to me, and she made it two pages, repeated herself multiple times to make it longer. Im like, okay. She pestered her mother carrie and her mothers boyfriend at the time, dave. All kids have their own things that theyre into. Amber loved animals. She had been campaigning for it during her regular and frequent visits with her father mo. She probably had it named probably a month before she even got it. What was she going to call it . Nanette. It was a french name. Which made per secretary sense to her since her surname was very french, dubois, amber dubois. It was to be her lucky day. The day she walked those few familiar blocks from her home in escondido, clutching her mothers 200 check and receive in exchange, a lamb of all things. She was buying it as part of her high schools future farmers program. And tonight as she drifted off to sleep for the last time, every good thing still seemed possible. Come home, please. None of it had happened then. Theres not a single day that goes by that i dont break down and cry for hours. The extent of the evil hadnt occurred to the sheriff yet. All of a sudden theres a safe zone thats been taken away from you. The d. A. Never imagined, shed say this case rocked San Diego County. But this was before all that. And amber was just going about the business of being 14 and slightly quirky. Amber was a freespirited kid. She loved reading and writing, and she didnt like the normal things, you know, that kids like. She had her own taste. She liked to take her time. Come on, come on. Shes looking at the flowers, the bugs, whatever. She was never in a hurry, ever. She wanted to see the world how she wanted to see it. And she did. No interest in boys yet. No girly things either. We would have to order her clothes for School Online because she hated shopping. Didnt want to go shopping . God, no. That would be torture for her to go to the mall. What did other girls think about her . I mean, you know, theyre so cliquish at that age. Oh, she had her clique. It was a very, very small clique. One small group of very Close Friends that were all goofy nerds like her basically. Theyre all a bunch of bookworms. She read the whole Harry Potter Series in two weeks. Cmon all of them. Show couldnt put a book down. She would get a 300page novel. I would have to go in her room she was under the blanket she was under the blanket reading. She probably read more books in a year than i read in my whole life. Amber, say hi. She was just beginning high school. She made plans to make extra courses, graduate early and she vowed never to miss one day of class. Im like, are you sure . You never want to miss school . Whats wrong with you . I would do anything to miss school. She wanted perfect attendance. She wanted to be animal behavioral scientist. She wanted to study animals in depth. She had kept guinea pigs, fish and birds and dogs and rats. She began riding lessons at 3. By 9, she owned a horse. So when the school offered future farmers of america, of course, she joined. They have a huge, huge farm on the campus, and they allow students to purchase and raise farm animals. And, thus, the lamb and the happy walk to school on friday, february 13th. And i remember driving to work laughing going, i know im going to have to take care of that lamb. The weather was drizzly that winters day, mid50s. It was late in the afternoon when dave noticed, well, nothing. An absence. I was at the house and went, wait a minute, why isnt amber here, because her mom was still at work. I looked at my watch. She should have been here an hour ago. I called her mom. I wondered where she was at. I got on her cell phone and said, call me. Dave got in his car, drove to the school. So i figured maybe she went to play with her lamb and just lost track of time. But then he found one of her teachers and asked if he had seen amber. And mr. Rayburn looked up at me and said, she didnt show up today. I was very surprised she wasnt here. This was her last day to pay for her lamb. I said, no, no, no, what are you talking about . I gave her a check before i left the house this morning. And thats when sirens went off. I called carrie and told her mr. Rayburn said she wasnt there, and carrie at that point, you know, kind of went into panic mode. He says amber never made it, and i knew right then something someone had her. I knew. I was, like, oh, my god, something terrible has happened. Activia helps regulate your digestive system. Because when your tummy smiles, you smile too activia. Feeling good starts from the inside. No one says to stop and see the roses, t to stop and smell the roses. Because scent makes us feel like nothing else can. Inspired by the best feelings in the world. Glade its progressive pain. First you have that, that feeling of numbness. Then you get the hot pins. It got to the point where i felt like, almost like lightning bolts, hot strikes into my feet. The pain was, it was. I just couldnt handle it, so my doctor prescribed lyrica. The pain has been reduced and i feel better than i did before. [ male announcer ] its known that diabetes damages nerves. Lyrica is fdaapproved to treat diabetic nerve pain. Lyrica is not for everyone. It may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. Tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. Or, swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eyesight, including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling or skin sores from diabetes. Common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. Dont drink alcohol while taking lyrica. Dont drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. Those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. [ karen ] having less pain, that means everything to me. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor about lyrica today. Its specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain. To hear more of karens story, visit lyrica. Com. Amber dubois, 14 years old, was a young woman of established habits. She got out of school at 2 45. I would give her until 3 30 to be home so she could hang out with her friends. Dependable was amber, predictable even. She was always home by 3 30, always called. Then came friday the 13th, 2009. When she wasnt home. The day her mother Carrie Mcgonigle discovered she hadnt gone to school at all. C carrie called her exhusband. I started looking around the school, dumpsters, anything for her backpack. What could they do . Printed flyers. Called her friends. I had 15 people show up right away. We started going door to door. As did the police. They were out with a black and white picture, a faxed picture of amber. I handed them a color flier and said, here, this is a better picture of amber. Thats who she is. Shes been missing since friday. Escondido police combed the neighborhood, the school, the creek behind it, worked all night, said captain bob benton. Have you seen her . Its now saturday morning, and still no sign of amber. Very concerning to us. And then later that day, a break. Somebody had seen her near the school. Describing how she had a hoodie on, that it was drizzly. He described her as walking hurriedly so he thought she was late to school. Then someone else had seen amber near this fire hydrant with a boy. Basically i said, theres amber, made notice that she was there. The boy was described as tall, about six to eight inches taller than amber, doughy looking and dark complected. Who was that boy . Was amber with someone . A classmate reported seeing amber in downtown escondido saturday the 14th but local surveillance camera picked up nothing then sunday the 15th a second classmate said he saw her walking with a boy. The sighting on sunday night was deemed to be as reliable as could be. Each sighting sent hopes soaring. But not in carrie because she knew amber was not a runner. Im like, it wasnt her. Im telling you right now it wasnt her. She would not be this close to home and not come home. Day and night the search went on. The fbi joined in. Volunteers did, too. Searching outbuildings, vacant sheds. We dont know whats going on here, but we do check that out as a matter of course. Search and rescue teams scoured miles of brushchoked ravines, hidden places around rocky hills. Also in this area, what we found out was a place that a lot of kids go to party. Its called the caves. It consists of a real rocky area, a mountainous area. But no sign of amber. This has been going on now for several days, so as it goes on, we get a little more worried. What was it like for the two of you as those days kept going by and there was no word, nothing . Life stops. Nothing matters anymore. We dont sleep. We dont eat. You go into Great Depression some days and the other days you can see some kind of light. The police sent up a task force, assigned search teams. Volunteers came out, hundreds of them. I have three daughters myself. And i just cannot imagine what those parents are going through. I look around and i see a bunch of flickers of hope is what im seeing. Someone has her. Shes not just hiding from me or hiding from the house. Someone has her. It kept us up at nights, going over in our heads over and over of what happened that morning in front of the school. If amber was alive and that was a big if where could she be . If she left, she left with somebody she knew. So who was that person . If you know where amber dubois is tonight they told the amber story on americas most wanted. She was on the cover of people magazine. And what happened . Suddenly sightings coast to coast, hundreds of them. There was one girl who looked so much like amber that she had to keep carrying her i. D. On her because Law Enforcement would stop her so many times. Im not amber. She had to show the i. D. , im not amber. Captain bentons team ran down every tip in every state, 1200 of them, 500 interviews, even though the more we investigated it, the more we came up with dead ends. And carrie ran her own private task force of one. She would have a list of predators, and she would take a dozen a night. We had a call from an apartment complex manager that a female was yelling at individuals in the apartment complex. And when officers arrived, it was Carrie Mcgonigle yelling at registered sex offender, and the sex offender was actually complaining to the apartment manager and the apartment manager asked us to ask her to leave. The threat of arrest didnt scare her. Good, it will get the word out there. Go ahead. But then the weeks became months, and ginning up hope got hard to do. The volunteers once a small army, thinned, stopping coming. We had days when we had hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people. But then it would steadily drop down to points where there were weeks when we had like eight people show up. Four months after amber disappeared, the volunteer Search Center closed. On february 13th, 2010, they marked a somber anniversary. Our biggest fear is going our entire careers, if not our lifetime, and not knowing what happened to amber dubois. And the likelihood of solving this case was very limited, if at all. And then the search is on this morning for a missing 17yearold poway girl, chelsea king. It happened again. Another mystery and another anguished mother. Please just help us bring her home. Shes a great kid. Shes such a good girl. She needs to come home. [ lillian ] i would get hit with that pain of sensitivity. My dentist suggested that i switch my toothpaste. My dentist recommended that i use sensodyne. Sensodyne is helping me with my sensitivity but also its toothpaste that is going to clean and protect your mouth. I have a big meeting when we land, but i am so stuffed up, i cant rest. [ male announcer ] nyquil cold and flu liquid gels dont unstuff your nose. They dont . Alka seltzer plus night fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a decongestant. [ inhales deeply ] oh. What a relief it is. Thursday, february 25th, 2010, just over a year since amber dubois vanished. Another teenager was missing, ten miles away in a suburb of san diego. Im like, how can this happen almost a year, you know, same month . Im like, how can it happen . It began in a parking lot near a popular local hiking trail. We get calls oftentimes about juveniles, girls, you know, runaways. Two San Diego County Sheriff Deputies responded to a call from panicked parents. This one i think made the hair stand up a little bit on the deputys neck. 17yearold chelsea king, straight a student, college bound, had come to Rancho Bernardo park as she often did at 2 00 in the afternoon for a brisk fivemile run. Broad daylight, a wellknown, wellused, safe hiking trail which skirted the marshy banks of a long shallow lake. But then she was late, didnt answer her cell, didnt return her parents messages. Chelseas dad called the cell phone provider, which looked up the tower her signal was hitting, led her dad to her phone, which was inside her locked car in that parking lot. And just finding her car, it was unusual. It was not just a teenager out here with her boyfriend. It made me think that maybe something had gone wrong. It certainly had. Chelsea king is described as having strawberry blond hair. And now another public nightmare began. Anybody out there, if you know anything, please just help us bring her home. Shes a great kid. Shes such a good girl. She needs to come home. Word got around fast. We immediately felt what they were going through. I was ready to get in my car and go. Im like, i want to go help search. That was my instinct. San diego County District attorney Bonnie Dumanis was one of the first to get the news. Everybody began thinking of amber right from the beginning, i think. And i think thats what made everybody so scared about chelsea. Why . Knowing that this had happened, you know, with amber. Amber, who was in some ways so similar. Beautiful girls, both 55, both light complected. That very thursday afternoon, within hours of chelseas disappearance, friends fanned out around the park, the neighborhood around it, even total strangers joined in. And just along here, perhaps two miles from chelseas abandoned car, between a creek bed and row of houses, as the cold settled in and the daylight failed one of the people that were coming from the neighborhood to search came across a pair of underwear and socks that did not appear trampled or discarded. They were right in the center of the walking trail. Could have been anyones, of course, but how did they get here . And they seemed to be freshly there. Was there a connection . Sergeant dave brown sent a detective out to the trail. Right along this trail here somewhere. Right along this trail, just a little bit further down. The parents said, yes, thats the type that she wears. Was there a clear indication that there might be dna . Yes. There was a small amount of blood that was found. It didnt look good. They sent the clothes to the dna lab for confirmation and deployed a virtual army, helicopters with infrared tracking, search and rescue teams. Hundreds of people began beating the impossibly tangled thicket around thousands of acres around Rancho Bernardo park land, and divers made their way through the lake and its underwater forests. You can see the shoreline over there and the shoreline over here, and its very thick. The trees in the middle are hidden by the deep water. Sergeant don parker led the operation. You can see the difficulty. For instance, just here, if you take one step, you have to part the brush, and, look, you take another step, you have to part the brush. Thats the way it was that day, that thursday night. Night fell. Still no sign of chelsea. Where was she . On these miles of trails in this vast dark park. Theres a lot of places where you can hide somebody. Thats our problem. And as you can see, this is a very, very expansive area. Theres a lot of acreage here. By friday, the day after chelseas disappearance, there were canine units, trucks, fourwheelers. We had hundreds and hundreds of folks coming from all over southern california. People were up for hours and hours and hours. County sheriff bill gore manned the phone. There were literally calls from the agent in charge of the fbi saying i got 25 agents. Where do you want them . Border patrol got a call, and boom, they were there. The fbi canvassed some 300 homes around the park and its lake. Police ran down 600 tips. The areas known sex offenders were tracked down, as well. And by that weekend, two days missing were looking for a 55, 115pound girl. Thousands came to look for chelsea, ambers parents among them. It was huge. I mean, the line of people, eight people wide went around the whole building all the way out to the street. But this was not like the search for amber. There were no sightings of chelsea. This case was pretty specific. We believed that she was out and went jogging in that park. And the fact she didnt come back leads you to believe there was some type of foul play right from the beginning. Which is why the sheriff called dave brown and his team of homicide detectives. There were certain things about this missing person case that concerned the people that were investigating it. One of them was the clothing found, found really far away, a couple miles from where her car was found. Theres no rational explanation for it. No rational explanation except foul play. And then the next day, the second discovery. It was a mile from the place where the underwear and socks were found near a running trail. A shoe, which appeared to be the very shoe chelsea was wearing in this photo. It was laying on the brush on top. It looked like someone either had thrown it or dropped it, right there. The way these things are so far apart from each other, we figured foul play. Whether or not shes deceased or whether or not shes just being held somewhere, we cant answer that. The chance theyd find chelsea alive was growing slim. The chance theyd find her at all was not much better. Now there were two girls gone. But where . It was more of a hope that they were somehow connected. Chelsea, amber, might there be a link . Police are about to get a break. And we need to find out everything we can about this person. [ terri ] my antidepressant worked hard to help with my depression. But sometimes, i still struggled to get going, even get through the day. So i was honest with my doctor. I told him id been feeling stuck for a long time. He said that for some people, an antidepressant alone only helps so much and suggested we add Abilify Aripiprazole . He said that by taking both, some people had symptom improvement as early as 1 to 2 weeks. I wish id talked to my doctor sooner. [ female announcer ] abilify is not for everyone. Call your doctor if your depression worsens or you have unusual changes in behavior, or thoughts of suicide. Antidepressants can increase these in children, teens and young adults. Elderly dementia patients taking abilify have an increased risk of death or stroke. Call your doctor if you have high fever, stiff muscles and confusion to address a possible lifethreatening condition. Or if you have uncontrollable muscle movements, as these could become permanent. High blood sugar has been reported with abilify and medicines like it and in extreme cases can lead to coma or death. Other risks include increased cholesterol, weight gain, decreases in white blood cells, which can be serious, dizziness on standing, seizures, trouble swallowing and impaired judgment or motor skills. [ terri ] since adding abilify, i feel better. Abilify and my antidepressant make a pretty good team. [ female announcer ] ask your doctor about a free trial of abilify and go to addabilify. Com. Eating healthier,tion byr ] ask your doctor about a free trial of abilify drinking plenty of water, but still not getting relief . Try dulcolax laxative tablets. Dulcolax is comfortcoated for gentle, overnight relief. Dulcolax. Predictable overnight relief you can count on. [ male announcer ] rocky had no idea why dawn was gone for so long. But hed wait for her forever, and would always be there with the biggest welcome home. For a love this strong, dawn only feeds him iams. With 2x the meat of other leading brands. To help keep rockys body as strong as a love that never fades. Iams. Keep love strong. With 2x the meat. Love the iams difference or your money back. Theres a lot of desperation. In the back of your mind, youre hoping that someone has her held against her will. And so the detectives dont want to go home. Nobody wants to go home. Nobody wants to sleep. We have to find her. It was like some nightmarish deja vu. Amber dubois vanished in San Diego County. A search turned up nothing. Then a year laettner a neighboring town, another teenage girl was gone, another search going nowhere. Were the two connected . Thats what the cop who had searched for amber wondered. It was more of a hope that they were somehow connected and would help us solve the amber case. And so he watched as search and rescue literally beat the bushes and probed the treacherous muddy water. And detectives in suits worked the neighborhoods nearby. Find who her friends are, where she was, talking to anybody and everybody who might have been in that park that day, hoping to find something. And they were trying to make sense of evidence scattered around the park. Chelseas car was parked here, underwear with a slight stain of blood had been found on a trail here, a shoe a mile away. In the back of our minds we know its a matter of time before we we may get the results from this dna. And that will also prove if those are actually her items of clothing and shoe. Then three days after chelsea disappeared, more clothes surfaced not far from where the first items were found. The mate to the first shoe and a sports bra here in a ditch. The area that we had searched and didnt find anything of value. What did you think when you found that stuff . There was an idea that maybe articles were being randomly thrown or scattered to throw us off of a trail or throw us off a lead. Was chelsea still in that park . Was she dead or alive . And one more question had anyone else been attacked in that park . And, sure enough, a student home for the holidays, also a jogger, reported that shed been attacked while running on a trail near where those first items of clothing were found. That was december, two months before chelsea vanished. Whats chilling is it happened literally within feet of a whole row of houses. But what was good was the young woman could provide a description of her attacker and what he tried to do. He was white, she said, maybe 25 or 26, stocky, muscular, brown hair, military type cut. She was running along the path. And this guy tackled her from the side, pinned her down and she understanding what was coming said, youll have to kill me. He said, that could be arranged. But she knew tae kwon do and she caught him in the nose with her elbow. He reacted and she wriggled away and ran like the wind out of there. Other witnesses offered a vague description of a man theyd seen in the park the day chelsea disappeared. White male, heavyset, did they have a serial attacker on their hands . Was this part of the park his territory . It was now sunday afternoon, february 28th. Chelsea had been missing for three days. How do you deal with the parents . I didnt have any answers for them. At one point they asked for a tour of various items that were found. So Sergeant Brown showed the kings where some of the clothing was found. We got to positions where we could point it out. You know, thats where we found this. Thats where we found that. Now, thats when the detectives phone rang. The dna came back. The dna on the clothing, it confirmed it was chelseas. But the test produced Something Else, too. The most important discovery yet. Inside that clothing was a second persons dna, and the lab got a hit. And it came back to a sex registrant. Chelseas parents were standing beside him. Did you tell them that . No, i did not. But the tour was over. Sergeant brown gathered his team. We have the name and a prison number. And we need to find out everything we can about this person. The dna match was to a convicted sex offender named john gardner, a man who had spent five years in prison for a sex assault back in 2000. Is it a mixed blessing that it comes back to a sex registrant thats done time in prison . Thats, you know, thats not a positive note, but at least we knew who and where it was. And we knew we were going to close in. The search for gardner began that afternoon. We sent undercover people to watch the houses that might be where he lives. They approach carefully, watch from a distance. It was a slim chance, but what if he was holding her, saw the cops, panicked . And in the back of everybodys mind, shes alive and you think maybe shes tied up somewhere, maybe shes being held captive, and were going to find her and were going to find her tonight. But she wasnt in any of those houses and neither was he. Instead, they found gardner in a bar on the north side of the lake in the very park where chelsea had been running, hernandez hideaway. And this was weird. Gardners clothes were wet and muddy, as if he had been wading in the lake for some reason. They took him to the sheriffs lockup, sent lineup photographs to the young woman now back at college who had survived the earlier attack in the park. And she picked john gardner instantly. What had this man with the wet and muddy clothes done with chelsea king . And, for that matter, did he know anything about that other missing girl, amber dubois . The interrogation begins, and police are in for a ride. Rolled back in the chair, did a fullon belly laugh, laughed for an extended period of time. You eat activia everyday . Activia helps regulate your digestive system. Because when your tummy smiles, you smile too activia. Feeling good starts from the inside. He was a young white male, burly, short cropped hair, matched perfectly the descriptions of the suspected attacker here in Rancho Bernardo park. Now john gardner, 30 years old, was behind bars. How did he react to being arrested . Very unhappy. Wanted to know why he was being arrested, believed the accusations were false. Detectives pat obrien, scott enyard, mark palmer confronted gardner in an interrogation room. We believe and hoped she was alive, so we kept asking, where is chelsea king . How did he respond to that . He denied everything. He denied being in contact with her ever. He basically said, the only information he had was from the television. But you were able to say, we have your dna. We did. We approached him and said we had his dna, and he said we were liars. What was his demeanor . Calm one minute, angry on another, almost crying another. He thought part of it was humorous to him and part of it was just offensive, how dare we even consider him as a suspect. He actually made it perfectly clear that he hated Law Enforcement. He said he was treated poorly while in the department of corrections and he hated cops for that reason. Gardner had been arrested here at this bar called hernandez hideaway. Drunk, wet and muddy. He told the detectives he slipped on some mud and hopped in the lake to rinse off. First question is why is he in the lake . Hernandez hideaway is on the north end of lake hodges. But the evidence, those bits of chelseas clothing, were found on the south end of the lake. So now were thinking, has he placed chelsea somewhere on the north side of the lake and hes going to retrieve or see if shes still there . And youre looking for clues that hes going to give you either verbally or nonverbally, or whatever. The questioning was strictly limited to this where was chelsea . Our sole purpose was to find chelsea king alive and get her some kind of help so we couldnt go into too much detail about why and what you were doing. You know, we kept trying to keep him focused to find out where is she at . What did you do with her . Their suspect wouldnt budge. They kept prodding. So scotts got a photograph of chelsea king and continually pushed it in front of him. He would glance at it, he wouldnt look at it very long, but then he would continue deny, deny, deny. Scott would keep talking to him, where is she . Where is she . And then he would go off on some tangent. Did you get any sense of the sort of personality you were dealing with when you talked to him . Yes, psychotic, had some major anger issues. They left the room for a few minutes, watched him on a video monitor as gardner looked at a photo of chelsea. And basically called chelsea a bitch, why are you doing this to my life and flipped the paper away. And then out of the blue in midinterview said the detectives gardner surprised them. He brought up a name. The name of a girl who had disappeared more than a year earlier. A photo of chelsea is sitting in front of him. At some point he says, you guys, in essence, are probably going to try to finger me for that amber girls disappearance. I asked where she was, and he played it off. He wouldnt even pronounce her last name properly. And at that point the officer said gardner began laughing hysterically. He rolled back in the chair, did a fullon belly laugh, and laughed for an extended period of time. At that point you knew you werent getting anything out of this guy. Correct. We definitely knew he was guilty, there was nothing he could do at that point. Nothing but redouble the effort to try to find chelsea. Still, chelseas parents couldnt help but hope that the arrested gardner brought them a step closer to finding their daughter. It gave us hope that chelsea is still there, we just have to find her. So i mean, im not going to think about who he is, what he is. Theres an incredible amount of rage that boils, but right now were focused on chelsea. Rage . Yes, of course. But imagine what brent king might have thought when he learned just a little more, as you will too, about the history of mr. John gardner. The man was evaluated ten years previously by a Board Certified psychiatrist who found that he was a danger and a continuing danger to the public, and apparently that warning was not listened to. I was shocked. Who was john gardner really . Good friend . John told us what had happened. Or sinister offender . This was a man who started out being violent. 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So i did its been 21 days and im still claritin clear. 16 days of relief from itchy, watery eyes. 28 days of continuous relief from sneezing and runny nose, since ive been taking claritin every day of my allergy season. Get the 1 doctor recommended nondrowsy allergy brand. Live claritin clear. Every day. It took a lot of juggling to keep it all together. K. For some lowincome families, having Broadband Internet is a faraway dream. So we created internet essentials, americas largest lowcost internet adoption program. Having the internet at home means she has to go no further than the Kitchen Table to do her homework. Now, more than one million americans have been connected at home. It makes it so much better to do homework, when youre at home. Welcome to whats next. Comcastnbcuniversal. Sunday, february 28th, 2010, three days of searching. No chelsea king, but there was an arrest and john gardner in custody was at least some kind of comfort for chelseas parents. I was relieved that this monster is no longer out there and able to do this to anyone else. Who was john gardner . By the time they arrested him, police had assembled some disturbing information. This would not go down well in San Diego County. He had been a convicted sex offender. The initial crime was serious. He was convicted for six years for a Sexual Assault in 2000, i believe it was. In fact, he had served five years of that sentence for sexually assaulting and brutally beating his 13yearold neighbor. This is where in march 2000 gardner became a sex offender. It was daytime, his own mothers house. He was 20 then, invited a 13yearold over to watch videos with him. He began groping her, she begged him to stop, he intensified his attack, she resisted, he began beating her severely. The incident left her so traumatized, her family had to move to a different part of california. But gardner denied it all. He even blamed the beating on the victims mother. Jennifer brandt was a friend of gardners back then. I remember john had come up to the mountains and told us what had happened and that he was going to have to go to court for this. They went to high School Together in the San Bernardino mountains 100 miles from san diego. He told us it wasnt him. It was the girl had a boyfriend and he thought that the girl just didnt want to admit to her parents that she was having sex with her boyfriend because it might have gotten her in trouble, so she was going to blame the neighbor, being john. She and their circle of friends all believed him, she says. The john gardner they knew was a good friend, always helpful. He confided in her that he had been diagnosed as bipolar. He did display, i guess, the symptoms of it. Really high highs and really low lows. And on one of the occasions that he was in a low, he started telling me about some things that happened in his childhood, that a Family Member had actually molested him. Gardner and his mother moved to san diego from the mountains in 1998. According to court records, he was working at a Sporting Goods store when he was arrested in 2000. He was about to turn 21, had wanted to become a math teacher. His arrest put an end to those plans. Gardner always proclaimed his innocence but agreed to a plea deal, telling his probation officer three attorneys warned him hed get reamed if he went to trial. But before he was sentenced, the Court Ordered a forensic psychiatrist to evaluate gardner to help determine whether he should receive probation or how long he should be imprisoned. It was a very serious offense, even though it was the first time. This was a man who started out being violent. Dr. Mark kalish is a forensic psychiatrist whos read the documents on this case. Hes also a colleague of the doctor who wrote the evaluation. That doctor, matthew carroll, decline datelines request for an interview. Its a rare case where the individual starts out in their first offense by assaulting the victim. And so that was a warning sign to dr. Carroll that this was not the typical case. This was a man who was on a very, very steep trajectory for future violence. The psychiatrists warnings, as noted in gardners probation report, were dire. The defendant manifests significant predatory traits to underage females. The defendant would be a continued danger to underage girls in the community, and it would be unlikely that the defendant would be amenable to treatment. The psychiatrist recommended the maximum sentenced allowed by law. In my experience, i dont think that ive ever seen a psychiatrist make a louder and clearer call. And the doctor who evaluated gardner was apparently so concerned about it, he followed up his report with a phone call to gardners probation officer with yet another warning. The defendant does not suffer from a psychotic disorder, he said. Hes simply a bad guy who is inordinately interested in young girls. Such calls are rare, says dr. Kalish. When psychiatrists become desperate, we pick up the phone. Yet, despite those warnings, the prosecutor, probation officer and judge all decided that john gardner should get a midlevel sentence of six years rather than ten years, which would have been the maximum sentence under the plea deal. I have reviewed this case with the glasses of having been a prosecutor, having been a Municipal Court judge, superior court judge and now the d. A. Bonnie dumanis is the San Diego County d. A. She was not the d. A. In 2000 when this crime occurred. We asked to speak to the prosecutor in that case but were told that dumanis would answer our questions. What happened in this case was appropriate. Under the law that existed this was what, a midrange sentence as opposed to the max possible. Thats right. That was in spite of a psychiatrists report that said this guy is really dangerous and he always will be dangerous. Now, why would that not have jacked it up to a full tenyear sentence . First of all, there were two psychiatric reports. Right. One was saying he was a danger. One was saying that he was treatable and recommended inpatient treatment for 90 days and probation. But this is a guy who had seen him once in five years. But he examined him just as much as the guy who saw him for an hour. He had actually treated him. But that report was only one factor in the sentencing decision. There were glowing character references. I know in my heart of hearts john gardner is a rare and good breed. I dated him for a year and a half. John is the one person who made me feel completely safe in the world. I believe john will become a great man, husband, father. He was 20 years old, no prior record, and the presumption of the law was the middle term. Six years. Out after five. And now this. But the secondguessing went on hold for the moment because just now there was a far bigger issue what had john gardner done with chelsea king . Was she still alive . And, if so, where . Everybodys pager went off, and everybodys heart sank. The mystery surrounding chelsea would be solved very soon. [ female announcer ] glade knows the feeling of fresh grass on the first day of spring, the joy of opening up, and the sweetness of a saturday afternoon when the air turns warm. Glade believes when you breathe in scent, you feel, and you find yourself letting loose. Glades new spring collection. Inspired by the best feelings in the world. Glade. Sc johnson a family company. Glade. Its red lobsters lobsterfest all promotions the years Largest Selection of lobster entrees, like lobster lovers dream. Hurry in and sea food differently. Go to red lobster. Com for ten dollars off with purchase of two lobsterfest entrees. Im bethand im michelle. And we own the paper cottage. Its a stationery and gifts store. Anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. So you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the Game Changing app from ink. We didnt get into business to spend time managing receipts, thats why we have ink. We like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. So you have time to focus on the things you love. Ink from chase. So you can. We live in an uber connected, hyper documented, social media savvy and totally technologically enhanced world. And its important for you to be the first to talk with your kids about the internet. Youll help them be responsible online. The more you know. As john gardner sat in the san diego sheriffs lockup, Sergeant Dave brown, working the chelsea king case, took an urgent phone call. The investigators from escondido called us. Investigators on the amber dubois case in the neighboring town of escondido had a question was your guy also our guy . I sat in my car and had a teleconference with them. The arrest of john gardner set off a small earthquake among the cops searching for amber. Theyve been sending emails to me trying to get ahold of us. We were a little busy to talk about their case. But they kept talking even as they ramped up the search for chelsea around Rancho Bernardo park. Hopes that she was alive flickered but held. It was tuesday march 2nd, day five of the search for chelsea. That day her parents worked on plans for a vigil, a sign no one was giving up. Its just going to be one more thing about chelsea, when she comes home, shes going to see and want to give back 1,000 times over. If ambers parents hadnt given up, they said, neither would they. The kings met them when they came out to help search. The strength they display is driving us. You know, when mo looks me in my eyes and says, dont worry, were going to find her, thats strength. Yeah. Out in the park tuesday morning, search and rescue teams continued to search the brush and waterways. They would do shoulder to shoulder, go underwater, look, come back up, check to make sure that they were in a line because they have to do it systemically. How many times did they do that . I want to say we did this six or seven times we searched this entire area here. The shoreline here had particular interest because chelseas shoe had been found just a few feet from here. So the shoe was basically in this area. Just laid on top of the brush. Then from here we go north straight to the water. That afternoon downtown the Homicide Team was called to a meeting with d. A. Bonnie dumanis. Once he was arrested, we knew that there was going to be a prosecution. Dumanis by that tuesday had few illusions left about finding chelsea alive. The circumstances were such that we felt it was a murder case and a potential Death Penalty case. Thus, the meeting with homicide detectives. What case are you going to present . We charged him with murder, and we still didnt have a body. And then midmeeting, thats when it happened. The detectives were presenting the case when everybodys pager went off, and everybodys heart sank. It was chelsea. Rescue divers had found her body. One of the dive personnel was in a boat and beached the boat literally right here. And then him and his partner actually started walking this way, and shortly thereafter noticed an area a little bit further this way. And thats when chelsea was found. It was that small area which had been searched so many times, the place the shoe was found, 15 feet from the edge of the water, a shallow grave. A little this shine was created there, a patch of decorated earth. Sheriff gore delivered the news. That was probably the Longest Drive ive ever had in my life to go to the king house. And it was just news that nobody in Law Enforcement ever wants to deliver. It was just heartwrenching. Its the worst day of our lives ever, and theres no deeper pain that well ever feel again, so i it was the depth of despair as if it was right now. What type of creature would do this . Not far away amber dubois mother carrie heard the news too. The reaction was almost physical. When the body was found, i started panicking. Im like, i dont want to bury amber, you know. Im like id rather have her missing than have to bury her. Thats when it hit me really hard. That evening what was to have been a search vigil for chelsea became a memorial instead. Thousands came. Shes my angel forever. I want to thank you, and chelsea wants to thank you. Keep her spirit alive for us. John albert gardner. Gardner was in court the next day charged with murdering chelsea king while committing a rape. He was also charged with assault with intent to commit rape for the attack on that student back in december. Mr. Gardner wishes to enter a plea of not guilty to both counts. Ambers father was at the hearing. Afterwards he worried what this meant for his daughter. In the back of our heads, we are kind of concerned that there is a connection. And though no one had proved john gardners guilt, around san diego, he had become infamous, public enemy number one, and as people here learned more about that 2000 case, the psychiatrists report and gardners failure to reveal where he was staying, the outrage boiled over. As i think pretty much all of San Diego County is completely disgusted with this. During the week before the attack on chelsea, gardner had been staying with his mother, a few blocks from the park in which chelsea was murdered. In fact, it was the very same house in which he attacked that 13yearold back in 2000. But when police had gone around the neighborhood looking for sex offenders, they did not come to this house. No reason to. He was actually registered at his grandmothers house in lake elsinore, so gardner would not come up in that search because he was registered in lake elsinore. And that was 50 miles away, another county. The mother never forced john to report it. He may have met all the guidelines only coming down a certain amount of days, but people felt threatened not knowing that a sex registrant was living that close to them. Once the news broke, gardners mother seemed to be trying her best to hide from the media, from the public anger. Anger so strong someone spray painted these words on her house, holding her, along with her son, accountable for chelseas death. If i was them and i saw that, i would move out, move out of the area. And when some of the gardners friends came by to paint over those words, they were driven away. Get the hell out of here i can see the sympathy you have for her. I can see it in your eyes. Get the hell out of this neighborhood. You dont belong here. In the midst of that public shock and anger, detectives in the chelsea case again considered those calls and emails from their fellow cops that had been looking for amber dubois. Was there a connection . Maybe. We realized that john gardner was a resident of escondido and was one of our registered sex offenders back in the time that amber disappeared. Thats when the light bulb went off. The race to find amber. Im absolutely 100 hopeful shes alive. Were detectives getting closer . And was this suspect number one . Aflac. Aflac, aflac, aflac [ both sigh ] ugh you told me he was good, dude. Yeah he stinks at golf. But he was great at getting my claim paid fast. How fast . Mine got paid in 4 days. Wow. Thats awesome. Is that legal . Big fat no. [ male announcer ] find out how fast aflac can pay you at aflac. Com. [ male announcer ] find out how fast aflac can pay you. Colorburst matte and lacquer balms and new high shine lacquer moistu rich finishes coconut and mango find yourevlon. H. , announcer tidy cats lightweight. With a clumping litter this light and just as strong at neutralizing odor, youll want to say. woman hey toss me that litter announcer tidy cats lightweight. All the strength, half the weight. The arrest of john gardner for the murder of chelsea king prompted some serious rethinking a few miles up the road in escondido. Amber dubois parents, for example, remembered something about that man. He was a registered sex offender in escondido at the time amber vanished. This was one of the people on your crazy list of going around at night and yeah, it was. I think there were 148 at that time. But, yeah, it was one of them. John gardner, it turned out, had been living here in this apartment complex in escondido at the time amber disappeared. Some of my volunteers did wait outside of his apartment looking for him to see what he drove or whatever, but they never made contact with him. After his arrest, carrie couldnt see how gardner could be connected to her daughters disappearance. Gardner seems to attack girls that are by themselves, and amber was last seen by two eyewitnesses in front of the school. For him to do that in front of all those kids just seemed really unlikely. Police had also been aware of john gardner, but finding evidence now that he was somehow involved in ambers disappearance was not going to be easy. Yes, gardner was a known sex offender who, in fact, lived two miles from the school. Police here in escondido had regular contact with him, as they do with all sex registrants, but there was no reason then, said captain bob benton, to suspect him. In every one of those contacts, mr. Gardner was in compliance with his sex registrant requirements. And he wasnt in the area of where she went missing. He wasnt in the area where the sightings were, and he was not considered to be high risk. Not officially at least, though there was, as everybody would discover, much more to learn about that. Gardner did have a brush with the law in the spring of 2009 after amber disappeared. A woman in a parking lot flagged down a Police Officer to complain gardner had been following her in his car, but when a cop confronted him . He had asked him why he was following this female. And he had responded that this woman had cut him off in traffic. As the cop talked to gardner, Something Else caught his eye. This known sex offender had a 3yearold in the car with him. That was of obvious concern to the stopping officer. Why is this sex registrant with a 3yearold child . It turned out it was his girlfriends child. She verified the story. And besides, he was off parole, had no restrictions at all about being around small children. But now, after his arrest for the murder of chelsea king, the amber task force went back and to the day she was missing. Two witnesses had seen amber in front of the school. One of them said she was with a boy. Must be somebody that knew her or she knew that she felt comfortable with, and again we were looking for a boy. A year later, detectives began thinking back to that particular witness description. One of the witnesses had last seen amber walking with a tall, doughy, darkskinned boy, which somewhat described john gardner. And we were thinking, well, its possible that based on it being a drizzly day, lighting is limited, a parent who is just driving up and looking at a boy maybe appears to be younger than he actually was. So now police reinterviewed the witnesses and the residents of gardners apartment complex and his girlfriend. All dead ends. Then a tip came in, which sent the divers to a park in escondido. Two children told their mother they might have seen a body in a bag around a pond. When i was watching all the divers, and they were going through all the muck, and im like getting nervous, of course, when theyre doing this. Search and rescue teams drained the pond, searched through reeds and brush surrounding it and nothing, yet another deadend. And im like, whew, it was such a relief, knowing theres no way she could be in there because they were all down to the bottom. So a little spark of hope rose to the surface again. Oh, im absolutely 100 hopeful shes alive. Still, had john gardner ever run into amber . Was he involved even if no one could prove it . If we ever start to believe that gardners connected to amber, its basically us losing hope, you know, and were never going to do that. Were going to deny it until we have an answer and we have our daughter home. But out here among the searchers at this sad little pond, mo dubois could have no idea that farther south in san diego Sergeant Brown had already embarked on a very unusual errand. You could say it was a unique day. But just where he was going, he had no idea. He just guided us up the street, you know. He explained where we would probably turn off on a dirt road, and we did just that. A journey down a dirt road . Where could it possibly lead . This could be an escape attempt. Come on. This guy is in jail for murder, and now he wants to go on a field trip. This might not go well. Improving your health isnt always easy, but you can do it. Stay active. Get outdoors. Eat healthy. And choose colgate total®. It does more than protect, it actually helps improve mouth health. [ male announcer ] it fights germs for 12 hours, in 24 hours starts to fortify enamel, and in 4 weeks helps improve gum health. You can do it with colgate total®. [ male announcer ] do more than protect. 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Its covered by most health plans. What does that do . Not sure, but it looks awesome. We heat the room to 110 degrees. Huh . Shes fine. On your right what did you get . No clue, but its jacked with protein. Wow in a world filled with fads, its nice to get back to basics. Seriously dude . Meat, cheese and nuts . Seriously. New p3 portable protein pack. Its 13 grams of serious protein, without taking itself too seriously. Its the original protein. Its oscar mayer. It happened even as search and rescue teams were wading through that escondido pond following what might be a lead in amber dubois disappearance. 20 miles south in downtown san diego, d. A. Bonnie dumanis received a mysterious request to meet with gardners attorney. Wouldnt discuss what it was. Gardner had been claiming, remember, he had nothing to do with ambers disappearance, but this morning his lawyer offered a deal, and it was huge. Gardner would lead detectives to amber, but he would only do it on one condition, that they couldnt use it against him. If we didnt use the fact that he took us there in any as evidence in any Court Proceeding and that his attorney had to be present and we couldnt question him in any way. She took the deal, and Sergeant Browns phone rang. We got told to go down to the jail, and we were going to go on a field trip with gardner. And Sergeant Brown and his men were told the rules. This was not his confession, but he was going to show where it was. They had 30 minutes to prepare, called the s. W. A. T. Team for backup. Why . This could be an escape attempt. Come on. The guy is in jail for murder. We have his dna and now he wants to go on a field trip with a couple of detectives and hes a big guy. This might not go well. And so off they went. Gardner showing them the way. A detective surreptitiously texting directions to the undercover s. W. A. T. Cars around them. We set them up in a few strategic locations, and as we began driving on the freeway, we knew where wed pick them up, different cars at different onramps. This is where they drove, through an indian reservation, up a dirt track to the top of a rocky hill. Shes in there somewhere, he told them. This is 20 miles from where she disappeared. Did you have any idea where you were going or get a sense of no. He cant really point his way in waist chains. But this goes off a cliff. To get his bearings, he would and i would grab him and go, if he goes off this cliff, no ones going to believe me he accidentally went off this cliff. He looked around, seemed confused. He came up and he went right to here and says, right there, right about here. And hes not exactly certain. Then he takes a few steps this way, changes his mind. What were you thinking, as youre looking down at this . Well, this isnt going to be a fun walk, and also, how did you get there . He tries to go here. He cant make it, he comes back and he resets and then he says, oh, i think its this way. Honestly we were frustrated. We dont know we still dont know if hes doing this just to get out of the jail for the day. They were still watching for any escape attempt. And then gardner found a familiar area. Then he gets to about here, then he remembers, and he says, this is it, this is it, and he was i dare say excited. Detectives walked their shackled prisoner down a steep incline. So we were just sliding down this. I can see why you would. This is very steep. Pushing their way through the thick brush and trees. Until they got to an old rusted water tank. This is a tank. I remember holding him right there, and hes pointing here, and he goes right about here. Hes also unsure of himself. I think right there. I think right there. Then he saw something, a reminder. He leaned into me and he said, see the shovel mark . There was a distinctive mark that held in the dirt like a nice clean slice in the mountain. I know its going to be there because i had a shovel. So that was enough, i pulled him out of here. What were you thinking . I work in the homicide division. Im just used to it, lets just say. But this was just absolutely surreal that he would bring me here, and i know this case. I know this girl. I live in this community. This is in my newspaper and i see her face or poster in every business and store i go into, so, and, you know, here i am, and hes walking me to the grave. Here was the spot where he claimed to have buried amber dubois over a year ago in a thicket of trees on a hillside in the middle of nowhere. No houses anywhere. Accessible by one dirt road. I dont believe anybody would have ever found this site. Up on the hill captain benton made the next decision. We didnt want to notify the family not knowing whether it truly was amber or not. But the next day, saturday, the medical examiner had made a positive identification. Gardner had, indeed, led them to ambers remains. More calls to make. When we received the call on saturday night, we immediately get a sinking feeling in our stomach because weve been called in many times to have talks, never at a on a saturday. On a saturday night at 8 00 p. M. At night would they come to the Escondido Police station . Walking in there, seeing the medical examiners, all of our investigators were there, the minister, the sheriffs department, d. A. s office, you know what youre going to hear next. The medical examiner told us that her remains were found today, positively i. D. d her through dental records. I cant say that i was prepared to hear it but after 386 days of searching, were ready for anything they can tell us. Give us an answer. Make this stop. What did you do after that meeting, the two of you . Cried for days. The Escondido Police chief made the announcement the next day, sunday, march 7th, 2010. Two teenagers found dead in less than a week. Human skeletal remains have been positively identified as being those of our missing 14yearold amber. But what he didnt say to ambers parents or to anyone was, call it the official secret, the fact that gardner had led them to the body. Why not tell . Because now investigators needed to prove gardners guilt without using a shred of what he had shown or told them. Escondido police and sheriffs homicide detectives were following a lead in a case when they made this discovery. But, frankly, they were stuck. Independent evidence . So far, none. Meaning gardner might never be charged with killing amber unless unless someone offered an incredible gesture. One heartbroken family reaches out to another, paving the way for a stunning moment in court. Do you admit that . Yes. [ door knock ] did you say bounty paper towels are the best . Love it. Theyre a must . Yes, i did. This is viva® vantage, and its different because of the stretch. Wow, thats awesome. That stretch means scrubbing power. I never knew paper towels could do that. [ abbey ] new viva® vantage. The towel more people prefer. [ abbey ] new viva® vantage. Good times happen] with100 naturally. We are gogo squeez. And were more than just applesauce. We are awesome sauce gogo squeez. 10 varieties, 100 fruit, applesauce onthego. There were memorials then. I wake up every morning now, and i have to remember how to breathe. The searches were over. They tried to figure out how to go on. I will channel my rage and commit to spending my life making our society safe from the incurable evil. There were thousands of these events, a measure of the upset, the impact of the killings. For every Single Person out there whos ever shed a tear for amber, for chelsea, i beg you to please put one minute of effort, one minute of action into helping protect our children. And while that was going on, investigators searched furiously for any evidence that would independently link john gardner to the death of amber dubois. What that included was finding every vehicle that he had at the time that or access to at the time that amber disappeared, and i believe there were four different vehicles. We had to find where every one of those vehicles were, have them forensically examined. The investigation continues, and the days ticked from march into april when we sat with ambers parents. Remember, they had not been told that gardner led police to ambers remains or even that gardner was known to be the man who abducted and killed her. We asked them if they were prepared never to know for certain who killed amber or how police found her. It may be that nobodys ever charged. It may be that you just have to live the rest of your lives not knowing. Im more fearful that there might be another predator out there as opposed to more upset as not having the answer. I want to make sure that whoever did this to amber is off the street. Thats what scares me the most, you know . What if they never connect this to somebody and the person who actually did this is still out there and can do it again . But it was a different question carrie had on her mind. What happened to amber . She wanted to know, had to know everything. You want to hear whoever did this tell you exactly what happened . Uhhuh. You do . Oh, yeah, absolutely. I couldnt hear it from the persons mouth saying i did this, i did that. I could. I couldnt. I couldnt do it without wanting to reach over and cause myself to be in jail for a long time. But here on this april afternoon, the question was academic. More likely they would never know. Strange the difference a week can make. It was april 15th, five days after our interview. Ambers parents were called to a meeting where they learned for the first time who led authorities to their daughters remains. We knew it was significant because we had to go downtown to go meet with the district attorney. And they were informed of an offer made by john gardners attorney. His attorney came forward with an offer to plead guilty to all of the charges for life without possibility of parole and waiving his appellate rights. In exchange, gardners attorney wanted the Death Penalty off the table. So her dilemma, should she continue to develop her strong Death Penalty case in the murder of chelsea king . Should she wait for the task force to link gardner to ambers death too, or would that ever happen . There was absolutely no link that anyone was able to find between john gardner and amber. And so d. A. Dumanis was faced with a choice, proceed only in the chelsea king case or make another deal to get some kind of justice for amber. You could have won pretty easily a Death Penalty case in the chelsea king case. Why not just do that, get the Death Penalty for that one . The question was for the family. So the family i talked to was chelseas family because we had no case on amber, and we talked about the fact that the end result with a life without possibility of parole is hed die in prison and there would be no appeals. So the kings were faced with a decision. Would ambers parents ever learn what, in fact, happened to their daughter . Would they see her killer pay for this crime . April 16th, the day after mo and carrie learned about the plea deal. This is a special news report. San diego television stations interrupted their afternoon programs. A hearing is scheduled in the courthouse for john gardner. There was news, a lot of it, all at once. Let us take you live. Theres john gardner right there. The truth of that allegation . Yes. A stunning admission of guilt, first for chelsea king. Youre admitting that on february the 25th, 2010, you attacked chelsea king while she was running, you dragged her to a remote area where you raped and strangled her. You then buried her in a shallow grave. Do you admit that . Yes. Do you also admit that the killing was done with premeditation and deliberation . Yes. And the murder took place within an hour of your initial contact with chelsea king . You admit those facts, as well . Yes. Then the jogger in december. Do you admit that on december the 27th, 2009, you attacked candace mankayo while she was running and unlawfully assaulted her with the intent to rape her . Yes. And after 14 months, an end to the mystery of what happened to amber dubois. You admit that on february the 13th, 2009, you took amber dubois to a remote area of pala where you raped and stabbed her, you then buried her in a shallow grave, do you admit the truth of those facts . Yes. Youre also admitting that this murder took place within an hour and a half of your initial contact with amber dubois. Do you admit all those facts as well . Yes. In exchange for a life sentence, gardner admitted all and pleaded guilty. It was a deal made possible because of a choice willingly made by one grieving family in an effort to spare more pain for another. The Dubois Family has been through unthinkable hell the past 14 months. We couldnt imagine the confession to ambers murder never seeing the light of day, leaving an eternal question mark. And ambers parents were grateful. Going the rest of my life without knowing would have been horrible. We would have been always wondering if he was connected or if there was someone else out there. But now that she knew . Now she was determined to come facetoface with her daughters killer no matter what it took. I want to talk to your son and find out why he murdered my daughter. An emotional meeting behind prison doors. What did you ask him . Hello, gentlemen. Andrew, could you send me the revised deck please. The revised deck. I can do that. Your samsung can do that . Mine cant do two things at once. Hmm. Huh. Uh, could you move your laptop a little bit . Its actually a tablet. A surface. Well it does have a keyboard. And a battery dock. And a mouse. This book makes no sense. all i know. I was thinking the same thing. Well, maybe we can look it up on youtube. Hmm, it can do that . Yeah. My kindle cant get that app. Well, what can it do . Books. woman so your samsung looks better than my ipad because its got more pixels . Right mines got the retina thingy. Do more on the new multitasking galaxy pro series tablets. Ive quit for 75 days. 15 days, but not in a row. For the first time, you can use nicorette. Even if you slip up. So you can reach your goal. [ male announcer ] now, quit on your own terms with nicorette or nicoderm cq. Lets step away from the bland and let the color fly. Lets get to the one store with more numberone choices and match this or this without using too much of this. Then lets crack open a can and get to it. Paint . No. Lets do pow. Lets do this. More saving. More doing. Thats the power of the home depot. Toprated behr premium plus interior starts at 23. 96 a gallon. What is your plea . Guilty. It was after john gardner stood in this san diego courtroom and pleaded guilty to the murders of chelsea king and amber dubois. Probation hearing is set it was as he waited for the formal sentencing, life in prison, that he knew was coming. From the San Diego County jail cell, gardner gave an interview to a local tv station and said he would only talk to the families about what happened to chelsea and amber. As soon as i heard those words, it was all i focused on. Because carrie, remember, was determined to know what happened to her daughter during the last minutes she was alive. I think if youre a parent you want to know what happened, you want to know how they took your child. If a lesson can be learned from amber, then i want it out there. So early in may she began trying to arrange a visit. I went through all the correct legal channels to try to get it and they kept insisting that i would meet with him after sentencing, and i didnt want to meet with him after sentencing. She had to know now. She tried to schedule a visit, was told none was available. So carrie had a bold idea. Why not ask gardners mother to give up one of her visits with her son . And so one afternoon she waited outside the jail as gardners mother approached. It didnt go well. Look, i just want to visit your son. Excuse me. Dont touch me, ill hit you. Dont touch me. Im not. Get away from her. Im not here to bother you. I want to talk to your son and find out why he murdered my daughter. The next day there was a phone call from the jailer. Can you be here in a half hour . Somehow the time was found for her talk with gardner. What was it like to walk in there and know you were going to talk to the guy who killed your daughter . I was real nervous up until i got there. Going in there and talking with him just didnt really have any feelings with me. I had forgiven whoever had done this to amber when i got her remains back. So to me it was just a person talking. He was already sitting behind the partition when she arrived. I think maybe i glanced at him once. Where were you looking . Just down. Just not at him. I really had no desire to look at him. Why not . I didnt want to get angry or upset. I just wanted to stay focused and so for me to stay focused, i just looked down or doodled on paper or whatever. I really wanted to stay in the mindset where i didnt start crying for get upset. So what did you ask him . Walk me through your day. And now carrie would finally learn what happened to amber in the last hours of her life. He started, you know, in the morning. Him and his girlfriend got in a fight. So he took off in a car to blow off steam, he said. And he happened to drive by the street where amber was taken. Why she was on that street, i dont know. It was not the way amber usually went to school. My guess is that she was probably going by her girlfriends house that lives right around the corner. He snatched her here, gardner told carrie. He saw amber walking by herself. He turned and cut her off and told her, if you dont get in this car, i have a knife and gun, and it will be real bad for you. She got in the car. He didnt have a gun. But i dont know if he showed her the knife or not. Im not sure. But he said she knew by the look in my eyes that i was serious. There was no questions about it. And honestly i think if she would have tried to run, he might have just killed her right there on the spot. Did you ask him for more than that . Yeah. He told me which way he drove. He was very detailed about the streets he went on. He stopped the conversation repeatedly, said carrie. Asked me if he could if i wanted him to continue. You know, he got real upset every time i told him to continue and he was like, i dont want to upset you. And im like, youve already taken my daughter. Continue. When it got to, you know, the rape part of it, he he, you know, pretty much begged, please can i stop . Can i stop, and im like, continue. Hes like, i dont want to, and by the time i left there, he was pretty much curled over, sweating, just, you know, complete crying. He was a mess. So he did have some feeling. Or hes a very good actor. So once you got the answers you knew you could get from him, did you say anything else . No. He asked me are you going to tell me you hate me . Or are you going to yell or scream . Im ready to hear that. I said, nope. I hung up the phone and walked out. Did you walk out a different person than when you went in . I walked out of that place very happy, very just kind of giddy. And im like, oh, my god, i can breathe. Its such a relief. It really was it was a great feeling. An unexpected reaction . Perhaps. Though how could anyone know how it feels to be Carrie Mcgonigle or to be the parents of chelsea king here in court on sentencing day . Look at me. One last haunting question. Are you saying then that the deaths of these two girls would have been prevented . And a revelation from a mother. I said, wow, you just showed the whole world what amber and chelsea saw. A look into the soul of a killer. Y greasy messes . [ male announcer ] sponges take your mark. [ female announcer ] one drop of ultra dawn has twice the everyday grease cleaning ingredients of one drop of the leading nonconcentrated brand. [ crowd cheering ]. To clean 2x more greasy dishes. Dawn does more. So its not a chore. Dawn does more. Tthe pleasure you crave bjust got real. Leasure . Light fit greek nonfat yogurt. Irresistible flavors, like toasted coconut vanilla, with a thick creamy texture. Never have 80 calories tasted so satisfying. Light fit greek. Taste satisfaction without sacrifice. Dannon this is my tv. Yeah, i think i saw your patio set and pool. Once i have all the money, ill pick em up. You know you could just use kmart layaway for nearly everything in the store or online, any day of the year. And as a shop your way member, you could get 5 off. Well youre very nice at kmart, almost everything can be put on layaway 365 days a year. And shop your way members get special savings. Kmart. Where members always get more. No one says to stop and see the roses, t to stop and smell the roses. Usscent makes us feel like nothing else can. Inspired by the best feelings in the world. Glade youve reached the age where you know how things work. This is the age of knowing what needs to be done. So why let erectile dysfunction get in your way . Talk to your doctor about viagra. 20 million men already have. Ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. Do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. Side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. To avoid long term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. Stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. This is the age of taking action. Viagra. Talk to you doctor. John gardner was guilty, no doubt about it. He was a predator and a murderer. All that was left to do was sentence him. So case closed . Not really. For three months, a steady drip of news seemed to ask over and over, how did they miss him . Gardner, remember, spent five years in prison for sexually molesting and beating a 13yearold girl back in 2000. He was paroled in 2005. It was maddening to us at the time. Everything that led up to his being free on the street, allowing him to stalk our children. Maddening because there had been fair warning. A psychiatrist a decade earlier warned that he was very dangerous and should receive the maximum tenyear sentence under his plea deal. Had that advice been taken, gardner might still have been in prison back in 2010. Theres numerous, numerous times that he fell through the cracks. Like, for example, his parole violations once released. The cops found marijuana in his car. For a time he lived too close to children. But the judgment of the Parole Department was not to bust him, and then the public discovered that gardner wore a gps monitor his last year on parole, which ended in 2008, just four months before amber disappeared. But no one was watching and we found over 100 violations of parole that hadnt been previously discovered by the department. We missed some opportunities to, you know, remove him from society. Dave shaw was the Inspector General for the California Department of corrections, the agencys watchdog, which after the fact looked into the gardner case. He spent time, you know, adjacent to daycare centers, to schools, to parks, to playgrounds, to the beach, all places that he shouldnt have been at, and we didnt catch it because we werent looking. Nor was anyone watching when gardner drove into the parking lot of a state prison. Gardner said it was to drop off a friend, but its against the law for an excon to enter prison grounds. And that, san diegos d. A. Told us, was a felony that would have locked him up for a very long time. We would have filed a three strikes case because his 2000 case was two strikes and hed be facing 25 years to life. Are you saying then that the deaths of these two girls could have been prevented . Were saying is had he been incarcerated, it would have been impossible, and there were ample opportunities to either revoke his parole or to prosecute him. But no one at the time was monitoring gardners gps. Did you find fault with somebody or with some system . We think it was the system that was at fault. We didnt find any particular fault on the part of the parole agent. The agents just werent looking at it because they werent required to. Listen to this, they werent expected to track gardners gps monitor because of the way a of at the time classified gardners risk potential as mediumlow risk. With the lower risk offenders, it was only used as a crimesolving tool. Matthew cade was the head of the California Department of corrections. So if a crime is reported, then we go back to the tracks and see if we can place them at the scene of the crime. Gardner a lowerrisk offender . Again he says it was the assessment method itself, its limitations, that failed to spot gardners potential to be dangerous. But when gardner was paroled this was the most accurate tool in the world, and so we used it. I wish wed known then what we know now, but the Department Just didnt have anything else to use at the time. It was based on factors sump as age, number of offenses, type of crime. I think the public wants us to be able to predict who exactly is going to do what. Well never be able to do that. Low risk doesnt mean no risk. Improvements have been made. Theres required gps tracking of all sex offender parolees and treatment for those parolees. The treatment includes the use of polygraph tests in an effort to keep track of parolees to see if theyre in danger of reoffending. What do you say to a headline that says these two girls would be alive today if the system had done its job . I dont agree that any one thing necessarily would have made the difference. Its hard to know. We can learn from this. Its worth ten headlines if we get a little better and there isnt a next victim. Well move then to the victim impact statements. Theres an emotional structure now to sentencing days in american courtrooms. Wrenching, often deeply angry. And i pray every night that god shows you no mercy. And this is how it was with john gardner, listening, sometimes attentively, sometimes not, to chelseas parents. You dismantled a family life that was built on love, trust and faith, but you did not destroy it. Look at me. Why am i not surprised . And to ambers. No one can appreciate the horror that is my life until they can appreciate the joy that was my amber. And then watch what happened when that earlier survivor of a gardner attack every day i lace up my shoes and relive the moments of terror, the other conviction that i was going to die. Watch what happens when she reminds him how she elbowed his nose to escape. And, finally, to ask him how his nose is. Was it rage he was expressing as he turned to his attorney and appeared to say she didnt hit me. And even adds, shes saying it for publicity. I saw that look of rage and i said, wow, you just showed the whole world what amber and chelsea saw before you killed them. But all this was formality, the people who have to deal with the deaths he left in his wake, had struggled with what to do after. Ambers mother is involved in search and rescue. Building her legacy is going to be the search and scue team. And chelseas parents took on the system. If if our laws were smarter and bolder, chelsea might still be here. They pushed for a new law named for chelsea and sign ee e the governor in 2010 imposing stiffer sentences for sex offenders and improved monitoring and assessment of parolees. Governor schwarzenegger, i thank you for your support and commitment. Youve helped us fulfill our dream of doing everything in our power to prevent this tragedy from ever happening to another family again. Chelsea should be graduating college now and amber a college future farmer. Instead, all their parents could do was watch authorities lead the killer away to a life in prison. And try e best they can to help stop the next one out there somewhere. helicopter blades whirring god help me. Woman mr. Roth mr. Roth