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Amber Dubois walks to school
Amber Dubois, 14, heads to school. It’s about a mile from her home to Escondido High School. At 7:08 a.m. one witness who knows Amber sees her walking alone toward the school. Two minutes later, at 7:10 a.m., another witness who also knows Amber sees her still walking toward the school alongside a boy who has never been identified. She was near the football field but never makes it another 150 feet to the school entrance where video cameras would have recorded her presence. -
Amber's mother gets message from school
At 5:45 p.m. Amber’s mother, Carrie McGonigle, comes home from work and hears a message on her answering machine. The school wanted to know if Amber’s absence was authorized. McGonigle calls police. -
Amber's cell phone goes on then off
About 2 p.m. someone turns on Amber’s cell phone for a few seconds, then it goes off and is never activated again. Cell phone records show the phone was somewhere in northern Escondido when it was turned on. At 9:45 p.m., Escondido Police issue the first news release about Amber’s disappearance. -
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Authorities search for Amber
Week of Feb. 16: Door-to-door searches are conducted by authorities in northern Escondido and search teams scour the nearby hills and open areas the week of April 16. Various sighting of the teenager are reported. Police later determine the sightings were without merit. Police classify Amber as a missing juvenile, a designation that held for the next 13 months. -
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Search center set up for Amber. Reward offered. Search teams continue search.
During the month of March, a Search Center is set up not far from the school and a $60,000 reward offered for information leading to her safe return. The award later would be bolstered by the governor’s office bringing it to $100,000. Search teams, in dwindling numbers, continue to look for Amber for months without success. -
Police release videotape
Police release a videotape of a red pickup parked in the school bus yard that pulled in about 7:10 a.m. and left three minutes later. They wonder if it has something to do with the case. Many months later, after the videotape is examined by FBI technical experts, investigators realize the truck belongs to a parent and is not connected to Amber’s disappearance. -
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Dogs used in search to find Amber
During August 2009, Amber’s grandmother, Sheila Welch, pays the expenses for two search dogs, one from Maine, the other from Virginia, to come to Escondido. The dogs handlers say they were able to detect Amber’s scent from six months earlier and track it to the community of Pala more than 25 miles away before losing the scent. Police go to Pala and interview numerous people, none of whom say they remember seeing Amber. -
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More dogs are brought in to hunt for Amber
During November 2009, different dogs that the FBI often uses in searches are brought in but are unable to detect a scent in Pala. -
Jogger attacked
Jogger Candice Moncayo is attacked at Rancho Bernardo Community Park. -
Chelsea King disappears
Poway High School senior Chelsea King, 17, disappears after going for a run at Rancho Bernardo Community Park. Her father finds her car at the park. The parents call the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, who arrive at the park and begin searching. -
John Albert Gardner III is arrested
John Albert Gardner III, a 30-year-old convicted sex offender with an address in Lake Elsinore, is arrested at a Mexican restaurant in Del Dios in connection with Chelsea’s disappearance. -
Searchers find Chelsea’s body
Two days after Gardner’s arrest and one day before he is arraigned, searchers find Chelsea’s body in a shallow grave on the banks of the lake. -
Gardner pleads not guilty
Gardner pleads not guilty to raping and murdering Chelsea. He also pleads not guilty to assaulting jogger Moncayo. -
Officials find Amber's remains
Acting on what police say was a lead developed during the Amber Dubois case, officials find skeletal remains in a remote and rugged area of the north county roughly three miles north of Pala. The location is about a quarter-mile west of Pala-Temecula Road, up a steep, little used, one-lane road. Later that evening the remains are identified as being those of Amber. Her parents are notified and the public is told the next afternoon. What led officials to Amber is not made public. -
Candlelight vigil for Amber
A candlelight vigil in Amber’s memory is held at Escondido High School. More than 1,000 people attend the event. -
Escondido police release statement
Escondido police release the following statement: “The Amber Dubois crime scene is still being processed and John Albert Gardner III remains a focus of the investigation.” The next day a San Diego Superior Court judge issues a gag order forbidding lawyers and police from commenting on the case against Gardner. -
Chelsea's memorial
A memorial attended by 5,000 people is held for Chelsea at Poway High School. -
Memorial held for Amber
About 1,000 people attend a memorial for Amber at Escondido High School. -
Gardner pleads guilty
Gardner pleads guilty to both murders under a plea bargain that will send him to prison for two consecutive life sentences without the possibility for parole.