Vigil set for Amber Dubois. Saturday June 13, 2009 CA.

Vigil is set for missing girl, 14

Search continues for Amber Dubois

By J. Harry Jones 2:00 a.m. June 12, 2009

DETAILS

Candlelight vigil for Amber Dubois

When: 1 to 4 p.m. tomorrow June 13, 2009

Where: 755 N. Quince St., Escondido

What: Candlelight vigil, culminating with release of balloons at 4 p.m.

ESCONDIDO — It will be four months tomorrow since 14-year-old Amber Dubois went missing while walking to school in Escondido, and a search center established shortly after she disappeared is closing down.

Every weekend volunteers have been scouring nearby hills for any sign of the teen, without success. The number of volunteers has dwindled to a point that only about 20 people have been showing up to help.

Amber's mother, Carrie McGonigle, said that the center will close this weekend and that future search efforts will concentrate on distributing fliers in Riverside and Orange counties. “Most people know about Amber in San Diego,” she said.

“But nobody knows about her further north.” The search center, at 755 N. Quince St. in Escondido, will be the site of a candlelight vigil from 1 to 4 p.m. tomorrow, culminating in the release of balloons at 4 p.m. McGonigle said she still harbors hope.

“I still feel she's alive and I still feel she's nearby,” she said.

“We just have to find where.” Police say they have followed up on about 900 tips, including false sightings of the teen, without anything concrete being found.

An examination of Amber's Internet activity so far has shown only that she visited sites that any normal 14-year-old girl would, Escondido Police Lt. Bob Benton said. Some records still have not been obtained because the Web site operators are based outside the United States. The FBI has been helping with the Internet side of the investigation.

Amber's cell phone has not been used since the day after she disappeared, when someone in northern Escondido tried to access her voice mail for about 20 seconds but gave up after realizing the password had been changed. Her parents had it changed when she didn't come home so they could listen to any messages that might have been left for her.

It now appears that a burgundy pickup truck seen on surveillance videotape of a school bus maintenance yard near Escondido High School about the same time that Amber disappeared is not the same pickup spotted in another case. San Diego police are searching for a similar pickup in connection with the molestation of two young girls at two Wal-Mart stores in April and May.

But Benton said the trucks appear to be different.

Police still classify Amber as a missing juvenile, saying there isn't enough information to say definitively whether she was abducted or ran away.

Nationally known missing children's advocate Marc Klaas will attend the vigil, McGonigle said. Anyone with information about Amber's whereabouts is asked to call (760) 743-TIPS (8477).

Amber's family has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to her return, and a $10,000 reward for information leading to arrests. J. Harry Jones: (760) 737-7579; jharry.jones@uniontrib.com

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