this is an important message about a missing juvenile missing. >> you don't sleep, you don't need. nothing matters anymore.

>> a teenager disappears. >> come home. police. >> amber never made it right then. somebody had her. >> kept us up at night. going over in your head, what happened in front of the school? >> then another gone. >> she's such a good girl. she needs to come home. >> there's a lot of desperation. maybe she's tied up somewhere. maybe she's being held captive. >> two missing girls, one man. a secret. >> did you get any sense of the sort of personality you are dealing with? >> yes, psychotic. he came up and it came right here, the edge and he says, right there. >> two families, two mysteries. two journeys for justice. >> if 11 can be learned from amber, then i wanted out there. >> on the evening of february

12th, 2009, in a hillside house north of san diego, count fournié. the negotiation was finally complete. the girl had one. >> i made her writer one page letter to me, and she made it two pages but repeat yourself multiple times to make it longer. i'm like, okay. >> she pestered her mother, karen. and her mother's boyfriend at the time, dave. >> kids have their own things that they're into, amber loved animals. >> she had been campaigning for, during her regular and frequent visits with her father, mo. >> she had already had it made for probably a month before she even got it. >> what we're gonna call it? >> nanette. french name. >> which made perfect sense to her, since her own surname was very french. dubois, amber dubois. she was 14 years old, in the morning, it would be friday, february 13th. it was to be her lucky day.

the day she'd walked those few familiar blocks from her home in -- clutching her mother's 200 dollar check. and receive in exchange, a lamb, of all things. she was buying it as part of her high school's future farmers program. 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. >> not a single day that goes by that i don't break down and cry for hours. >> the extent of the evil hadn't occurred to the sheriff yet. >> no one is saying there's a safe zone that's been taken away from you. >> the da never imagined, she'd say -- >> this case rocked san diego county. >> this was before all that. >> and amber was just going about the business of being 14. and slightly quirky.

>> amber was a free spirited kid. she loved reading and writing, she didn't like the normal things that most kids like. >> she had her own pace, she like to take your time. come on amber, come on. >> she's looking at the flowers, the bugs. whatever. she's never in a hurry. ever. she just wanted to see the world how she wanted to see it. and she did. >> no interest in boys yet, no gurley things either. >> we would have to order her clothes for school online, she hated shopping. >> oh god, no. >> not at all. >> that would be torture for her. to go to the mall. >> what did other girls think about it? you know they're so clique-ish, at that age. >> she had her clique, it was very small clique. for a small group of small friends, they were all geeky nerds like her, basically. they were all a bunch of book worms. >> she read the whole harry

potter series in two weeks. >> come on. >> all of them. she couldn't put the book down, should get through a 300-page novel, i have to go in a room multiple times i knew she was under the blankets with a flashlight reading. >> in a year, she read more books than i had read my life. >> amber, say hi. >> just beginning high school, she had made plans to take extra courses, graduate early. she vowed never to miss one day of class. >> i'm like, are you sure? you never want to miss school, was wrong with you? i'll do anything to miss school. she wanted perfect attendance. >> do animal behavioral scientist. she wanted to study animals in death. >> she kept guinea pigs and fish and birds and dogs. in russ. she began riding lessons at three, by nine, she owned a horse. so, when the school offered future farmers of america a course, she joined. >> they have a huge, huge farm on the campus. they allowed students to

purchase and raise farm animals. >> thus, the lamb and the happy walk to school on friday, february 13th. >> i remember driving to work laughing, i don't have to take care of that lamb. the weather was drizzly that winters day. mid 50s. it was late in the afternoon, the day dave noticed, nothing. an absence. >> i was at the house, and went wait a minute, why isn't ever here? almost all at work. but she should've been here an hour ago. i called her mom. >> i want to where she's at. i called her cell phone, amber, call me. >> dave got in his car, drove to the school. >> i figured, maybe she went to play with her lamb and just lost track of time. >> then, he found whatever teachers. and asked if he'd seen amber. >> mr. rayburn looked at me, she didn't show up here today, i was very surprised she wasn't here, this was her last day to pay for her limb. >> i said, no, what are you

talking about? i gave her a check before i left the house this morning. >> that's when sirens went off. i called carrie and told her mr. rayburn said she wasn't there. carry, at that point, went into panic mode. >> he says, amber never made it, i knew right then, something, someone had her. oh my god, something terrible it happened. >> coming up. where was amber? >> we've been out there for several days. as it goes on, we get a little more worried. >> police in the nation join the search, and a new lead sends a mother on a dangerous mission. across the border. >> we've advised her not to go, but there's a great reason for them to kidnap her and hold her. >> when dateline continues. ♪ ♪ enough was enough. i talked to an asthma specialist and found out my severe asthma

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a young woman of established habits. >> she got a school to a 45, i give her till 3:30 to be homestretch could hang out with her friends. >> dependable, was a member. predictable, even. >> she was always home by 3:30, always called. >> then came friday, february 13th, 2009. when she wasn't home. did not call. >> the day her mother carrie discovered she hadn't gone to school at all. >> amber never wanted to miss school. she had to check in or pocket for the lamb, no way she was missing that day of school. >> carrie called her ex husband, amber's father, mo. >> what did her voice sound like on the phone? >> complete panic. >> i went to the school, a sort of looking all around the school. dumpsters, anything for a backpack. >> what could they do? they played printed flyers, called their friends. >> i probably 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 of amber. i hand them a color flier, and said here, this is a much better picture member.

>> that's what she is, she's been missing since friday. >> the police combed the neighborhood, the school, the creek behind. it worked all night, then cab then captain. >> it's now saturday morning, still no sign of amber. very concerning to us. >> then, later that day, a break. somebody had seen her. near the school. >> describing how she had a hoodie on, it was drizzly. they described her as walking hurriedly, he thought she was late to school. >> then someone else had seen amber. near this fire hydrant. with a boy. >> there is amber. they noticed that she was there. >> the boy was described as tall, about 68 tension inches taller than ever. joey looking. dark complected. >> who was that boy? was amber with someone? she had been missing a day when the phone company called, her cell was active. somewhere nearby. >> somebody had tried to access voice mail.

it hit on the same cell phone tower that covers both embers home in the school. >> so, police set out with amount to a reverse 9-1-1 call, this is an important message from the police department. regarding a missing youth at risk. the missing juvenile is amber dubois. it's a recorded message that we can send out to all the homes an area that we did it for several miles. around the cell phone tower. >> dark clothing. >> if you've seen her, you know her, please call us. >> as the new spread, people did. call a classmate reported seeing a number in downtown escondido, saturday the 14th. early evening. local surveillance cameras picked up nothing. then, sunday the 15th, a second classmate says, he saw her walking with a boy. >> the starting on sunday night, deemed to be as reliable as can be. >> each siding sent hope

soaring. not in carrie, she knew amber was not a runner. >> i'm like, it wasn't her. i'm telling you right now, it wasn't her. she would not be this close to home and not come home. >> they are night, the search went on. the fbi joined in. volunteers did to. searching outbuildings, sheds. >> we don't know what's going on here, we did check of course. >> search and rescue teams scoured miles, brush choked ravines. hidden places around rocky hill's. >> also in this area, we found out was a place where a lot of kids go to party. it's called the caves. it consists of iraqi area, mountainous area. >> no sign of amber. >> this is been going on after several days. >> as it goes on, we get a little more worry. >> what was it like for the two of you as those days kept going by, there was no word, nothing. >> life stopped. >> nothing matters anymore. >> we don't sleep, we donie.

>> other days you could see some kind of light. >> the police set up a task force, assigned search teams, volunteers came out. >> hundreds of them. >> i have three daughters myself, i just cannot imagine what those parents are going through. >> i look around, i see a bunch a little flickers of hoboes what i'm seeing. >> someone has her. >> she's not just hiding for me. they're hiding from the house, someone has a. >> kept us up at night. going over in our heads, over and over again. what happened that morning in front of the school? >> if amber was alive, and that was a big if, where could she be? >> if you left, she left with somebody she knew. who was that person? >> they told the amber story on america's most wanted. she was on the cover of people magazine. >> and what happened? suddenly, sightings coast to coast, hundreds of them. >> there's one girl who looked so much like amber, that if she had to keep carrying her i.d. on her, law enforcement would

stop for so many times. i'm not a. amber she had to show the i.d., i'm not. our >> captains 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 internet ends. and carrie? ran her own private task force. >> when tips came in of sightings in mexico, carrie got in her car and drove 45 miles south across the border into tijuana. another 60 miles to mexicali, to scour the streets for remember. >> i always let law enforcement know what i was doing. i call them on me to go back you know dangerous this is? >> we devised her not to go, because if somebody down here knew that she had at that point, a 40 or 50,000 dollar reward there'd be, you know, great reason for them to care kidnap her and hold her down. here >> it's for it. i'm begging you, i'll call you when i get back. by. >> i love going down there for looking for five times.

>> but, no amber in mexico. so, at home in escondido, what did she do? >> she had a list of redshirt private predators she had one out and take it a dozen a night. apartment complex manager, that was yelling at individuals. at apartment complex. officers arrived, it was prima donna yelling at a registered sex offender. the sex register was complaining that department manager had asked us to ask her to leave. the threat of arrest did not scare her. >> i'm like so, what go ahead. >> but then, the weeks became months, and it caught hard to do. the volunteers once a small army thinned, stop coming. >> we had days where we had hundreds and hundreds of people, but then it would suddenly dropped down two points where there was weeks when we had eight people show up.

four months after amber disappeared, the volunteers search -- on february 13th 2010, they marked the 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 is very limited if at all. >> and then. >> the search is on this morning for a missing 17-year-old -- >> and, then it happened again. coming up. another mystery. >> finding her car, it was unusual. it made me think that maybe something had gone wrong. >> and, another anguished mother. >> please help us bring her home. she is such a good girl. she needs to come home. >> when dateline continues. keep... coming... back... inflammation in the eye might be to blame. feel the ache and burn!

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just over a year since amber dubois vanished, another teenager was missing. ten miles away at a suburb and san diego. >> how could this have been almost a year -- the same month, how can -- >> it began in a parking lot, a hiking trail. >> we get calls oftentimes about juveniles, runaways.

>> to san diego county sheriff's deputies responded to a call from panicked parents. >> this one i think made the house stand up a little bit on the deputies neck. >> 17-year-old charles seeking, straight a student, a -- park in san diego as she often did, round two in the afternoon, a run. in broad daylight, well known, we'll, used safe hiking trail. skirted the long shallow lake. but then, she did not answer her cell, did not return her france messages, chelsea's dad called the cell phone provider which looked up at the signal was, let her dad to her phone, which was inside the locked car in the parking lot. >> and just finding her car was unusual, and it was not just somebody, a teenager out here with her boyfriend. it made me think that maybe something had gone wrong.

>> it certainly had. >> so seeking is described as having strawberry blond hair. >> now another nightmare began. >> anybody out there, you know anything, just please help us bring her home. she is 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 -- that was my instinct. >> one it was a san diego california district attorney, and one of the first to get abused. >> everybody began thinking of amber, right from the beginning, i think. that is what made everybody so scared about chelsea, was knowing that this had happened with amber. >> amber who was in some ways so similar. >> beautiful -- both -- >> that very thursday afternoon, within hours of chelsea's disappearance, friends fanned out around the park, the neighborhood around, it even total strangers joined in.

and just along, here perhaps two miles from chelsea's abandoned car, between a creek bed and a row of houses, as nikole settled in, the daylight fared. >> one of the people that are coming from the neighborhood to search came across a pair of socks that did not appear trampled, or discarded, they were right in the center of the trail. >> it could have been anyone, of course, but how did they get here? >> they seemed to be freshly. there >> was there a connection? dave brown, then a sergeant with the sheriff's department, sent it detective out to the trail. >> right along this trail. just further down. the parents said that -- >> was there a clear indication there might be dna? >> yes. there was a small amount of blood that was found. >> it did not look good. close 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 -- around thousands of acres. branched over -- parkland. drivers made their way through the, lake and it's underwater forest. you could see the shoreline over, they're the shoreline over, here it is very thick, and in the middle they are hidden by water. >> -- is a sergeant flip the operation. >> so you can see a little bit of the difficult, just here if you take one, step you have two part of the brush take another step, the thursday night. >> night fell, still no sign of chelsea. where was she on these miles of trails in this dark part? >> there's a lot of places where you can hide, someone that is a problem. as you can see, this is an expensive area, there is a lot of acreage here. >> by friday, the day after

chelsea's disappearance, they're working on, unions trucks, four wheelers, hundreds and hundreds of folks coming from southern california, people for hours and hours. >> the county sheriff meant the phone. >> calls from the agent in charge of the fbi, says have 25 agents. water patrol got a call, and they were there. >> the fbi canvassed some 300 homes around the park, and 600 tips. the areas known sex offenders were tracked down as well. why that weekend, two days missing. >> a five foot five, 150-pound girl. >> thousands came to look for chelsea, amber's parents among them. >> it was huge, the line of people a wide went around the whole building, all the way to the street. >> this was not like the search for amber. there were no sightings of chelsea. >> this case was pretty specific, we believe she was

out and went jogging in the park, and the fact she didn't come back me to believe there was still pipe of albany right from the beginning. >> which was why the sheriff called dave brown and -- homicide detectives. >> there were certain things about this missing persons case i get concerned, people are investigating. one of them was equaling found, and found really far away a couple miles -- couple explanation for it. no explanation is that foul play. then, the next, day the second discovery. it was eight miles from the place where the underwear and socks are, found and the shoe which appear to be the very shoe in this photo. and, either thrown it or dropped it, the way these things are so far apart from each other, whether or not -- the chance they would find

chelsea alive is growing -- now there were two girls gone, but where? there is more of a hope that somehow connected. >> chelsea, amber, might there be a link? police were about to get a break. >> we need to find out everything we can about this person. >> eight new search begins, and the clock is ticking. >> we knew we were going to close in. when dateline continues. when dateline continues.

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top stories. the official telling nbc news china's considering sending artillery and ammunition to russia, this comes after the u.s. ambassador to the united nations warned china, supplying russia with lethal aid would be a, quote, game-changer. you centers for disease control and prevention is canvassing east palestine ohio, this is three weeks after a train

derailment there. officials are -- released toxic fumes. now, back to dateline. w, back to dateline. >> there is a lot of desperation. and the back of your mind, you are hoping that someone has her held against her will. so, the detectives -- nobody wants to go home, nobody wants to sleep, but to find her -- >> it was like some nightmare déjà vu, amber dubois vanished in san diego county search store and nothing. then a year later, in the neighboring town, another teenage girl was gone, another search going nowhere, where the two were connected. that is where the cops who searched for amber wondered. >> it was more of a hope that they were somehow connected would help us solve the amber case. >> and so, he watched, as search and rescue literally

beat the bushes, and probed the treacherous much muddy waters. and, detectives and suits were the neighborhoods nearby. >> finding out who their friends, are where she was, talking to anybody and everybody who might have been in the park that day needing to find something. >> and, they were trying to make sense of evidence gathered round of the park. chelsea's car was parked here, underwear with a slight stain of blood had been found on the trail here. a shoe a mile away. >> in the back of our minds, we know it is a matter of time before we may get the results from those dna, and that will also prove if those are actually her items of clothing and shoe. then, three days after chelsea disappeared, more clothing surfaced. not far from where the first items are found, the meat to the first shoe, and a sports bra here in a ditch. >> it is an area we had searched, and it did not 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 a trail, or to throw a selfie lead. >> was chelsea still in the park? was she dead or alive? and one more question, had anyone else been attacked in the park? and sure enough, a student home for the holidays also reported that she had been attacked while running on a trail near where those first items of clothing were found. that was december, two months before chelsea vanished. what is chilling is, it happened literally within feet of the houses, but what was good, 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, muscular, brown hair, military type -- she was running along the path, and this guy tackled her from the side, and pinned her down. and she understanding what was coming said, you will have to kill me.

he said, that can be arranged. but she knew taekwondo, and she cut him in the nose with her elbow, and he reacted, she ran away, and ran like the wind out of there. other witnesses offered a vague description of a man they had seen parked the day chelsea disappeared. a white male, heavy set, a do they have a serial attacker on their hands? was this part of the park territory? it was not afternoon february 28th, chelsea had been missing for three days. >> how do you deal with the parents? >> i don't know the answer swore them. at one point, they asked for a tour, of the items that were found. so sergeant brown showed where the items are found. >> we got to positions where we can point, out that is where we found, this that is where we found that. >> and that is when one of the detective's phone rang. >> the dna came back. >> the dna on the clothing, it confirmed it was chelsea's. the test produced something

else as well, the most important discovery yet, inside that clothing was a second person's dna, and the lab got a hit. >> it came back to a sex registry. >> chelsea's parents were standing beside him. >> did you tell them that? >> no i didn't. >> but the tour was not over, sort of ground 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 register? don time in prison? that is not a positive note, but at least we knew who and where he was. 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, what if he was holding her, saw the, cops panicked? >> in the back of everybody's mind, she is alive, you think wimbish is tied up somewhere, maybe she's being held captive, we will find her, and we will find her tonight. >> but she wasn't in any of those houses, and neither was he. instead, they found him in a bar, on the north side of the league in the very park where chelsea had been running. hernandez hideaway. this was weird. gardeners close were wet and muddy, as if he had been waiting in the leak. they took him to the sheriff's -- lineup photographs to the young woman who has survived that earlier attack. >> and she picked him instantly. >> what if this man with a wet and muddy close done with chelsea cain, did he know anything about the other missing girl amber dubois?

coming up. the interrogation begins. police are in for a ride. >> we back in the, shall did on a full billet laugh, a law for an extended period of time. >> when dateline continues. when dateline continues eel. ♪ ♪ breeze driftin' on... ♪ [coughing] ♪ ...by, you know how i feel. ♪ if you're tired of staring down your copd,... ♪ it's a new dawn, ♪ ♪ it's a new day... ♪ ...stop settling. ♪ ...and i'm feelin' good. ♪ start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy makes breathing easier for a full 24 hours, improves lung function, and helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling,

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suspected attacker here at the park. now, john gardner, 30 years, old was behind bars. >> how did he react to being arrested? >> very unhappy. wondering why he was being arrested. believed the accusations were false. >> the detectives had brian, and scott palmer confronted him in an interrogation room. >> we believed in hope that chelsea will still live someplace, so we just kept asking where is chelsea king? >> how did he respond to that? >> he denied everything. he denied ever coming into contact with her. he basically said the only information he had was from the television. >> but you are able to say, listen pal, we have your dna. >> we did. we are portion with a dna, he called this liars. >> what was his demeanor? >> he was all over the place. he was calm one minute, angry when, minute on the verge of crying the other minute. he thought part of it was humorous to him, and part of it was just defensive. how dare we even consider him

as a suspect. he actually made it perfectly clear that he hit the law enforcement. he said he was treated poorly while he was in the -- and he did cops for that reason. >> gardiner had been arrested here at this bar called fernandez hideaway, wet and money, he told the detectives he slipped ahmed, and hopped in the lake to rinse off. >> the first thing that comes to our mind, why is he in the lake. hernandez high the way is on the other side of the lake. >> the evidence, those bits of clothing or found on the south and of the leak. >> so now we are thinking, as he placed chelsea somewhere on the north side of the lake and he's going to retrieve or see if she is still there? we are looking for clues he is going to give a verbal, e or nonverbal, or whatever. >> the question or 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 could go into too much detail about why what you were doing we kept trying to keep on focus to find out where and what you did with her. >> the suspect would not budge. they kept prodding. >> so scott has a photograph of chelsea king and continue to push it in front of him he would glance at it but not look very long but then he went to continue to deny deny deny, scott would keep talking to him, where she? where is she? then he would go off on some tangent. >> did you get any sense of this personality you were doing when you were talking -- >> yes, psychotic, a major anger issues. >> they left the room for a few minutes, watched on new video monitor as you look at a photo of chelsea. >> mystically called chelsea a bitch, why are you doing this to my life, and flipped the paper away.

>> then out of the blue, in mid interview, 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 a sense we're probably going to try and figure me for the amber girl's disappearance. he asked where she was, and he wouldn't even pronounce her last name properly. >> at that point, the officer, say gordon began laughing hysterically. >> he rolled back in the chair, did a full billy laugh. he left for an extended period of time. >> at some point, you're going that is, it you are not going to get anything out of the sky. >> correct, we definitely knew going out of there who was guilty, there was nothing he could do at that point. >> nothing but -- double the effort to find chelsea. still, chelsea's parents could not help but hope the arrest of gardner had brought him a step closer to finding their daughter. >> it gave us hope that chelsea is still there, we just have to

find her, so i'm not going to think about who he is, what he is -- >> an incredible amount of rage that boils, but right now focus on chelsea. >> rachel, yes, of course, but imagine what brent king might have thought when he learned just a little more, as you will to about the history of mr. john gardner. >> the man was evaluated ten years previously by a board certified psychiatrist who found that he was the danger and continuing danger to the public, and apparently that warning was not listened to. i was shocked. >> coming up. who was john gardner really? >> john told us what had happened. >> or scientists will -- >> this was a man who started out being violent. >> two very different pictures coming into focus. when dateline continues. en dateline continues.

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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 chelsea's 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. san diego county -- >> he had been a convicted sex offender, he was convicted for six years for sexual assault in 2000 i believe it was. >> in fact, he had served five years of that sentence for sexually assaulting and brutally breathing is a 13 year

old neighbor. >> this is where in march 2000, gardner became a sex offender, it was daytime ice on mother's house, he was 20 than, invited a 13 year old to watch videos with him, he began groping, her she back 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 all. he even blamed the beating on the victim's mother. >> jennifer was a friend of gardeners back then. >> i remember john had come up to the mountains, and told us what had happened, and that he was gonna 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 was not him, the girl had a boyfriend, and he thought that the girl just didn't want to admit to her parents that she was having sex with her boyfriend because it

might have gotten hurt and charbel. so she was going to blame the neighbor, being john. >> she and their circle friends all believed him, she says, jon gardner they knew was a good friend, always helpful. you confided in her that he had been diagnosed as bipolar. >> he did display the symptoms of it, really a high highest, and low lows. on one of the occasions he was in a low, he started telling me about things that happened in his childhood that family member had 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. he wanted to become a math teacher. his arrest button and to those plans. gardner always proclaimed his innocence, but agreed to a plea deal telling his probation officer, three attorneys warned

him he would get -- if he went to trial. but before he was sentenced, a court ordered a forensic psychiatrist to evaluate gardner, to help determine whether he should receive probation or, how long he should be in prison. >> there were very serious offense, even though it was the first time, this was a man who started out being violent. >> forensics like high trist marc -- read in the documents on this case, he was also a colleague of the doctor who wrote the evaluation, that dr. matthew delight at the request for an interview. >> it is a rare case where the individual starts out in their first defense by assaulting the victim. and so, that was a warning sign to doctor care role, that this was not a typical case, this was a man who was on a very steep trajectory for future violence. >> the psychiatrist warnings

from gardeners probation report were dire, he manifests ignition predatory traits to underage females. the defendant would be a continued dunn is sure to endure age girls in the community. it would be unlikely that the defendant would be amenable to treatment. they recommended the maximum sentence allowed by law. >> in my experience, i don't think i've ever seen a psychiatrist make a louder, and clearer call. >> and at the doctor who evaluated gardener, was apparently so concerned about it, he followed up his report with a phone call, to gardiner's probation officer with the ethan other warning. the defendant does not suffer from my psychotic disorder, he said, he is simply a bad guy, who is inordinately interested in young girls. the calls are rare, says the doctor. >> when the psychologist become desperate, we pick up the phone.

>> and despite those warnings, the prosecutor, probation officer, and judge, all decided that john gardner should get a mid level sentence of six years, rather than ten years, which would have been at the maximum under the plea deal. >> i have reviewed this case with the losses of having been a prosecutor, having been a municipal court judge, superior court judge, and now da. >> -- sat down -- sent diego county da, she was not the da in 2000 when this crime occurred. we asked to speak to the prosecutor in that case, but we're told -- would answer our questions. >> what happened in this case was appropriate, under the law that existed. >> if this was what, a mid-range sentence as opposed to a maximum? >> that is correct. >> that was in spite of a psychiatrist report that said this guy is really dangerous, and he always will be dangerous. now why would that not object into a full ten year sentence? >> well, first, well there were two psychiatric reports.

one was saying he was a danger, one was saying that he was treatable and recommended inpatient treatment for 90 days, and probation. >> this is a guy who had been seen 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 could 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 no, this went on hold for the moment because just now, there was a far bigger issue, what had john gardner down with

chelsea king? was she still alive? and if so, where? as john gardner sat in the san diego sheriff's -- sergeant dave brown working the chelsea king case took an urgent phone call. >> investigators from estonia called us. >> investigators on the -- case in the neighboring car of -- had a question. was your guy, also our guy? >> they sat in my car and had a teleconference with him. >> they arrested john got news set off a small earthquake among the cop searching for amber. >> they have been sending emails trying to get a hold, we are a little busy to talk about the case. >> but they kept talking, even as they racked up the search for chelsea around the park. hoped that she was alive, -- it was tuesday march 2nd, they five of the search for chelsea. that day, her parents worked on

plans for a vigil, a sign no one was giving up. >> it is just going to be one more thing about chelsea when she comes home, she's going to see and want to give back 1000 times over. >> if ember spurious hadn't given up they say, the kings members periods when they came up to help in the search. >> but the strength that they display, is driving us. you know, when -- don't worry, we will find her. that is strength. >> coming up. >> everybody's pager went, off and everybody's heart sank. >> the mystery surrounding chelsea, would be solved, very soon. >> probably the longest drive i ever had in my life. >> when dateline continues. dateline continues dateline continues ♪ ♪

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for chelsea king, suspect jon gardner was -- as he sat in jail, the search for the team continue to scour the russians waterway of the park where chelsea went missing. >> they would do shoulder to shoulder, go underwater, look, and come back up, check to make sure they weren't in, line because they have to do it systematic. >> how many times did they do that? >> i want to say we did it six times. six or seven times we searched this entire area here. >> the shoreline here has particular interest, because, chelsea's 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, the da -- >> once he was arrested, we knew that it was going to be a

prosecution. >> by that tuesday, had few illusions left about finding chelsea alive. >> the circumstances were such that it felt it was a murder case, and potential death penalty case. >> thus, the meeting with homicide detectives, -- >> what kids are going to present? >> charged him with murder, we still didn't have a body. >> and then, mid meeting -- >> that is what it happened. >> detectives are presenting the case, when everybody pager went off. and, everybody are saying. >> it was chelsea, rescue divers had found her body. >> the dive personnel, they were in a boat, and reached the boat right here, literally, he and his partner started walking this way, and shortly thereafter, noticed an area a little bit further this way,

and that is when chelsea was found. >> it was that small area which had been searched so many times the shoot was found 15 feet from the edge of the water, a shallow grave. a little shrine was created there, and decorated earth. sheriff -- delivered the news. >> it was probably the longest drive i ever had in my life to go to the king house, and it is just news that nobody in law enforcement ever wants to tell. it was just, heart wrenching. >> it is the worst day of our lives ever. and, there is no deeper pain that we will ever feel again. so, the depth of despair is

atlas right now. >> -- >> not far away, amber dubois's mother heard the news as well, the reaction was almost a physical. >> when chelsea's body was found, i started panicking, i don't want to bury amber. i rather have her missing than have to bury her. it hit me really hard. >> that evening, what was to have been a search official for chelsea became immemorial instead, thousands -- >> she's my angel forever, i want to thank you. chelsea wants to thank you. keep her spirit alive for us. >> john albert apartment -- >> john was in court the next, day charged with murdering chelsea king, he was also charged with assault and attempted to commit rape from that student back in december. >> mr. gardner wishes to enter a plea on both counts. >> amara's father was at the hearing, afterwards, he worried what this meant for his daughter. >> in the back of my head, we

are concerned that there is a connection. >> and though no one had proved john gardeners guilt, around san diego, he had become infamous. public enemy number one. as people hear learned more about that 2000 case of the psychologist report of the failure review where he -- the outrage boiled over. >> i think pretty much all of san diego county is completely disgusted. >> during the week before the attack on chelsea, gardner has 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 13-year-old 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 grandmother's house, so gardiner would not come up in that search, because he was registered in --

>> and that was 50 miles away, another county. >> the mother never forced john to report it, you may have meddled the guidelines only coming down a certain amount of days, but people felt threatened not knowing the sex registration was living that close to them. >> once the news broke, cardinals mother seemed to be trying her best to hide from the immediate public anger. anger so strong, someone spray-painted these words on her house, holding her along with her son accountable for chelsea's death. >> if i was, them and i saw, that i would move out. move out of the area. >> and what some of gardeners friends came by to paint over those words, -- >> get the -- out of here, i can see the sympathy you have for her. i can see it in your eyes. get out of this neighborhood, you do not belong here. >> in the midst of the public shock and anger, detectives in

the chelsea case would begin to consider those calls and emails from those fellow cops 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. that is when the light bulb went off. >> coming up. >> i was watching all the drivers, going through the mud, i'm nervous of course when they are doing this. >> the race to find amber. >> -- she is alive. >> what detectives getting hopeful, and was this just suspect number one? >> we are looking at all 1200 tips, seeing if there was anything around jon gardner. >> when dateline continues. ontinues

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for the murder of chelsea king brought rethinking a few miles

up the road in escondido. -- parents for example remember 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 going around. >> yes it was. there was 148 at that time, 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 way outside of his apartment looking for him, and just see what he drove or whatever, but they never made contact with him. >> after his arrest, carrie could not see how garden could be corrected to her daughter's disappearance. >> you seem to pack those stuck 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, it just seemed very unlikely. >> police have also been aware

of john gardner, the defining evidence now that he was somehow involved in amber's disappearance was not going to be easy. yes, gardner was a known sex offender who in fact lift two miles from the school, police here in escondido edward about contact as they do with all sex registers. but there was no reason, said captain -- to suspect him. >> in every one of those contacts, he was in compliance with a sex registry requirements. he was not in the area of where she went missing. he was not in the area where the sightings were. and, he was not considered to be high-risk. >> unofficially at least, though there was as everybody would discover, much more to learn about that. gardiner 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 he had been following her in the car. --

>> he had asked why he was following this female, and she responded that -- cut him off in traffic. >> as the -- something else got his, i this known sex offender at a three-year-old in the car. >> that was of obvious concern to the stopping officer. why is the sex registry and with a child. >> it turned out it was his girlfriend's child, she verified the story. besides, he was often -- had no restrictions at all about being around small children. but now, after his arrest for the murder of chelsea getting, they went back and reviewed everything, amber's cell phone records, internet hearings, all those leads during a year of searching. >> looking at all 1200 tips, seeing if there was -- and, there wasn't. there was no connection at all linking him and --

>> so they went back to the day she went, missing two witnesses in front of the, school one said she was with a boy. >> must be somebody that knew her, or she knew that she felt comfortable with. and again, we are looking for a boy. >> a year later, detectives began thinking back to that particular witness description. >> one of the witnesses who had last seen ember walking in a tall dark skin boy, which somewhat described how gardener and -- while it is possible that based on it being a drizzly day, a print just driving up and looking maybe appears to be younger than he actually was. >> now police re-entered the witnesses, and the residents of gardeners are calm apartment complex and girlfriend, all that and. 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 the back around the pond. >> i was watching all the divers, they were going through the muck, and i'm nervous when they're doing. this >> search and rescue teams drain the pond. searched through weeds and rush surrounding, then -- yet another that and, and i'm like a relief that there is no relation they could be in there and so a little spark rose to the surface again. >> i'm absolutely 100% hope she is alive. >> still, had john gardner ever run into -- was he involved? even though no one could prove it? >> if we ever start to believe that gardner is connected to ember, it is a's losing hope. we are going to deny it until we have an answer and our daughter home.

>> but out here among the searchers of this -- dubois could have no idea. farther south and san diego, sergeant brown had already embarked on a very unusual -- >> you could say it was a unique day. but just where he was going, we had no idea. >> he just guided us up that street, you know, and he explained where we probably turn off on a dirt road. we did just that. >> coming up. a journey down a dirt road, where could it possibly lead. >> come on. >> the guy is in jail for murder. now he wants to go on a field trip. this might not go well. >> when dateline continues. dateline continues

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stories, attorney on trial for

the murders of his wife and son is now facing a new misdemeanor charge, alex murdaugh denied the shootings. when he took the stand in south carolina this week. general records indicate that deputies received an arrest warrant for this charge on thursday. the president of the university of idaho announcing a healing step for the community. the off campus home where four students were murdered, will be demolished. the killings rocked the community back in november. now, back to dateline. >> it happened, even a search and rescue teams were waiting through that escondido pond. following what might be a lead in dubois'disappearance. 20 miles south and downtown san diego, da bonnie -- received a mysterious request from the -- >> wouldn't discuss what it was. >> gardner have been claiming

he had nothing to do with amber's disappearance. this morning, his lawyer offered a deal. and it was huge. gardner would lead detectives to amber. and he'd only do it on one condition. if they couldn't use it against him. >> if we didn't use the fact that he took us there as evidence in any court proceeding, and that his attorney had to be present and we couldn't question him in any way. >> she took the deal. insurgent brown's phone rang. >> we got told to go down to the jail and we were going to go on a field trip with gardner. sergeant brown and his men were told the rules. >> this was not his confession, he was gonna show us where it was. >> they had 30 minutes to prepare. they called the swat team for backup. >> why? >> this could be an acidic escape attempt. >> come on.

>> the guys in jail for murder. we have his dna. and now we want to go in a field trip with a couple of detectives? and he's a big guy? this might not go well. >> so, off they went. gardner showing them the way. detectives surreptitiously texting the directions to undercover swat cars around them. >> we set them up in a few strategic locations, as began driving on the freeway, we know where we're gonna pick them up, different cars on different on ramps. >> this is where they drove. through an indian reservation. up and dirt track to the top of a rocky hill. she's in there somewhere, he told them. this is 20 miles from where she disappeared. >> did you have an idiot where you're going? did you have a sense? >> you can't really point, he's wearing waste chains. if you notice this cliff, off the clipper. to get his bearings into

remember, he threw her off? >> if he goes off this cliff, no one's gonna believe me that he accidentally went off this cliff. >> he looked around, seemed confused. >> came up and he went right to here, to the edge, and he says, right there. right about here. he's not exactly certain, then he takes a few steps this way, changes his mind. >> what were you thinking as you're looking down? >> this isn't gonna be a fun walk, also, how did you get there? he tried to go here, he can't make it, then he comes back. he resets and then he says, oh, i think it's this way. on a slate, we were frustrated. we don't know, we still don't know if he's doing this to just get out of jail for the day. >> they were still watching for any escape. then, gardner's found a familiar area. >> he gets to about here, then he remembers. he says, this is it. he was there say, excited. >> detectives walked their

shackled prisoner down a steep incline. >> we were just sliding down. this >> i can see why you would. very steep. >> pushing their way through the thick brush of trees. >> until they got to an old rusted tank. >> this is the tank, i remember holding him right there. he's pointing here. saying, he was right about here. he's also unsure of himself. i think right there. i think right there. >> then he saw something, a reminder. >> he leaned into me and said, see the shovel mark. there's a distinctive mark that had held in the dirt. a nice clean slice against the mountain right there. it's gonna be right there, i know it'll be there. that was enough, we pulled the body of. >> what were you thinking? >> i worked in the homicide division, we're just used to it, let's just say. this was absolutely surreal that he would bring me here. i know this case. i knew this girl. i lived in this community. this is on my newspaper, i see her face and her poster on

every business and story go into. so, you know, here i am. and he's walking me to the grave. >> here was a spot where he claimed to have buried amber dubois in february 2009. in the thicket of trees on the hillside, in the middle of nowhere, no houses anywhere. accessible by one dirt road. >> i don't believe anyone would've ever found the site. >> then, a small army was called. still in secret to that lonely hill. the detectives, a forensic archaeologist, medical examiner, 12 hours, they shifted meticulously through the dirt to find, we'll, it had once been a person. >> up on the hill, kept the captain made the next decision. >> we didn't want to notify the family, not knowing whether it truly was amber or not. >> the next day, saturday, the medical examiner had made a positive identification. gardner had indeed led them to embers remains.

more calls to make. >> when we received the call on saturday night, we immediately get a sinking feeling in our stomach. we've been called in many times. never on a saturday night at 8 pm at night. >> what they come to the escondido police station? >> walking in there, seeing the medical examiners and all of our investigators were there. the minister. the sheriff's department, the da's office. you know what you're gonna hear next. >> the medical examiner told us, that her remains were found. they positively i.d.'d here through dental records. >> i can't i was prepared to hear it, after 386 days, i was searching. we were ready for anything they could tell us. give us an answer, make this stop. >> what did you do after that? after that meeting? >> we could. 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 were positively identified to be missing 14 year old amber. what he didn't say to embers parents or to anyone, was call it the official secret. the fact that gardner had led them to the body. why not tell them? because now, investigators needed to prove gardeners guilt without using a shred of what he had shown or told them. >> escondido police in the sheriff's office or following a lead in the case when they made this discovery. >> frankly, they were stuck. independent analysts? so far, none. meaning, gardner might never be charged with killing ember. unless that snow, unless

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for amber, for chelsea. i beg you, please, put one minute of effort, one minute action, into helping protect our children. >> and when that was going on, investigators searched seriously for any evidence that would independently link zhang gardner to the death of amber dubois. >> what that included was finding every vehicle that he had, at the time or access to at the time that amber disappeared. i believe there was four different vehicles we had to find, where every one of those vehicles were. have them forensically examined. >> the investigation continued. the days ticked from march into april, when we sat with amber's parents. remember, they had not been told that gardner led police to amber's 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 nobody is

ever charged. maybe did have to live with, the rest of your lives, without not knowing. >> i'm more fearful that there might be another predator out there, as opposed to more upset about not having the answer. i want to make sure that whoever did this to amber's off the street. that's what scares me the most. what if they never connect this to somebody and the person who actually did this is still out there in can do it again. >> it was a different question carey at had on a 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? ? >> absolutely. i couldn't hear it from the person's mouth. saying i did this i did that. >> i could. >> i couldn't. i couldn't do it want to reach over and cause myself to be in jail for a long time. >> here, on this april

afternoon, more likely they will never know. strange, the difference a week can make, it was april 15 -- five days after the interview. amber's parents were called into the meeting, where they learned for the first time, who led authorities to their daughters remain. >> we knew something significant, we had to meet with a district attorney. and they were informed of an offer made by john gardner's attorneys. >> his attorneys came forward with an offer to plead guilty. to all of the charges, life without possibility of parole. and waving his appellate rights. >> in exchange, gardner's 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 amber's death to?

or would that ever happen? >> there was absolutely no link that anyone was able to find between jon gardner and amber. so, the da 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've won, pretty easily, a death penalty case in a chelsea king case? why not just do that? get the death penalty from that one? >> the question was for the family. the family i talked to was chelsea's family. we had no case on amber. we talked about the fact that the end result with a life without possibility of parole was he'd die in prison. and there would be no appeals. >> the kings were faced with a decision. would amber's parents ever learn what in fact happened to their daughter? would they see her killer pay for this crime? >> april 16th, the day after --

learned about the plea deal. >> this is a special news report. >> san diego television stations interrupted their afternoon programs. hearing is scheduled in the program -- for jon gardner. it was news, a lot of it. all at once. >> let us take you live, there's jon gardner right there. >> would you tell the truth about the issues? >> yes. >> a stunning admission of guilt. first, for chelsea king. >> you are getting on the november 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. >> you also admit that the killing was done with premeditation and deliberation. >> yes. >> and the border took place within an hour of your initial contact with chelsea king? those facts as well? >> yes. >> then the jogger in december.

>> do you admit that on december the 27th, 2009, you attacked candace from ohio, while she was -- with the intent to rape or? >> yes. >> after 14 months, an end to the mystery of what happened to amber dubois. >> do you admit, that november the 13th, 2009, you took amber du bois to a remote area where you raped and stabbed her, you then buried her in a shallow grave. do you admit the truth of those facts? >> yes. >> you're also admitting that this murder took place within an hour and a half of your initial contact with amber dubois? you admit all of 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 dubach family's been unthinkable hell the last 14 months. we could not imagine the confession that amber's murder, never seen the light of day, leaving on a terminal question mark. >> and amber's parents were grateful. >> knowing the list of my life without not knowing whether she was okay, would be horrible. we'd always be wondering. if he was connected and if there is someone else out there. >> now that she knew, no, she was determined. to come face to face with her daughter's killer. no matter what it took. >> i want to talk to your son. and find out why he murdered my daughter. >> coming up. >> an emotional meeting, behind prison doors. >> what did you ask him? >> when dateline continues. and being overweight makes it more risky. i'm calling my doctor. if it's covid, paxlovid. authorized for emergency use,

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>> guilty. >> it was after john gardner stood in the san diego courtroom, and pleaded guilty. to the murders of chelsea king and amber dubois. it was as he waited for the formal sentencing, life in prison, that he knew was coming, from the san diego counting 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's all i focused on. >> because carey, remember, was determined to know what happened to her daughter. during the last minutes she was alive. >> i think, if you're a parent, you want to know what happened. you want to know how they took her child. if a lesson can be learned from amber, then i wanted out there. >> so, early in may, she began trying to arrange a visit. >> i want you all the correct legal channels to try to get it in insisting that i would meet with him after sentencing.

i don't want to meet with him after sentencing. >> she had to know. now. she tried to schedule a visit, was told don was available. carrie had a bold idea. why not ask gardeners mother to give up one of her visits with her son? so one afternoon, she waited outside the jail as gardeners mother approached. it didn't go well. >> look. i just want to visit your son. >> excuse. me >> don't touch me, stay away from her. >> mom, delaware. >> i'm not heroes, you want to talk to your son. >> and find out why he murdered my daughter. >> the next day, there was a phone call from the dealer. >> can you be here and a half hour? >> somehow, the time was found for her talk with gardner. >> what was it like to walk in there and know you're gonna

talk to the guy who killed your daughter? >> i was really nervous up until i got there. going in there and talking with him, didn't really have any feelings with me. i've forgiven who had ever done this to amber when i got her remains back. 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 i >> will be looking? >> just down. not at him. >> i had no desire to look at him. >> why not? >> i didn't want to get angry or upset i just wanted to stay focused, so for me to stay focused, i just looked down and do it on paper or whatever. i just wanted to stay in the mindset where i didn't start crying or get upset. >> what did you ask him? >> walk me through today. >> no, kerry wood finally learned what happened to amber in the last hours of her life. >> he started, you know, in the

morning hammond's girlfriend got in a fight. >> he took off in a car, to blow off steam, he said. >> he happened to drive by the street where amber was taken. >> why she was on that street, i don't know. >> it was not the way amber usually went to school. >> my guess she was going by her girlfriend's house who lived right around the corner. >> he snatched her here, gardner told kari, -- >> we saw amber walking by herself. he turned and cut her off and told her, if you don't get in this car, i have a knife in a gun, things will be real bad for you. >> she got in the car. >> he didn't have a gun, but i know if he showed her the knife or not. i'm not sure. >> he said she knew by the look in my eyes. that i was serious. there was no questions about it. honestly, i think if you would've tried to run, he would've killed her right there

on the spot. >> did you ask him for more than that? >> yeah, he told me which way he drove. very detailed about the street he went on. >> he stopped the conversation repeatedly, said terri. >> he asked me if i wanted him to continue, and got real upset. every time i told him to continue. >> you know, i don't upset you. you've already taken my daughter. continue. when it got to the rape part of it, he, you know, pretty much begged, please can i stop. can i stop. >> continue. >> i don't want to. by the time i left there, he was pretty much curled over sweating, just completely crying. he was a mess. >> so, he did have some feelings. >> or he's a very good actor. >> once you have gotten the answers you knew you could get from him, did you say anything else to him?

>> no, are you gonna tell me you hate me. are you gonna yell and scream, i'm ready to hear that. >> i said, nope. and i hung up the phone and i walked out. >> did you walk out of that place a different person then he went in? >> i walked into that place very happy. very giddy, oh my god, i can breathe. such a relief. there was a great feeling. >> an unexpected reaction, perhaps. though, how could anyone know how it feels to be kerry mcgonigle? or to be the parents of chelsea king, here in court, on sentencing day. >> look at me. coming up. >> we found over 100 violations of parole, that had not been previously discovered by the department. >> one last haunting question. >> are you saying then that the deaths of the two girls would have been prevented? >> and a revelation from a mother.

>> i said, well, you just showed the whole world what amber and chelsea saw. >> a look into the soul of a killer. when dateline continues.

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doubt about it, he was a predator, and a murderer. all that was left to do with sentence him. so, case closed. not really. for three months, a steady drip of news seem to ask over and over, how did they miss him? gardner remember spending five years in prison for sexually molesting and beating a 13-year-old 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 streets, allowing him to stop our children. >> maddening because they're been fair warning.

a psychiatrist a decade earlier, warned that he was very dangerous, and should receive the maximum ten year sentence under his plea deal. that advice would take him, garter might still be in prison back in 2010. >> there's numerous, numerous times that he felt through the cracks. >> like for example, his parole exhibit -- violations when he was released. cops found marijuana in his car, for a time he lived to close to children. the judgment of the parole department was not to bust him. then, 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 had not been previously discovered by the department. we missed some opportunities to remove him from society. >> dave shaw was the inspector

general of the department of corrections, the agencies walked a, with after the fact looked into the gardner case. >> they spent time at eye jason to digger centers to schools, to parks. to playground. to the beach all places that he should not have been at. we didn't catch it as we weren't 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. it's against the law for an ex con to enter prison grounds, and that, san diego's da told us, was a felony. that would've locked him up for a very long time. >> we would have filed a three strikes case, because his 2000 case was two strikes, and he'd be facing 25 years to life. >> are you saying then that the death of these two little girls would've been prevented? >> what we're saying, had he been incarcerated, it would've been impossible for him to commit these particular crimes. and there were ample

opportunities to either revoke his parole or prosecute him. >> no one, at the time, was monitoring gardeners gps. >> did you find fault with somebody's, or with some systems? >> with was a system that was at fault. we did not find any particular fault on the part of the parole agent. the agents just weren't looking at it, because they weren't required to. >> listen to this. they were expected to track gardeners gps monitor, because of the way a standardized assessment, used at the time, classified gardeners risk potential as medium low risk. >> for the lower risk offenders, it was used only as a crime solving tool. >> this man was the head of the california department of corrections. >> so, if a crime is reported, then we would go back and look at the tracks to see if we could place the offender at the scene of the crime. >> gardiner, a lower risk defender, -- the assessment method itself his limitation?

that failed to spot gardeners potential to be dangerous? >> when gardner was paroled -- >> this was the most accurate tool in the world. so, we used it. i wish we knew then what we know now. the department just didn't have anything else to use at the time. >> it was based on factors such as age, number of offenses, type of crimes. >> i think the public wants us to be able to predict who exactly is going to do what. we'll never be able to do that. >> low risk doesn't mean no risk. >> improvements have been made. >> there is required to be as tracking of all sex offender parolees, and treatment for those parolees. the treatment includes the use of polygraph tests, and an effort to see if their danger of re-offending. >> will move them to the victim impact statements. >> there's an emotional structure no, the sentencing days in american courtrooms, wrenching, often deeply angry. >> i pray every day that god shows you no mercy.

>> this is how it was with john gardner. listening, sometimes attentively, sometimes not. to chelsea's parents. >> you dismantled a family life that was both on love, trust, and faith. but you did not destroy it. >> look at me. why am i not surprised. >> and to amber's. >> no one can appreciate the horror that is my life until they can appreciate the joy that was my amber. >> then, watch what happens when that earlier survivor of a gardener attack. >> every day i laced up my shoes, and relive the moments of terror. the utter conviction that i was going to die. >> watch what happens on how she reminds him that she elbowed has nose to escape. >> to ask him how's noses.

>> was it rachael was expressing, as he turned to his of tierney as he turned to his attorney and says, she didn't hit me, she's saying it for publicity. >> when you saw that look average. i said, wow, you just showed the whole world with amber and chelsea saw before you killed them. >> all this was formality, really. already, the people who must live with the deaths, this man left in his wake. and struggled with what to do after. amber's mother became involved in search and rescue. >> building her legacy is going to be the search and rescue team. >> chelsea's parents took on a system. >> if our laws were smarter and bolder, chelsea might still be here. >> they pushed for a new law, named for chelsea and signed by the governor in 2010. imposing stiffer sentences for sex offenders. increased terms of parole and improved monitoring an

assessment for police. >> governor schwarzenegger, i thank you for your support. and commitment. you've helped us fulfill our dream of doing everything in our power to prevent this tragedy from ever happening to another family again. >> chelsea could've been a college graduate by no. 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, just a little, to help stop the next one out there, somewhere. >> i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. >> and this is "dateline".