Sex Offender Arrested in Case of Missing Teen

(March 1) -- Police in Southern California have arrested a registered sex offender in the disappearance of Chelsea King, a 17-year-old honors student who vanished last week.

John Albert Gardner III, 30, was taken into custody without incident Sunday afternoon in Escondido.

"During the course of this extensive investigation, evidence was discovered that linked Gardner to Ms. King in such a manner as to warrant his arrest," San Diego County Sheriff William Gore said. He would not elaborate.

The teen's parents, Brent and Kelly King of Poway, reported their daughter missing on Feb. 25 when she failed to return home from a jog.

Using cell phone towers, authorities were able to determine the teen's cell phone was in an area near Rancho Bernardo Community Park in San Diego. A further search of that area resulted in the discovery of her black BMW. Her cell phone was found inside the locked vehicle, the sheriff's department said.

Teams of searchers have scoured the park and surrounding area for any clues in Chelsea's unexplained disappearance. In addition to police and trained search and rescue personnel, hundreds of community members have volunteered and members of Laura Recovery Center have traveled from Texas to assist.

The Laura Recovery Center is a nonprofit organization established to help recover missing and abducted children. It was formed in honor of Laura Kate Smither, a 12-year-old girl who was abducted near her home in Friendswood, Texas, on April 3, 1997. Her body was found 17 days later.

King's parents have also joined in the search.

"She wants to be found," an emotional Brent King told volunteers Saturday. "She didn't go missing by choice."

According to findchelsea.com, a Web site set up after her disappearance, the teen is "responsible, conscientious, loving, intelligent, [and] cherished by all who know her."

A senior at Poway High School, she is an active member of the school's cross-country running team and plays the French horn in band. She receives straight As in school and is awaiting a college acceptance letter.

No formal charges have been filed against Gardner, who was being questioned at the Sheriff's Administrative Center in San Diego.

According to the Megan's Law Web site, Gardner is a resident of Lake Elsinore. His registered offense is listed as "lewd or lascivious acts with [a] child under 14 years" of age.

Sheriff Gore told the San Diego Union-Tribune there is a "strong possibility" that Gardner could also be responsible for a Dec. 27 assault on a female jogger in the same area where King went missing. Authorities are also looking for possible connections between Gardner and the disappearance of Amber Dubois, a 15-year-old girl who went missing from Escondido in February 2009.

Gardner's arrest did nothing to allay the Kings' anxiety.

"Nothing will change for us until our beautiful daughter, Chelsea King, comes home," Kelly and Brent King said in a statement Sunday night. "We will continue searching for her, and we ask that all of you do the same until she's back with us."