Body Found at Lake Hodges

Lake Hodges, CA- Sheriff's officials say they believe a body found near Lake Hodges Tuesday afternoon is that of missing 17-year old high school athlete Chelsea King.

Sheriff William Gore says the body was located in a shallow grave along the shoreline about a half a mile from the parking lot.

A positive identification is expected tomorrow.

The discovery brings to an end six days of searching by hundreds of volunteers and law enforcement personnel over fields, swamps and marshes around Lake Hodges.

King, 17, vanished after she went for a run last Thursday in San Diego's Rancho Bernardo Community Park.

Local agencies aided by divers from the Los Angeles Bureau of the FBI are using sonar and line searches to cover the 4-square-mile lake.

DNA on a piece of King's clothing found along the southern shore of the lake led to the arrest Sunday of registered sex offender John Albert Gardner III, according to law enforcement sources.

Gardner, who lives in Lake Elsinore, frequently visits his mother's home in Rancho Bernardo.

He was arrested around 4:20 p.m. Sunday in front of a Mexican restaurant and bar called "Hernandez Hide-A-Way" in the small community of Del Dios, on the west shore of Lake Hodges, near Escondido.

Police say Gardner is refusing to cooperate with authorities.

He is being held without bail for investigation of murder and rape.

No criminal charges had been filed, but district attorney's spokesman Steve Walker said a decision would be made by Wednesday.

"This investigation is ongoing and specific criminal charges are still being determined," he said.

Gardner was required to register as a sex offender after being convicted 10 years ago of forcibly molesting a 13-year-old neighborhood girl. He allegedly hit the girl in the head repeatedly before she managed to escape to a neighbor's house.

Gardner pleaded guilty in May 2000 to two counts of forcible lewd act on a child and false imprisonment.

He was sentenced to six years in prison. He served five years and was released in September 2005.

The San Diego Union Tribune is reporting that a psychiatrist urged a long sentence in the case because Gardner "would be a continued danger to underage girls in the community."

Prosecutors had initially charged Gardner with more-violent sex crimes in the case which could have resulted in a sentence of more than 30 years because the terms would have been served consecutively, the paper reported.

A plea deal allowed him to serve the sentences concurrently.

Gardner remained on parole until September 2008, and after that was required to register as a sex offender.

He is currently listed on the Megan's Law Web site.

Investigators have also positively linked Gardner to the Dec. 27 attack of a jogger at the same park where Chelsea disappeared, San Diego police Capt. Jim Collins confirmed Monday.

Candice Moncayo, 23, a graduate student in Colorado Springs, was shown a mug shot of Gardner and confirmed it was the same man who attacked her in February, according to her sister.

Collins declined to describe the evidence but says a swap taken from the victim's elbow did not match Gardner's DNA.

Investigators are also looking into the possibility of a connection between Gardner and Amber Dubois, who disappeared while walking to Escondido High School on Feb. 13, 2009.

Amber was 14 at the time.

Brent King found his daughter's BMW in the park Thursday night after she failed to return home.

Her cell phone and iPod were inside.

Some 1,400 volunteer searchers and more than 100 law enforcement officers have been scouring Rancho Bernardo Park and Lake Hodges for any signs of King.

Gore said the search efforts would expand beyond the park.

King's parents pleaded for her return Sunday and said the arrest offered them no relief.

"She is one of the most driven, personable, caring people that you could ever meet," Brent King said. "Her goal in life is to brighten everyone's day. That's what she does, and when she walks into the room, you know she's there."

King, a senior at Poway High School, is a straight-A student and a member of the San Diego Symphony.