After 1400 volunteers searched for 17-year-old Chelsea King along with law enforcement personnel, John Albert Garden, 30-years-old, has been arrested in San Diego County. The search centered around Lake Hodges where the teenager’s car had been located. According to police authorities physical evidence, linking Gardner to the case, had been found. Gardner was being questioned late Sunday evening and is behind bars on suspicion of murder and rape.

Gardner, a registered sex offender, is also now a suspect in a December 27 assualt on a female jogger from Colorado Springs, Colorado. This area is a popular regional recreation area with many running trails. Chelsea King had reported to her family that she was going out jogging the last time they saw her. Gardner is also being looked at in the disappearance of Amber Dubois.

Gardner is from Lake Elsinore. This is located 75 mles north of San Diego. He has previously been convicted for lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14-years-of-age.

King is a straight-A student. She is a senior at Poway High School. She is a popular student which accounts for the large number of people who helped search for her over the weekend. Her parents are frantic as they try to find their daughter.