Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has significantly increased the reward being offered for help solving the case of missing Escondido teenager Amber Dubois.
The state is adding $40,000 in state funds to help find Amber, who has now been missing for more than seven months. That brings the total reward to $100,000.
The additional incentive was requested by Escondido's police chief.
At a vigil over the weekend, Amber's parents criticized the department for failing to do enough to find their daughter, who was last seen just after 7 a.m. Friday, Feb. 13 about a block from Escondido High. The girl's parents said she was especially excited to get to school to exchange Valentine's Day gifts with friends. She also couldn't wait to pay for her baby lamb through the school's Future Farmer's of America program.
The teen's cell phone was activated for a few seconds the Saturday after she was last seen but, according to her parents, hasn't been used since. During the investigation, investigators announced the results of a computer forensics search of the teenager's computer, saying nothing on the computer offered up any clues as to the girl's whereabouts.
Volunteers launched a door-to-door search the weekend after Amber's disappearance. In the weeks that followed, family and friends held candlelight vigils and organized search parties to cover areas of Escondido and parts of the North County.
Even the television program "America's Most Wanted" has profiled the case. The family told producers of the show that Amber sent four texts to her grandmother before leaving the house that morning for the roughly mile-long walk to school. Amber was last seen by two family friends about 300 yards from the school's gate.
Amber’s family says the teen was a model student who never talked about running away and they believe she was abducted.
