Dave Cave endured countless hours of police interrogation in the months after Amber Dubois vanished, the North County Times reported.
Being under police suspicion was trying for Cave, 46, who helped raise Amber for nearly a decade and lived with the bookish 14-year-old and her mother in his northern Escondido home at the time Amber disappeared.
On Friday, however, the day John Albert Gardner III admitted to raping and murdering the teen, Cave said he holds no grudges against Escondido police for doing their job, the paper reported.
"I assure you, I went through my share of trials and tribulations, but they did what they have to do," Cave told the paper, noting that parents are frequently probed when their children are missing.
"I decided a long time ago that myself, Amber and God definitely knew the truth," he added. "I put it in God's hands."
Amber disappeared Feb. 13, 2009, while walking to school. Cave told the paper police interrogated him about five times, sometimes for "just a few hours. Some, many hours."
He was ever named as a suspect, though police never explicitly ruled anyone out.
As for Gardner's punishment, Cave said he is conflicted. He said he wants the man to be executed. Still, he said, the plea agreement reached, which includes a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole or appeal, could be "a saving grace" for the family, because they won't have to endure a trial and possible endless appeals.
Read more: North County Times
