Thousands Expected To Mourn SoCal Teen's Death

Students have wrapped ribbons around 8,000 sunflowers to hand out at a memorial service for Chelsea King, the 17-year-old girl whose murder has shaken her community and spurred calls for legal changes in how child sex offenders are treated. 

"A lot of people are getting ready to bring closure to it," said Evan Shirley, 17, a friend of Chelsea's. "I hope to see everyone come out to support the family and honor their friend in whatever way they see fit." 

The service Saturday comes 11 days after Chelsea's body was discovered in a shallow, lakeside grave near Lake Hodges, ending a massive five-day search. Organizers were issuing passes to limit seating at Poway High School stadium, which holds about 6,000 people. 

Chelsea was a straight-A student ran on the cross-country team, played French horn in the San Diego Youth Symphony and was active in her school's peer counseling program. She was a tireless volunteer in school and community activities, whether working at a prom for special education students or packaging food for needy families in Africa. 

She had applied to 11 colleges and aspired to a career that would combine her interests in writing and the environment. 

Chelsea was last seen Feb. 25 wearing running clothes in Rancho Bernardo Park in San Diego, where her car was found locked with her belongings inside. 

John Gardner, 30, was arrested three days later and pleaded not guilty to the murder and to the attempted rape of another woman in December. He also is a suspect but has not been charged in the killing of 14-year-old Amber Dubois, who disappeared as she walked to school in nearby Escondido in early 2009. 

Gardner served five years of a six-year sentence for molesting a 13-year-old neighbor in 2000 to molesting a 13-year-old neighbor. He was on parole for three years, until September 2008. 

On Friday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered a review of the way the state handled the 2000 case. 

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Various wire services

UPDATE: Police Say Chelsea King's Body Likely Found

This update is a developing story...

Thousands of mourners walked the sidewalks of a wide avenue in silence, holding candles and tearfully embracing.

Many were at a loss for words over the discovery of a body believed to be that of 17-year-old Chelsea King, five days after the popular, straight-A student from San Diego County disappeared and two days after a registered sex offender was booked on suspicion of rape and murder.

Severe shock and denial among King's classmates is giving way to anger and hurt, Traci Barkerball, King's teacher for three years at Poway High School, said Tuesday night.

"What bothers me most is the kids don't feel safe anymore," Barkerball said between hugs for grieving students. "Their sense of security has been taken away from them."

Brent King, Chelsea's father, thanked supporters on the lawn of St. Michael's Church in Poway, northeast of San Diego. Some in the audience fought to control their sobs as he spoke.

"One of the nicknames that I've always called my daughter is my Angel. She's my angel forever," he said.

"I want to thank you. Chelsea wants to thank you," he said.

When someone shouted, "We love you," Brent King responded, "We love all of you."

The body was found buried in a shallow grave on the south shore of Lake Hodges, said San Diego County Sheriff William Gore. The body has not been positively identified but Gore said there was a "strong likelihood" it was Chelsea's.

John Albert Gardner III, 30, was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in San Diego. The Lake Elsinore man pleaded guilty in May 2000 to molesting a 13-year-old female neighbor and served five years of a six-year prison term. Prosecutors said he lured the victim to his home with an offer to watch "Patch Adams," a 1998 movie starring Robin Williams. The girl was beaten before escaping and running to a neighbor.

Gardner "never expressed one scintilla of remorse for his attack upon the victim" despite overwhelming evidence, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo.

He had faced a maximum of nearly 11 years in prison under terms of a plea agreement but prosecutors urged six years. A psychiatrist who interviewed Gardner, Dr. Matthew Carroll, wanted a stiffer punishment, saying in court documents that he was a "continued danger to underage girls in the community." Gardner was on parole for three years, until September 2008, state records show.

San Diego police say Gardner is positively linked to an assault on a 22-year-old Colorado Springs, Colo., woman who managed to fend off her attacker on Dec. 27 in Rancho Bernardo Community Park on the northern edge of San Diego, where King's 1994 BMW was found with her belongings inside.

San Diego police Capt. Jim Collins decline to describe the evidence pinning the December assault on Gardner but said a swab taken from the victim's elbow did not match Gardner's DNA.

Tuesday night's ceremony was initially planned as a vigil for King's safe return but it took on the air of a memorial service three hours after the sheriff announced the body was recovered. Friends spoke of her quirky sense of humor and irrepressibly upbeat spirit.

"She would just breathe sunshine even if you were in a bad mood," said Madison Chapman, a friend. "She made you feel like a little kid, like there were no problems, like nothing could go wrong."

King, a senior, was quick to volunteer for school activities, whether at a prom for special education students or orientation night for incoming freshmen, said Barkerball, who supervised her in a peer counseling program.

Barkerball said King would have liked the massive turnout for her Tuesday night but been embarrassed.

"She would have been the first here for someone else," she said.

AP; San Diego County Sheriff's Dept.