A sad, yet inspiring twist in the discovery of Michelle Le's body over the weekend is coming to light from San Diego.
The person who physically found the body was the mother of slain San Diego teenager named Amber DuBois.
The little girl's mother, Carrie McGonigle, formed a rescue organization called "Team Amber Rescue" as a way to cope with her loss and to help other parents who are going through the disappearance of a child.
As she has done in other missing person cases, McGonigle brought a group of trained searchers to the Bay Area last weekend to help search for Le. The group included a search dog owned by McGonigle named Amber. According to Hayward police it was McGonigle herself and her dog who found the remains.
McGonigle's daughter was murdered by convicted killer John Gardner in 2009. Her body was not found until the killer made a deal with the parents of another child he killed in 2010. He said he would tell prosecutors where Amber's body was, if they did not seek the death penalty against him. Chelsea King's parents agreed, giving Amber's family closure.
Now McGonigle is able to give another family closure. Le is originally from San Diego and her mother still lives there.
McGonigle didn't want to talk about her experience until the remains were identified, but is expected to speak to reporters in San Diego Wednesday morning. She has scheduled a press conference at 10 a.m.
Le’s remains were found in a remote area of Niles Canyon. The location is the general area where GPS tracking showed the cell phones of both Le and the prime suspect in the case, Giselle Esteban, traveled the night Le disappeared on May 27.
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The Le family, along with Marc Klass' Kids Foundation had conducted several searches hoping to find clues to the case. Marc Klass, who also lost a daughter in a horrible crime, said parents like himself and McGonigle know what it is like not to have closure. He told NBC Bay Area on Sunday that getting closure is key to a parent's healing.
