Chelsea King's body has been found

SAN DIEGO - A body found in a shallow grave Tuesday is believed to be that of 17-year-old Chelsea King, whose disappearance led to the arrest of a registered sex offender, authorities said.

The remains were found buried in a park about 10 feet from the shoreline of Lake Hodges, San Diego County Sheriff William Gore said.

"While the body has not been positively identified, there is a strong likelihood that we have found Chelsea," he told reporters. Gore said he had informed the teen's parents.

"Obviously they are devastated and I ask that you respect their privacy during this extremely difficult time," he said.

Police, meanwhile, said the registered sex offender suspected in King's disappearance likely assaulted a jogger in December in the same park.

The 22-year-old Colorado woman 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, police Capt. Jim Collins said.

Police said evidence has linked 30-year-old John Albert Gardner III to both cases but further details have not been released.

Collins, however, said a swab taken from the elbow of the Colorado woman did not match Gardner's DNA.

Gardner is now in custody without bail for investigation of murder and rape in the King case.

Gardner of Lake Elsinore pleaded guilty in May 2000 to molesting a 13-year-old female neighbor. Prosecutors said he lured the victim to his home wg in a peer counseling program.

In an interview Monday with The Associated Press, the Kings, who also have a 13-year-old son, recounted learning Thursday that their daughter had disappeared.

Brent King had returned from the gym around 5:30 p.m., the same time his wife, Kelly, 48, got home with groceries. Chelsea, who always kept them advised of her whereabouts, wasn't home.

"Because it was so out of character for Chelsea not to tell us or call us and say I'm going to be late ... we just had that feeling," Brent King said.