Missing-girl sightings hard for police

ESCONDIDO, Calif., Oct. 20 (UPI) -- The intensive police search for a missing California girl has police on an emotional roller coaster in light of the many leads they get, an officer said.

Police say they are inundated with information and sightings of Amber Dubois, 14, the Escondido, Calif., high school student who was last seen walking to school Feb. 13, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Monday.

"Talk about your coincidences. We thought for sure it was her," Escondido Police Lt. Bob Benton said of a girl they had tracked 700 miles away, whom they were all but certain was Amber. "That's been the toughest part in the emotional roller coaster of getting what we believe are very credible tips and that Amber would be coming home, to the realization that it's not her."

Dubois' mother, Carrie McGonigle, and father, Maurice Dubois, are working to keep public focus on their daughter's disappearance to continue generating more leads, the newspaper said. They plan to hold a vigil Sunday, her 15th birthday.

The parents recently got significant media attention when they blamed police for not working hard enough on the case, but have since toned down their criticism.

"There were some miscommunications," Maurice Dubois said. "We were not told specifics about the case at the time. It's an open investigation, so we can't be told everything. We know that."