SAN DIEGO -- When Amber Dubois' remains were found in a rugged area of the Pala Indian Reservation, many thought accused killer John Gardner had provided authorities with the tip -- a theory the San Diego County Sheriff's Department has not confirmed to be true.

But a private investigator hired by Amber's grandmother to find the missing teen told 10News he was with highly trained scent dogs when they first led them to the reservation last August.

Two days after deputies discovered Chelsea King's body, Larry Olmstead felt he had to do something. Olmstead said he was frustrated with the Escondido Police Department and contacted the sheriff's department to tell them where search dogs had tracked Amber's scent last August.

"They should follow up at three specific locations in the Pala area and how we gathered the information through our K-9 search effort," Olmstead told 10News.

Two days later, deputies discovered Amber's body. Olmstead said he believes last August, when the dogs led them directly to Pala, Amber was still alive.

"The search we did was a live search, which means we were searching for Amber based on her scent as a living person not a cadaver," said Olmstead. "There's a possibility she could have been in Pala alive, taken to another location and possibly killed and deposited back in Pala."

The dogs not only led them to several places in Pala, but to a couple of items on the reservation.

"I believe there are two specific items that she touched while she was in Pala literally with her hands," said Olmstead.

Although he could not elaborate on what those things were, Olmstead told 10News the items were of great interest to Amber.

He also said there were two pings on Amber's cell phone -- one in Escondido shortly after she disappeared, and another one the next day in Long Beach where her aunt lives.

Olmstead also worked on the Jon Benet Ramsey murder case and hopes Amber's case will have a much different ending -- one where a killer is found and brought to justice.

10News contacted Escondido police and Amber's father, but did not hear back from them.

Editor's Note:
Private investigator Larry Olmstead told 10News he called deputies days after Chelsea King's body was found. He was frustrated with the search for Amber Dubois. Olmstead told us he alerted the sheriff's office that dogs brought in by the family had found a live scent near the Pala Library in August. The next day, sheriff's deputies searched the area and found Dubois' remains a few miles away near the Pala Indian Reservation. It was not our intention to imply Olmstead knew the location of Dubois' body.