Posted on 02/13/2002 5:52:26 AM PST by crypt2k
San Diego police conceded Tuesday that the odds of finding Danielle van Dam alive are diminishing and that an arrest in the case could be weeks away.
"We are not real hopeful on her condition," homicide Lt. Jim Duncan said.
Against that grim backdrop, searchers continued to scour areas around the Sabre Springs neighborhood where 7-year-old Danielle was reported missing 11 days ago.
Searchers combing a riverbed near Danielle's school, Creekside Elementary, found a blue backpack stuffed with old papers, a blue denim shirt and some underwear. They were collected into evidence bags by San Diego police.
Duncan, lead investigator on the case, said he had not been notified about the items. Asked about their potential significance, he said, "I would assume if somebody picked up something worthwhile to the investigation, I'd have heard about it."
Duncan said the investigation remains focused on David Westerfield, a self-employed 49-year-old design engineer and a neighbor of the van Dams.
Detectives brought in a bloodhound from the Riverside Sheriff's Department yesterday to search Danielle's room for any sign Westerfield had been there. Police searched Westerfield's home and the girl's room with dogs last week.
Duncan said the bloodhound is better trained and has a more acute nose than dogs used previously. It has been used by the FBI in high-profile cases.
Danielle was last seen by her father, Damon van Dam, when he put her to bed about 10 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 1. Her mother, Brenda van Dam, returned home with friends in the early morning hours of Feb. 2. The couple discovered their daughter missing at 9 a.m.
"Progress is slow," Duncan told the media yesterday, in answering questions and addressing rumors about the case. "We do not appear to be close to an arrest."
Much rests with examining forensic evidence, a painstaking task that can take time.
Duncan said some material was taken from the motorhome Westerfield took to the desert the weekend Danielle disappeared even though Westerfield "cleaned it" before it could be examined.
Duncan also said there has been no confession in the case.
As investigators concentrate on Westerfield, Danielle's parents continue to be questioned about their private lives on radio and television.
In CNN's Larry King Live Monday, the van Dams refused to discuss what King called spousal swapping. They said the focus should be on finding Danielle.
Yesterday Duncan said the couple's "lifestyle is not our focus. That is not the direction we are going to go; we want to solve this case."
Staff writer Pauline Repard contributed to this report.
I wonder if Westerfield's "lifestyle" has also ceased to be an issue. God help us.
It seems now that this case will mutate into a public forum on how "swappers can be good parents" and how conservative morality is "hurtful" to alternative families.
Duncan said the bloodhound is better trained and has a more acute nose than dogs used previously. It has been used by the FBI in high-profile cases.
Well, we didn't like the results of the first search, so we'll be back until we get the results we want. This needs to be investigated from ALL angles. Not just the most convenient ones.
I have to agree with you on that. Nothing is more sickening and horrifying than pedophilia. But the spousal swapping shows the major problems that are already brewing in that household. This is just the tip of the iceberg with those parents.
So now we will be inundated with swappers coming out and fighting for their rights...presented as model parents...new standards of political correctness. If these parents are not "ashamed" of their lifestyle I can see no reason why they did not introduce and promote the concept to their children at an early age.
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