Posted on 02/20/2002 6:13:26 AM PST by crypt2k
SAN DIEGO – Investigators in the Danielle van Dam case are looking for similarities to other abductions over the years, including an unsolved 1974 crime in which a girl was kidnapped and killed three miles from Danielle's home, authorities said Tuesday.
The body of Patricia Lee Kuzara, 7, was found in a field on Midland Road in nearby Poway, Calif., on Sept. 29, 1974. She had been beaten to death. Her killer was never found.
"We are taking a fresh look at this case," sheriff's homicide Lt. Jerry Lewis said, as the search for Danielle continued.
Detectives admit it may be a long shot, but they are hoping to find any evidence from the area where Patricia's body was found and compare it with what has been collected in the current investigation.
Danielle, 7, was last seen when her father put her to bed the night of Feb. 1, police said.
Patricia was walking home from her baby-sitter's house when she disappeared. Her body was found about 12 hours later by three boys on their way to church.
One investigator said the 1974 case is not the only one being looked at. Cases in the area where young people vanished over the years are being checked "for common characteristics," the investigator said.
In other developments Tuesday, San Diego Police Department crime lab staffers returned to the van Dam home about 10 a.m. to look for more fingerprints in Danielle's room and remove several more items from the residence. They were there for four hours.
"At this point, more than 100 items of potential evidence have been gathered from the van Dam home, a neighbor's home and two vehicles belonging to that neighbor," police spokesman Dave Cohen said.
The neighbor, David Westerfield, remains the focus of the investigation. He has not been arrested.
Cohen said evidence is being examined by the FBI and police.
"The examinations are complex in nature," he said. "They do not produce results instantaneously and can take weeks or more before producing useful information."
Police have not said what caused them to focus on Westerfield. He attracted police interest after he came home Feb. 4 from a weekend trip to the desert. Westerfield said he encountered Danielle's mother at a Poway nightspot the night of Feb. 1 before leaving for the Imperial County dunes in Glamis.
As part of a neighborhood search of about 200 homes – a rare event that employed police dogs – officers went into Westerfield's house with his permission after he returned Feb. 4. Detectives obtained a warrant for a second, more thorough search the following day and took numerous containers filled with property, in addition to the motor home Westerfield drove to the desert and his sport-utility vehicle.
Volunteers looking for signs of Danielle concentrated their search Tuesday in Jamul. They also began distributing 3,000 lapel buttons with her picture and a police number for anyone to call if information turns up.
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