Van Dam Family Coping With Discovery
Meantime, Joseph Acton, a priest at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Rancho Penasquitos, where the van Dams are members, said a friend of the family's called him and asked him to go to their home.
He arrived there about 5:50 p.m.
"We prayed together," Acton said. He was asked if the discovery of a body brought the family any closure.
"Closure is a difficult thing to talk about now," he said. "They're obviously in a great deal of pain. They are devastated by this."
Acton thanked "every single volunteer who has led to this point. I want to thank them on behalf of the family, because you've blessed them so much by your love and outpouring."
SDPD Capt. Ron Newman also conferred with the couple late in the day.
Afterward, as he walked to his car, surrounded by a mob of reporters and camera crews, he declined to comment on what had transpired, calling it a "family matter."
At the crime scene off Dehesa Road, sheriff's homicide Lt. Jerry Lewis said the SDPD has "made a determination that this is their case."
Authorities blocked off Dehesa Road, from Willow Glen Drive to Harbison Canyon Road, to allow for investigations, according to the California Highway Patrol. The closure may last through Thursday morning, sheriff's officials said.
San Diego police Lt. Jim Collins said that the body was found about 30 feet off the main road, on the north side behind an oak tree during a random search.
The Sheriff's Department got the report shortly before 2:30 p.m., sent out its homicide unit and alerted the SDPD, which also dispatched detectives.
Police put crime-scene tape around the area, which is across the street from Singing Hills Country Club and near a memorial park and cemetery. Some people use the area to illegally dump trash.
A member of a volunteer civilian search group came across the remains, sheriff's officials said. Such teams have scoured large expanses of San Diego County and its environs since the child disappeared nearly a month ago. No further searches are planned, even though positive identification is pending.