Missing toddler wasn't at park, police conclude

San Diego Union-Tribune ^ | 5/2/02 | Kelly Thornton and Chet Barfield

[brneyedgirl]

I think we all knew the stepfather didn't pass the smell test.

[Calico Cat]

I knew it. Unfortunately, whenever I hear about 'the mother's boyfriend' or 'the stepfather' in a story about a child's disappearance, I jump to the same conclusion, and it never fails: the boyfriend/stepdad always seems to be involved. Poor little guy.

[CFW]

It took us about 5 minutes to figure that out.

[spectre]

It did smell from the get-go. Just pray the little boys Mother wasn't in on it. I don't think so, but nothing can be ruled out these days.

sw

[areafiftyone]

Did you see the sickening display with Danielle VanDam's mother standing next to the father of the Toddler? I wonder about her.

[Arthur McGowan]

It's really creepy, but it's true: If the child does not carry the man's DNA, the chances of abuse or murder are vastly higher.

[wimpycat]

I knew this was coming. Based on the predictability of child killers, I can recite for you almost to the last detail of what has happened. I won't commit to whether Step-Daddy was regularly abusing the baby, but I think on the day in question, he hit the boy, or flung him against the wall; in other words, during a single episode where Step-Daddy was in a rage, he killed the boy. I'll even allow that he didn't really "intend" to kill him, but things got out of control and he killed the boy by some sort of blunt trauma to the head. Step-Daddy panicked and hastily concocted this cockamamie story about being in the park.

The alternate theory, of course, could be that he had it in for this boy from the beginning; that Step-Daddy wanted Mama all to himself and resented the presence of the boy, resented having to take care of him while Mama was on cruise, and he was going to kill the boy sooner or later, one way or another and it took every ounce of his feeble brain power to concoct the cockamamie park abduction story.

[brneyedgirl]

Did you see the sickening display with Danielle VanDam's mother standing next to the father of the Toddler? I wonder about her.

How could one not miss seeing Brenda Van Dam! She's still trying to stretch her 15 minutes of fame into a hour.

[Almondjoy]

Well if they weren't at the park wouldn't that automatically make this guy a suspect.. lying about minor details(to prevent neglect charges) is one thing.. to lie about places you were.. hmmm doesn't past my mustard test.

[mountaineer]

What a sight - Mrs. Van Dam standing with this little boy's mother and the man who seems to have had something to do with his disappearance, as if the VDs have been designated official representatives of parents of missing children everywhere. Very strange.

[maxwell]

Did you see this, Fres? I know you're up on all this stuff...

I gotta agree with Calico. That stepfather just didn't come off quite right. Poor kid.

[xsrdx]

that Step-Daddy wanted Mama all to himself and resented the presence of the boy, resented having to take care of him while Mama was on cruise

Yup- takes more maturity than this guy has to take care of another man's offspring while mom is out of town. Absolutely a recipe for disaster.

That poor kid - and mom is partly to blame, unfortunately for her she gets to deal with that forever.

[KC_Conspirator]

Unfortunately, whenever I hear about 'the mother's boyfriend' or 'the stepfather' in a story about a child's disappearance, I jump to the same conclusion, and it never fails: the boyfriend/stepdad always seems to be involved.

Its a documented fact that boyfriends, live-ins, and step parents make the great majority of child physical and sexual abuse cases. Of course, liberals will tell you that there are all sorts of 'new types' of families and that nickel and dime divorce is a no thing privation - all of it is a huge lie.

[brneyedgirl]

One should read the KFMB message boards...really good stuff!

Message Board

[Redcloak]

Theory 2 has always sounded most plausible to me. As brneyedgirl said, this guy doesn't pass the smell test. He hasn't since day one.

[null and void]

It took us about 5 minutes to figure that out.

Proving what we know will take longer...

[hellinahandcart]

It's really creepy, but it's true: If the child does not carry the man's DNA, the chances of abuse or murder are vastly higher.

Saw a documentary about lions once on PBS. When one male lion drives out another one and takes over the pride, the first thing they do is kill all the cubs. That puts the females into estrus immediately, and the new leader's genes are passed on instead of the former leader's.

I think about that documentary every time I hear about a stepdad or boyfriend who's beaten some other man's child to death.

[AppyPappy]

Yup. We already figured this out.

[wimpycat]

Theory 2 has always sounded most plausible to me. As brneyedgirl said, this guy doesn't pass the smell test. He hasn't since day one.

I'm being generous with Theory 1. I think he killed the baby, but I'll allow for the possibility that it wasn't premeditated.

[madison10]

In some off-beat way this is what royalty does when a new king takes over. See Bible and England. Not done for genetics probably, but for power. There is some correlation.