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Another oldy but a goody...

Described by friends as a "girly girl," the middle child between two brothers, Danielle was quiet and sweet. She enjoyed dressing in stylish clothes and was always seen wearing a popular choker necklace.

She was "outgoing, smiling, happy," Libby said. "Very, very strong."

Danielle loved coloring, playing with dolls and writing and drawing in her journal.

"She's a very sweet, normal 7-year-old who didn't deserve this and had her whole life ahead of her," said Kim Dato, whose daughter Savanna was in Danielle's class.

Danielle had recently taken up piano. And she was a Brownie who sold Girl Scout cookies to the man now accused of killing her.

"I feel so sorry about the girl if she's not alive," said Cecilia Bao, a neighbor and composer who wrote a song for Danielle titled "The Missing Little One."

Danielle was born in Texas but lived most of her life in California. She spent the past few years in a comfortable two-story home in Sabre Springs, just up the hill from Creekside Elementary School, where she was in a combined first-and second-grade class.

She lived with her parents, two brothers – Derrick, 9, and Dylan, 5 – and their Weimaraner, Layla. Her mother, Brenda, stays at home to take care of her children, and her father, Damon, works as an engineer for Qualcomm.

Danielle often wrote her parents letters. The last night she was seen alive, she hugged and kissed her father as he tucked her into bed.

Her parents reported her missing Feb. 2 after her mother went to wake her and she wasn't in her canopy bed.

Her friends' parents described her as strong-headed but obedient. She loved to go to sleepovers with her friends, and parents didn't mind inviting her over, said Paula Call, whose daughter Sara was a friend of Danielle's.

"It's a joy to have her come to your home," Call said in an interview soon after Danielle disappeared. "She's really a well-rounded little girl."

Mom's girly girl

NO

PUFF

TOLERANCE!!!

Witness in Westerfield trial fired from job after drug use testimony

SAN DIEGO, California (AP) --A flight attendant who testified she had smoked marijuana with the parents of 7-year-old slaying victim Danielle van Dam said she was fired because of the airline's anti-drug policy.

Denise Kemal, 28, said she was dismissed by Southwest Airlines on June 28, 2 1/2 weeks after testifying at the trial of David Westerfield, 50, a neighbor of the van Dams accused of kidnapping, murder and possession of child pornography. He has pleaded innocent and faces the death penalty if convicted.

Kemal, who is now living in Florida, said losing her job ruined her life.

"I've always wanted to fly," she told The San Diego Tribune. "It took me years to get my job." Kemal was hired by the airlines in 1998.

The Dallas-based carrier would not provide details about the dismissal but noted company policy states the "illegal use of drugs, narcotics or controlled substances off duty and off company premises is not acceptable and may result in termination."

Kemal said her supervisors learned of her testimony after customers mailed in newspaper articles about it.

Kemal had testified she was in the van Dam home February 1, the night Danielle was last seen alive, and smoked marijuana in the couple's garage before leaving with the girl's mother to go to a local restaurant and bar.

Kemal said she will be appeal the dismissal because smoking marijuana "wasn't an everyday thing."

Testimony in the trial resumes July 22, following a planned vacation by the judge.