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Neighbors bring food, but no one has an appetite. Relatives visit but often don't want to talk.
Living with the disappearance of their 7-year-old daughter is taking its toll on Brenda and Damon van Dam, friends say. After six days, the van Dams remain hopeful, but at the same time they are struggling with the realization they may never see Danielle again.
There are times "I just scream and cry into my pillow," Brenda van Dam said in an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live" last night.
"You guys aren't seeing the bad side of this," she told a news conference outside her Sabre Springs home earlier in the day. "We are pleading with the public to remember that while there may be progress, Danielle is still not home with her family. Please, please continue to get the word out nationwide."
Police believe Danielle was abducted after her father put her to bed about 10:30 p.m. Friday. Her canopy bed was found empty the next morning. Since then, the blond child always pictured with a choker around her neck has become the object of a search that has attracted nationwide interest and concern.
Damon van Dam yesterday recalled his last night with his daughter.
"She liked to read to her brother before she went to bed. She read to him, and she was tucked in and I gave her a good-night kiss," he said, his voice choking with emotion.
Danielle's 5-and 10-year-old brothers are "holding up as best they can," said Susan Wintersteen, a family spokesman, who added the boys are undergoing counseling.