Posted on 03/03/2002 7:49:10 AM PST by FresnoDA
CAUSE OF GIRL'S DEATH COULD REMAIN MYSTERY
Police say they may never know how Danielle van Dam died, or when. The seven-year-old girl disappeared from her San Diego home February first. Authorities are now confirming that a child's body found by volunteer searchers Wednesday is that of the missing child. The district attorney says an autopsy performed confirmed her identity yesterday. The identification was made through dental records because of the condition of the body. Medical examiners are trying to determine the cause of death, but Police Chief Dave Bejerano says it's possible that we'll never know how, or when she was killed. A neighbor has been charged with kidnapping and murdering her. Authorities say they found the girl's blood on his clothing and in his motor home. He has pleaded innocent. |
Imperial County dunes scoured for missing girl
http://video.uniontrib.com/news/metro/danielle/20020208-9999_1n8saga.html
February 8, 2002
Tow truck driver says suspect's vehicle was stuck in sand off road Dan Conklin, who owns a tow service that caters to all-terrain vehicles, said he spent more than two hours midafternoon Saturday getting David Westerfield's motor home out of the sand Westerfield,...has said he drove his motor home to the desert Saturday morning, the same day Danielle's parents discovered her missing. Conklin said he found Westerfield, who has been described by friends as an avid desert camper, in an area people do not normally take motor homes.
After the vehicle was freed, Westerfield was in such a hurry, he left behind the motor home's leveling ramps, Conklin said. He "just wanted to get out of there," Conklin said. "He just got on the highway and left." Conklin said San Diego police and agents with the Bureau of Land Management questioned him Tuesday. He took bureau officers to the place where he found the motor home, and they spent several hours there.
"I know this desert well," Conklin said. "This person did some things that were not normal at all."
Westerfield cooperated during several police interviews earlier this week, but Wednesday night his demeanor reportedly changed. One investigator said Westerfield has "clammed up." Yesterday, he retained San Diego defense attorney Steven Feldman. About a dozen undercover officers in unmarked cars were stationed outside Westerfield's home before dawn, then followed him as he drove to Feldman's office in Golden Hill, east of downtown, about 8:30 a.m. He also was trailed by the media, which have converged in Sabre Springs as the case has drawn increasing national attention. Tracking his every move on a police radio, detectives watched Westerfield stop briefly in front of downtown police headquarters, noting that he was making a call from his cell phone. When he drove up Broadway toward Feldman's office, Westerfield stopped again, got out of his Toyota 4Runner and visited with a woman in a white pickup. That prompted detectives to yell, "Get the license number of that truck."
What is that all about???
Ok ok, just kidding!
If Westerfield did this (and it looks like he did), I can think of few sentences more just.
Was Danielle's blood found in her bedroom? How much blood of her blood was found in the motor home? Where was it found? Westerfield tried to clean the motorhome, but obviously missed some spots.
Ii has also been reported that a child's shoe was found near the body. Was it Danielle's? If it was does this indicate a child who was coorperative in leaving her house with someone, or forthought on the part of the abductor?
Tow driver's account wrong http://video.uniontrib.com/news/metro/danielle/20020210-9999_1n10search.html
February 10, 2002
David Westerfield, who has been the focus of the investigation into the disappearance of the 7-year-old San Diego girl, was stranded with his motor home Feb. 3, not Feb. 2. Danielle's parents reported her missing the morning of Feb. 2. Conklin's time line had Westerfield in Imperial Valley, then at Silver Strand State Beach near Coronado and back out in the desert. Police explored that scenario and concluded it was inaccurate, the investigator said.
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