Posted on 03/04/2002 3:27:44 PM PST by FresnoDA
Additional Quirks: Danielle was last seen wearing blue flowered pajamas with flowers Her favorite colors are pink and purple Danielle belongs to her local Brownie troop Family friends have set up a website at: http://daniellemissing.tripod.com San Diego police are scouring the Sabre Springs area for 7-year-old Danielle van Dam. Police say Danielle's parents, Damon and Brenda van Dam, reported her missing when they discovered Danielle was not in her room at about 9 a.m. Saturday, February 2, 2002. Damon told police he put Danielle and her two brothers to bed at around 10:30 Friday night while Brenda was out celebrating with friends until about 2 a.m. Saturday, a send-off for a woman who was leaving the area, detectives said. When Brenda arrived home with four friends at about 2 am, police say they ate pizza with Damon and talked for about an hour. Shortly after the friends left, police say Damon and Brenda told them they noticed lights blinking on their burglar alarm panel and found a sliding glass door and a side garage door open. Police say the alarm was not set, but the panel is a type that indicates when doors and windows are opened and shut at all times. The couple told police they closed the doors and went to bed, and did not check on the children. Saturday morning, police say the couple told them a friend stopped by at about 9 am to see if Danielle could come out and play. Damon and Brenda told police that they thought Danielle was still sleeping and that Brenda went to wake Danielle. That is when police say the couple discovered Danielle was missing from her room and called 9-1-1. Police began investigating immediately, using helicopters, horses and dogs to search the area canyons for Danielle, a second-grader at Creekside Elementary School in Sabre Springs. Officers also conducted door-to-door searches and provided the Border Patrol and Customs Service with photos of Danielle to keep watch for her at the border. Detectives additionally interviewed family members, neighbors, schoolmates and friends about the disappearance, hoping to develop leads, but had no luck. Danielle was last seen wearing blue pajamas with flowers. She is white, 4 feet tall and weighs about 58 pounds. She has blue eyes and blond hair. Police say at this point the parents are not considered suspects and have been extremely cooperative with investigators. Police are considering one of the van Dam's neighbors to be the prime suspect. Police have searched his home and impounded his vehicles. At the time of this writing, an arrest has not been made. |
1. Kids Put To Bed at 10:30 P.M., by Damon VD.
2. Brenda arrives at VD residence at 2:00 A.M. with FOUR FRIENDS
3. Brenda and her friends "The Four Amigos" eat pizza with Damon, and talk for about one hour.
4. 3:00 A.M., "The Four Amigos" depart the VD residence.
5. Damon and Brenda notice the alarm lights blinking.
6. Damon and Brenda notice BOTH the sliding glass door AND the side garage door are open.
7. Damon and Brenda note that alarm was not SET but was only in the monitoring mode.
8. Damon and Brenda tell police they closed all doors, and went to bed.
9. Damon and Brenda DID NOT CHECK on the condition of the children.
10. Approximate time, 3:15 A.M.
Defense appeals release of documents in missing girl case
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The appeals court directed attorneys for the District Attorney's Office and the San Diego Union-Tribune -- which requested that the documents be made public -- to respond to the 50-year-old, self-employed engineer's petition by Friday.
"The Superior Court is directed to transfer under seal to this court all records pertaining to the search warrants executed in this case, i.e., search warrant affidavits, returns, inventories, papers filed in connection with the motion to seal and sealing orders," the appeals court wrote in a one-page order.
In conditionally granting the newspaper's request, Bashant ordered released all search warrant affidavits with the exception of two photo exhibits. Two attachments labeled "sexually explicit material" should also remain sealed, Bashant said.
She also granted a motion by Westerfield and the District Attorney's Office to redact, or edit out, material that would be inadmissible at trial.
"The court finds that Westerfield's right to a fair trial is an overriding interest that overcomes the right of public access to this portion of the record and there is substantial probability that he would be prejudiced by the unsealing," Bashant wrote.
The unredacted affidavits may be unsealed at the conclusion of Westerfield's trial, the judge said.
According to the search warrants released last week, police searched Westerfield's two-story home for "lifts" from footwear; binding materials, such as tape or rope; and videos, CDs, prints or other depictions showing nudity or sexual activities involving juveniles.
Officers also searched Westerfield's computer for sexual images, according to the search warrants. A separate warrant reflects that investigators also searched Westerfield's Toyota 4Runner, his motor home and a 1998 car carrier.
Additionally, officers were looking for children's pajamas, "Mickey Mouse" earrings and diaries or letters relating to juvenile abduction, according to one of the warrants.
When Westerfield was arrested Feb. 22, police Chief David Bejarano said detectives found traces of Danielle's blood on a piece of Westerfield's clothing.
It was also reported that Westerfield's DNA had been found in the child's bedroom, and that child pornography had been taken from his home.
Westerfield, 50, who lived two doors from the van Dams in Sabre Springs, pleaded innocent to charges of murder, kidnapping, possession of child pornography and a special circumstance allegation of murder during a kidnapping.
A high-ranking police official told the Union-Tribune that investigators believe Westerfield kidnapped the second-grader for sexual purposes.
The defendant also failed a lie-detector test, the newspaper reported.
If convicted, Westerfield could face the death penalty.
On Wednesday, not long after Bashant ordered the unsealing of the search warrants, Danielle's badly decomposed body was discovered under a tree along Dehesa Road, east of El Cajon.
The Union-Tribune reported Westerfield was harassed by other inmates when he was escorted into the downtown jail last week. Sheriff's officials told the paper that inmates "screamed obscenities and said they wanted to kill" him.
Killers of children rank as the "lowest of the low" on the jailhouse pecking order, the officials said.
Danielle's parents have asked that people remember the child at a place where she liked to play.
Parents Brenda and Damon van Dam asked that mourners not add to a memorial where the girl's body was found. Instead, they said they would prefer that mementos be left at a mini-park where the girl liked to play. They said that was a happier place to remember the slain child.
On Thursday, an impromptu memorial sprang up along Dehesa Road, where a volunteer searcher finally found the body of the blond, blue-eyed girl dumped amid some trash.
A public memorial service has been set for March 16 at La Jolla Shores Beach. It was not clear when the body would be released to the family, and funeral arrangements are pending.
From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. today, a candlelight vigil will be held at the Sabre Springs Recreational Center, where child identification kits and safety tip sheets on how to keep kids safe will be distributed.
Not anymore. Apparently the Van Dams had the items at the memorial picked up and moved to another location last night. What a warm, caring family.
Not anymore. Apparently the Van Dams had the items at the memorial picked up and moved to another location last night. What a warm, caring family.
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