Side Door, Open the night of Feb. 1
Posted on 03/05/2002 8:04:09 PM PST by FresnoDA
Side Door, Open the night of Feb. 1|
The photos below are of the Van Dam backyard and show the sliding glass door reported to have been found open the morning Danielle was reported missing. Detectives say this is likely to be the way a possible kidnapper may have entered the home. |
 |
 |
| 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.
LOL....you crack me up.
True, there is no streetlight in the picture above.
Maybe it is on the other side of the street. I do not know where the streetlights are. But because it is not in the photo does not mean there is not one nearby.
I think climbing the wall is a bit far-fetched, but then, I wasn't there. How is one going to climb that wall carrying a child?
Sounds like they were a tad irresponsible but nothing more. I dont see the relevance of the time line.
That's an understatement. I think we can safely assume the rumors about the van Dams swinging is true. We can assume that Westerfield caught on and was observing the house for some time. He made an effort to get with Brenda. As for Damon, his child protective sense was severely dulled, probably anticipating the fun of the evening. Probably was only concerned that the kids were put away for the evening. Probably not thinking about the possibility of a home invasion. Not aware that Brenda was out there ticking off an unstable neighbor.
I'm amazed at freepers like you. What is it with you complainers that makes you want to kick someone off and make this forum something that's exclusive to your taste or opinion?
If you don't like this topic, don't click on......DUH !!!!!
I think most people here have the good sense to go to threads that interest them rather than ones with which they want to find fault. Maybe you should be "kicked off" for being a glutton for punishment. Geeeeesh !!!!!!!!
It would sure seem so.
I had a conversation with another freeper who also does not like what is discussed in the threads. I told her she may not like the discussions and opinions of some people, but just because she does not like it does not mean that what they are saying is not true, just that she and others don't like it. But that does not mean it should not be said, or that an opinion on facets of the case cannot be discussed.
Exactly !!!
There are many threads that I avoid strictly because I know they will aggravate me.
One that quickly comes to mind is the pro-evolution discussions. Ugh !!!!! It annoys the heck out of me so why would I want to go there? I think those believers are nuts, but that's their business and their right to speak their minds.
Oh my gosh..your story is so scary, I bet it does give you chills! There are some things completely out of our control..and it sure doesn't sound like you could have prevented that..you did what you were suppose to do! My heart goes out to you!! We had deadbolts at our other house, that required a key to unlock the bolt from either the outside or the inside. It was our theory that if someone broke in while we were gone, that they wouldn't be able to leave thru any of the doors...but we did leave the key in while we were home for fear of fire etc..
Well, it doesn't take much to amuse the feeble-minded.
I see five houses clearly on that shot, I see no street lights on a sizeable chunk of sidewalk.
Of course, the fact that you are discussing that which can't be proven doesn't surprise me in light of the general directions that these threads seem to take.
Here's my theory about the lack of street lights in the proximity of the van Dam's house: Knowing that they would one day buy that particular house, on that particular street, years ago, when the sub-division was being planned, Brenda and Damon convinced the developers NOT to put up any street lights near the house that they planned to buy one day. That way, once they had kids, there would be sufficient darkness for them to remove the corpse of the daughter they would have by then, dump her in Westerfield's car, and frame the innocent pedophile down the street for her murder.
The motive? They knew that three years and four months from today, Westerfield was going to say something really rude to Brenda at the check-out line in the neighborhood grocery store. By doing this, they got their revenge without having to endure the embarrasment of having an altercation in public.
Why on earth would the defense bring up the "swingers" angle?
The case being tried is the murder of Danielle van Dam, not any criminal charges against the van Dams.Think about it for a second, even if you leave your car unlocked, with the keys in the ignition, the person who takes it gets arrested for theft.
Even if the van Dams are found to be negligent by not checking on Danielle, or even for inviting Westerfield into the house, the killer is still 100% responsible for the murder.
Even if the van Dams are found to be criminally negligent, that would be a different case, and a different trial.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.