| From today's San Diego Union Tribune:.... Memorials to Danielle removed from park  Van Dams did not object to playground's cleanup
By Brian E. Clark March 20, 2002
The only reminder of what had become a huge community memorial was a bare patch of ground near the rear of the park, where scores of mourners had knelt and wept in front of Danielle's picture. Landscaping crews removed the tributes to Danielle, the blue-eyed 7-year-old who was abducted from her bedroom and killed last month, after neighbors complained that the memorial upset their children. "We were getting a lot of calls from the homeowners association, asking us to do something because all that stuff reminded them and their kids of what a terrible thing had happened just a block away from here," said Jim Bradley, a spokesman for N.N. Jaeschke, the property services company for the Sabre Springs neighborhood where Danielle lived. Bradley said hundreds of stuffed animals, about 200 candles, hundreds of balloons, vases of flowers, pinwheels and other items were taken from Sabre Highlands Mini Park on Mountain Pass Road yesterday morning. Damon and Brenda van Dam, Danielle's parents, were told Friday of the plans to clean the park, Bradley said. They took some of the items, he said, and told him they wanted the remaining teddy bears and other toys to go to Purple Heart, a store in Santee that benefits disabled veterans. "They didn't object. They understood that kids wanted to play in the park again," he said. "It was pretty full of things that people had left for Danielle. Now, though, it's like it was before, and kids and families are returning to play." Brenda van Dam declined comment when contacted at her home yesterday. Sara Fraunces, a spokeswoman for the van Dams, said the couple supported the decision to remove the memorial "to be sensitive to the neighborhood and all the neighborhood children who use the park." Leslie Huskey, manager of Purple Heart, said she appreciated the donations of the stuffed animals and keepsakes. "We threw away a few that were damaged or too muddy," she said. "We dried off the others and we've already put them out for sale. Some of them are really big and beautiful." Across the street from the park, Amy Lee said she was pleased that children could return and play there again. "It was good that people brought flowers and animals to show their sorrow," said Lee, who has an 8-year-old son. "But it is good for it to go back to the way it was." Another neighbor, who didn't want her name used, said she had attended a memorial at the park two weeks ago and cried and prayed for Danielle. "Hundreds of kids are dropped off every day at this park," she said. "And I don't think it was right for them to be constantly reminded of Danielle's murder. This was where she played. Children should be allowed to play here again, too." The woman said she would oppose renaming the park for the slain child. "I think perhaps planting a tree and having a plaque for her would be a better idea," she said. San Diego City Councilman Brian Maienschein, who represents Sabre Springs, suggested renaming the park for Danielle several weeks ago after speaking to her parents. Yesterday, however, he said he would leave it to the neighborhood to decide. "I still believe there should be some sort of memorial to Danielle because her death touched so many people," he said. "That could be a bench, a tree or a plaque. The decision on that, though, should be made by the community."
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