Posted on 04/09/2002 11:30:44 AM PDT by FresnoDA
Whether or not they knew Westerfield previously, if they now felt that this man had harmed, molested, murdered their 7-year-old daughter, [even if he didn't, or even if they felt so only because the state had so charged him]...
THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN LIVID in the courtroom. They would have almost had to be restrained to prevent their tearing him limb from limb!
Instead, Mrs VD smiles at him, mouths "Hi, Dave" ... mentions him only in a kindly tone, then at the end refers to him at least once as "Dave" even though early in her testimony she was trying to say she didn't know him, had never danced with him, etc. Separated by that glass barrier, she still seems to melt, seems about to ask him over for drinks and dinner.
Note also that DAMON does not seem angry or upset with Mr Westerfield, does not view him as an enemy, seems to lack the hostility that a neighbor charging him with having a noisy nuisance of a DOG might have in some little city court matter...Again, actually seems to LIKE the guy, more than anything else.
This just isn't human nature, and it will not wash.
Most of the volunteers who spent the weekend searching canyons for the girl have been replaced by investigators who said that they have no suspects and few leads.
"We have no reason to believe she walked away," San Diego Police Department spokesman Dave Cohen said. "We would have found her already if that was the case."
Danielle was last seen Friday night when her father put her to bed.
The girl with shoulder-length blond hair lives with her parents and two brothers in the suburb of Sabre Springs, near the city of Poway.
A corner park near the van Dam's home (pictured, right) was adorned Monday with pink and purple ribbons and a large banner reading: "Hurry Home, Danielle. We Miss You."
Neighbors found it hard to believe a stranger could have seized the girl from her bedroom.
Neighbor Adel Crawford-Laumer told 10News that she felt she had to do anything she could to help find Danielle. She spent Monday passing out flyers and talking to residents.
"Poway-Sabre Springs is a big community, but when something like this happens, it's a small community; it's a small town," Crawford-Laumer said. "I have three kids that go to school in this area, and they have just been very upset about what happened to this little girl, and want to do something. As a family, this is what we wanted to do."
Investigators so far have not ruled out that Danielle was abducted by a stranger. Law enforcement teams spent much of Monday interviewing Danielle's parents again and talking with neighbors.
Police said that the van Dams were not considered suspects.
Danielle's distraught parents, Damon and Brenda van Dam, appeared briefly outside the home Monday and read a statement.
"Our hearts are aching for this very special girl," Damon van Dam said.
The couple displayed a set of pale blue pajamas with colored flowers like those worn by Danielle when she disappeared.
Authorities believe the girl left her two-story beige home between 10:30 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday, when her older and younger brothers woke up.
Damon van Dam, told investigators he woke up around 1:30 a.m. Saturday to let out the family dog and noticed a burglar alarm light was blinking. He discovered a sliding glass door was open and he closed it.
Danielle's mother had spent the evening out with four friends at a local bar. She arrived home around 2:30 a.m. and stayed up for another hour with her husband and friends.
Brenda van Dam checked to make sure Danielle's bedroom door and that of her brothers' room were closed to keep from disturbing them, but didn't check in on the children.
It wasn't until around 9 a.m., when one of Danielle's friends came over to play with her, that the family realized she was gone.
The family had moved from Florida to the quiet neighborhood three years ago. Damon van Dam works for wireless technology firm Qualcomm.
Jenni Thompson, spokeswoman for the Polly Klaas Foundation in Petaluma, said that the most important task would be to get the word out about the case to as many people as possible. The more people who know, the greater the chance someone will have information that could give police a break.
The foundation, organized in the wake of the 1993 abduction and slaying of 12-year-old Polly Hannah Klaas, assists in searching for about 600 children each year.
The organization learned of Danielle's disappearance Monday morning and was preparing to work with police to help distribute information about the case and offer support to the family.
Dats otay miz sterious. You are not being held accountable or anything like that.
Notice you seem to be the designated whipping boy these days.
yeah, you know their fascination for swinging stuff...whips, and chains. :)
"The FBI was offering assistance" (*In other words, they said they could help) "but was not actively investigating" (*but that they couldn't help a lot) "because there was no evidence Danielle had left California, spokeswoman Jan Caldwell said." (*this means, it's not their jurisdiction. Wait, that's a pretty big word. Let's just say it's not their JOB to help unless she'd been taken to another state.) Hope this helps.
Just got back, so I can't reply to all the good comments, but Val you are assuming that Damon is telling the Truth, when you said "how would he have time to vacuum"? I am going under the suspicion that Damon or someone else, could have killed Danielle way before the 3:30am time table. Even BEFORE Brenda got home. Anything is possible. No one can vouch that the child was actually in her bedroom from 8:30 till she turned up missing, can they? You are believing the parents, this is where we part ways. I'm not giving them the benefit of the doubt here.
They have told too many conflicting versions of THAT night, to be trusted with what the truth is.
Now, to answer my own question, WHY would Brenda and Damon lie about their association with Westerfield? You say the transcripts don't prove they did. Forget the transcripts, go back to the interview on Larry King Live, or even John Walsh's report.
Brenda and Damon claimed they only knew him in passing, to merely wave at him and sell boxes of Girl Scout Cookies at his front door. It was the mere sight of Danielle that caused Westerfield to become infatuated with the child, the van Dams want us to believe.
But surprise! At the preliminary hearing, we find out that Brenda actually not only went into his house, but the children played out back, and it was then she made contact with Westerfield regarding their "adult parties".
So yes, Brenda lied.
Then we have her saying she went upstairs to wake Damon to come down and have Pizza with her and the friends. BUT WAIT, she left out that she actually went upstairs and interrupted the liason between Barb and Damon, in her own BEDROOM. She, left it out? Another lie.
Why? Because distancing themselves from Westerfield didn't fit into their alibi for what they want everyone to believe happened that evening. They want us to think that Westerfield was the perp...that he was stalking the little Danielle and they didn't really know or associate with him. Make everyone think that Westerfield wasn't interested in adult sex, noooo...focus on turning him into a man who was a child molester...a ped.
They have proven they are most capable of lieing.
sw
I have no clue why I wrote Jason and not Jameson
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