Here is one of the first reports about the F. B. I.....
Parents Plead For Daughter's Safe Return
7-Year-Old Girl Missing Since Friday Night
Updated: 5:23 p.m. PST February 4, 2002
SAN DIEGO -- Police said Monday that they believe 7-year-old girl Danielle van Dam -- who vanished from her suburban home on Friday -- was abducted. Most of the volunteers who spent the weekend searching canyons for the girl have been replaced by investigators who said that they have no suspects and few leads.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.
Investigators questioned registered sex offenders in the area. The FBI was offering assistance but was not actively investigating because there was no evidence Danielle had left California, spokeswoman Jan Caldwell said.
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.