Search turns to desert, aqueduct for Danielle
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February 15, 2002 SAN DIEGO – Volunteers plan to spend the holiday weekend searching for a 7-year-old girl who was abducted from her home more than two weeks ago. Investigators asked a volunteer search and rescue team from the San Diego County Sheriff's Department to search Sunday near the San Diego Aqueduct in Poway, not far from the northern San Diego home where police believe Danielle van Dam was abducted. The area is one of several that police are searching as the investigation continues into the girl's disappearance, said police spokesman David Cohen. Danielle's father, Damon van Dam, plans to help search efforts in the Imperial Valley desert, where a neighbor traveled the weekend of the girl's disappearance. He intends to ask off-road vehicle users, who are expected to visit the desert in large numbers over the weekend, to distribute fliers with Danielle's photo and to help search remote areas for any sign of the girl. Danielle was last seen Feb. 1 when her father put her to bed. Her parents noticed she was missing when they went to wake her up about 9 a.m. the next day, authorities said. Her disappearance has drawn nationwide attention and was featured on "America's Most Wanted." There have been no arrests, but police have said a 49-year-old neighbor, David Westerfield, is a potential suspect and they have searched his home several times. Investigators are "cautiously optimistic" that they are making progress in the case, Capt. Ron Newman said Friday. Also on Friday, the girl's mother, Brenda van Dam, released a video of her daughter, set to music, in hopes of drawing further help to the search effort. "I hope, I hope that someone will tell where she is, Brenda van Dam said. "You could only hope." |