Mourners gather at site where Danielle's body was found
Posted on 03/01/2002 4:04:47 PM PST by FresnoDA
Mourners gather at site where Danielle's body was found
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 By Seth Hettena ASSOCIATED PRESS March 1, 2002
"The memory of her soul compelled me to come down here and say a last goodbye," Davis said Friday, cradling her 7-month-old daughter and wiping away tears. "To actually see the place where her innocent sweetness was lying under a tree." Davis, 26, added white flowers to a growing memorial of messages, bouquets, a pink teddy bear and a stuffed blue bunny that marks the place where authorities believe a neighbor dumped Danielle's body weeks ago. Dental records confirmed Thursday that remains found by a rural roadside 25 miles east of San Diego were those of the little girl, who vanished from her bedroom Feb. 2. The cause of death could not immediately be determined – and may never be – because of the body's state of decomposition, said Police Chief David Bejarano. Further tests were under way. Danielle's parents, Brenda and Damon van Dam, said the unflagging efforts of more than 2,500 volunteers who searched a vast area stretching from the ocean to the desert left them with "an overwhelming sense of gratitude and closure." "With love for an innocent child and for one another, the community has brought her back to us, and for that gift we offer our most sincere and heartfelt thanks," the van Dams said in a statement. "Even though the final outcome is horrible, we could not have imagined the rest of our lives without this closure." A memorial service is expected later this month. A neighbor, David Westerfield, 50, was charged Tuesday with murder, kidnapping and possession of child pornography. He has pleaded innocent and is being held without bond. Authorities said they found traces of Danielle's blood in Westerfield's motor home and on an article of his clothing. The self-employed engineer spent the weekend of Danielle's disappearance traveling in his motor home, stopping in the desert east of the city, authorities said. A hunch led volunteers to the area – the remote road was one Westerfield might have taken the weekend Danielle disappeared, said Bill Garcia, a private detective who coordinated searches. Nearby residents said they were unsettled by the discovery of Danielle's body so close to home. "It kind of sickens us," said Charles O'Neill, 28, who lives about a mile away. "We've been driving by this road every day for the past month and knowing she's that close is something we never would have imagined." |
UNLESS he agrees to inform on and testify against any child porn producers and molestors he knows,and/or agrees to plead guilty to murder charges for any other children he has snatched in the past and shows where their bodies are. I could see letting him have life without parole if he is joined there by his fellow monsters. We as a society need to get these people off the streets any way we can.
Yeah,I have a "take". That doesn't mean it is any more valid than anybody else's,though. It's just a guess.
My GUESS is that the police have viewed the videotapes (and you think YOUR job sucks!)by now and looked over all the other evidence,and have decided the suspect has something to "sell" in exchange for life without parole. This "something" MIGHT be the producers of the porn movies he had,or even the identities of some of the adults shown having sex with children in them. The cops MIGHT even have spotted some children in those movies who are still missing. There is also the very real POSSIBILITY that he has agreed to plead guilty to murdering other children in the past,and will lead police to where their bodies lay. This won't make them less dead,but it would be a major relief to the parents to finally know for certain,and to have a body to bury.
Whatever it is,it damn sure better be BIG to justify letting this monster live!
The prosecution can possibly turn the tables on Westerfield by tracing his connections with the child porn network. Was he a loner, with no contact with others of his ilk, save downloaded files, or did he have direct contacts and working relationships with those who were aware of his interests and activities?
There are three worlds at play here: the world of Christian morality, fidelity and family, the world of the swinger and the world of the sexual predator. There is overlap and conflict between these worlds. The sexual predator concieves of other humans as objects of pleasure for the self, and in the end, can take pleasure in murder.
I can see how the sexual predator can see the world of swinging as a group of mainly naive sexual experimenters to be exploited. From the viewpoint of the Christian, the swingers have opened the gates that allow the predators to enter the outskirts of morality. Caught in the middle, the van Dams in effect have sacrificed a child to the logical extension of their comprimised belief system.
It's you.
BUMP!
As a Christian, it appears that immoral acts are caused by people..whether they be Swingers or not. Some of the people on the van dam threads can only speculate that the swingers allowed the predator in the house, if indeed evidence shows they are swingers. If they are swingers, God help their souls. If they're not, those who have made such accusatory remarks based on gossip and rumors should be ashamed. You guys who are so upset with the parents can only speculate that the parents don't give a crap that their daughter was murdered. This case is NO DIFFERENT than any other child abduction case. For whatever reason, the violent sadistic predator, LIKE ALL OTHER PREDATORS, saw a weakness and exploited it. PERIOD. It's always been US vs Them... They watch for any weakness and they exploit it. Like all predators, they live for weaknesses.
Take your stuffed animals and flowers to the Children's Hospital. Hug a child, take them to the zoo, but don't hang out at a murder site. Sick, sick, sick.
Your attitude may change if something like this, heaven forbid, visits your neighborhood, as it did ours in Plano, TX September 4, 1993, with the abduction and murder of a beautiful young seven year old child, Ashley Estell. It brings back tears to recall the moment I found out that her body had been found a few yards off a dirt road that intersects Highway 121 about seven miles north east of the soccer field from which she was abducted. I'm sure there are many who consider that spot hallowed ground, fitting of some kind of monument. Until you have walked in these shoes, don't be so quick to ridicule.
So very true! Although I confess that I did find myself actually mourning after the OKC bombing (it's nearby) and 9/11. There was something about those two events that hit me very hard. I am sorry when I hear of someone's passing, but I seldom actually mourn unless it's someone I knew well, so those two events caught me off-guard.
That said, what happened to this little girl made me very sad, not only for her, but for all the children who've been treated this way. I wish I knew how to stop it, but with our current laws, there will probably be more. Personally, I think child molesters should be put to death. Treatment doesn't seem to work, and jail terms are too short.
And, at the risk of inciting more flames (like I need more), I wish someone would remove those two little boys from that home and that dangerous lifestyle. If it's true that some of the porn involved homosexual scenes, they are at risk.
Years ago, there was a similar scenerio in our small community. I recall that no one, except a few young teenage boys, went to the scene where the body was recovered.
Now we have mothers traveling to a remote area with their babies, teddy bears and balloons to cry at the site where a little girl's decomposed body was found.
Don't misunderstand me, please. I have a grand daughter...and my heart turns over to think that she would ever be treated unkindly, much less that she would have to endure torture and death. And I would like to see the beast that did this die a slow and painful death, also.
I am just trying to understand why the ritual of public mourning is taking place in such a manner these days.
When I hear the term "closure" it sounds to me like someone wants us to hurry up and quit grieving already. That's pretty harsh for someone who's lost someone very close to them--forget closure, pray for healing, in God's own time.
No, you have some company in that observation. However, stand by for accusations of being subhuman for noticing it.
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EL CAJON – Laura Davis said she felt drawn to the quiet patch of shade under an oak tree where searchers this week found the body of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam.