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." |
I think too many changing stories is more than a sign of confusion or forgetfulness (something we are all guilty of at some time or another [the forgetfulness, I mean], especially given the emotionally charged circumstances here. In the instance case, however, I would allign there type of memory to the Clintons, proven liars. Sorry, I call it as I see it.
As far as their lifestyle......well, I have lots of thoughts I could share. Let's just say, you teach your kids to stay away from druggies and potheads. Why? Cause they'd be either more prone to doing it themselves or get involved with people who do that and a host of other worse things. 'Tis why many parents look to whom their children pal around with.....a bad apple spoils the whole barrel. It don't work in the reverse.
My response sort of fits in with Kim's, so I thought I could repost it here.
"If it came to be known that she was involved in swinging that night would you feel that she had contributed in some way to Danielle's abduction?"
I'm glad you asked that.
No, not at all.
Let me tell you why.
Theoretically, it's not whether the van Dams were swinging or not that night, it's whether by doing so, they failed to protect Danielle from a sexual predator.
If whatever the van Dams were doing at the time of the abduction is to blame for Danielle's fate, then they would have been equally as guilty if they were simply sleeping.
The problem that FR posters have with this case as opposed to, let's say the Polly Klaas abduction, is the rumours of what the van Dam's may have been doing that evening. In both cases, children were abducted from their bedrooms (in Polly's case in the presence of her friends, while her mom was zonked on pain killers in the room next door, trying to get rid of a migraine) by a sexual predator and murdered. Yet few would point fingers at Polly's mother and call her negligent.
The difference must then be our opinion of the alleged activity itself.
But that doesn't make any sense either, because if they had NOT be swinging, and they HAD been locked in the garage playing poker, and listening to Pink Floyd real loud (keeping the door closed so that the kids wouldn't wake up) they should be able to assume, with a good amount of reasonable expectation, that no one will come into their home and kidnapp their child her bed while they were very obviously at home.
I mean, would it have been OK if they had been in the garage with the door closed simply playing poker and listening to music?
What difference does WHAT they may have been doing in the garage make?
If the van Dam's are to share in the guilt of Danielle's death because they weren't watching her when she was abducted, then every parent of every abducted child is partially to blame for their fate.
Some claim that the fact that they swung meant that they brought strangers into their home, yet, no one involved is a stranger to the van Dams, including the people that came over late that night.
Nor is Westerfield a stranger.
Now, having said all that, I'd like to point out a few things about this story.
It's been nearly one month since Danielle's abduction.
Let's see what we KNOW about the van Dam's swinging lifestyle.
We know that a local DJ claims to have received a tip from a "highly placed law enforcement official", which I believe is how DJ Rick Roberts markets his "informant".
We know that internet chat rooms and forums (us) have been buzzing with talk about the van Dam's swinging, generated of course by the Rick Roberts coverage.
We know that Larry King asked them directly, and they chose instead to talk about the subject that they had come to talk about. For the record, had I been in Mr. van Dam's seat, I would have kicked Larry's ass for asking the question to begin with.
Now it bothers me to no end that one month later, not one single one of the "perverts" that the van Dam's have swung with has decided to sell his "I SWUNG WITH BRENDA" story to some upstanding publication like the National Enquirer or the Washington Post.
Not a single one.
Beyond that, not one single neighbor (that we now of) has mentioned anything about the van Dams doing anything improper at all in close to one month, to any one of the dozen reporters that have been camped in the neighborhood since the story broke.
That really puts Rick Robert's informant in a bad light, specially taking the whole "don't use my name" thing into consideration.
Now, last, but not least.
I know cops. I know detectives.
I have talked about this to some.
There's no way that a highly placed law enforcement official made that call. If one did, he should be found, and at the very least fired. Preferably, he should be arrested and charged with obstructing an ongoing investigation.
In the post-JonBennett world of missing children investigations, the investigators are much too aware of the mistakes made in Colorado, and the cost to the police there to make such phone calls.
There's no way in my mind that caller was really what Rick Roberts says that he is.
Weird, isn't it? At the very least it APPEARS that the VD's depraved proclivities were a factor in Danielle's vulnerability.
I think of it akin to a parent placing his/her child in a car and driving drunk. If an accident occurs, it can surely be said that the parent meant no harm. However, the consequences don't change.
I happen to believe that there is a lot of truth to the "lifestyle" stories. Of course the couple refrains from comment for a number of reasons, but I bet they know they contributed to this horrific situation. Danielle was unguarded and they know why......or maybe even more about her abduction.
I must respectfully disagree with your assessment. If someone chooses to be around people with less than godly morals, they are opening themselves up to exposure to people who do immoral things, if not in the IMMEDIATE circle of trysts, then their trysts trysts. The outer circle gets ever-more immoral group of people, IMO. Some in the outer circle may come and go between several circles, fluctuating between, let's say, the VD inner circle of trysts and those in an outer circle, let's say even less moral group of people. Like attracts like through the full spectrum---it's human nature. There are always people on the cusp, so to speak, who is a sort of on the fence between fitting into one group and another. These types of people are salamanders, changing colors to fit the group their in, fooling others into believing they are like "them." The murderer could have been such a salamander, brought into the inner circle.
We know that Larry King asked them directly, and they chose instead to talk about the subject that they had come to talk about. For the record, had I been in Mr. van Dam's seat, I would have kicked Larry's ass for asking the question to begin with
I don't blame Larry King for asking that question. We know that mother VD was asked a couple weeks ago by a reporter the same type of question. She avoided answering it by changing the subject, saying something like "it doesn't matter what the rumors are (not denying), we are worried about finding our daughter," or something to that effect. Avoidance of answers always raises eyebrows.
I agree !! It's like any vice; one thing often leads to another. If one has chosen a particular path, it is more likely than not that they grab other temptations on the way.
It's not as if they gauge the depth of their perversion. Once the line is crossed, a whole ugly array of choices is opened up. If nothing else it involves them in a unique circle of like-perverted individuals.
Let's assume the van dams really didn't know their neighbor, but he's been watching them because they have a pretty little girl with blue eyes and blonde hair. (that is how most sexual predators operate..they stake out their victims and plot the perfect course of action). Lets say that the van dams did have a room built in their garage..similar to the finished wet bar basements that thousands of other parents have. Lets say that he found the perfect opportunity..that night he knew the parents were occupied. It's not like he had to hide in bushes to watch the house. Assuming that's what happened..it's possible that HE HIMSELF called rick roberts and portrayed himself to be a cop..spreading the rumors about swinging lifestyles to put a wrench in the public's perception of the case.
They're not dumb. Besides the need to relieve their guilt, they need to establish a support base . . . to cover future potential accusations. Yep. I think you got it there.
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| Brenda van Dam wipes away tears as her husband Damon provides support at a news conference Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2002 outside their home in San Diego. The van Dams returned from the arraignment of David Westerfield, the suspect accused of murder and kidnapping in the disappearance of the van Dam's s7-year-old daugher, Danielle. (AP Photo/Jack Smith) |
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| Brenda van Dam, left, mother of missing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, is comforted by by Juliette Bolton of the San Diego District Attorney's office, during the arraignment of suspect David Westerfield in state Superior Court in San Diego, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2002. Westerfield was charged with murder, kidnapping and possession of child pornography. (AP Photo/Fred Greaves, Pool) |
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| Brenda van Dam and her husband Damon embrace following a news conference, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2002, outside their home in San Diego. The van Dams had just returned from the arraignment of David Westerfield, the suspect accused of murder and kidnapping in the disappearance of the van Dam's seven-year-old daugher, Danielle. (AP Photo/Jack Smith) |
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| Damon van Dam (L) and Juliette Bolton (R) offer support to Brenda van Dam when she broke down after David Westerfield arrived at his arraignment to answer to charges of the murder and kidnapping of the van Dam's seven-year-old daughter in downtown San Diego superior court, February 26, 2002. Danielle van Dam disappeared from her home on February 1 and has not been seen or heard from since. Photo by Pool/Reuters |
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Is this sufficient "alleged" grief to satisfy you? |
BTW, tell me why all the focus on the perp entering the home thru the back door? Just because the van Dams SAID it was open? The van Dams also said their home wasn't locked? So it's really not even a factor which door the perp used.. He could have just walked through the front door of an open house. But it sure makes them look like more responsible parents to at least say "the sliding back door was open, we saw the red light on". So how can they prove this?
We are also taking the van Dams WORD that the perp snatched the child from her bedroom? Maybe she wasn't in her bedroom when she disappeared? Maybe she was downstairs? Who really knows? BUT the van Dams SAID, so we have to believe them?
See, Pete, they don't HAVE to prove anything, it was their daughter murdered. Then we have Westerfield, who is guilty till proven innocent.
sw
Those are my thoughts, EXACTLY.
One problem here....the father was home and not occupied, at least not until the mother came home during the wee hours....
Another thing, no one has ever even hinted that the neighbor made calls to anyone regarding spreading rumors. And the rumors have NOT been denied by the VD's. If I was accused of such a lifestyle....not only would I be denying it, but my friends would be coming out of the woodworks vehemently denying it. This hasn't happened with the VD's either. I find that a bit odd, too.
.sw
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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.