Mourners Gathering At Site Where Danielle's Body Was Found: (Post van Dam News Here)

Union Tribune ^ | March 1, 2002 | Seth Hettena

[Freedom2specul8]

If it's true that he wasn't home every weekend, (like a nother poster just pointed out) what a perfect opportunity for him~! Yep, he's been planning this strategy for a long time..stalking that poor little girl thinking that his pattern of weekend activities would protect him. I wonder why, if he did got out in a MOTORHOME every weekend, he always went BY HIMSELF? ding ding!!

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

I find that a bit odd, too.

Same here. I think that being falsely accused is way high on my list for provoking an angry reaction.

I would go nuts if I was accused of such a thing in the midst of the torment and anguish of my child missing. My family and friends would be screaming in my defense.

These norms are conspicuously absent here.

[MizSterious]

Good points. If we had followed the advice offered here, Susan Smith would never have been brought to justice. Thank Heaven the police followed their hunches that something was wrong, and followed through.

[Freedom2specul8]

AH, I was going by the fact that it was possible the child was taken afterwards..if the dad was asleep before mom came home, anything is possible. BTW, It's possible the door was left unlocked for mom, or he fell asleep on accident while watching tv. I've done that myself! I think the timeline maybe a bit confusing. THANK GOD the Van dams have witnesses to the timeline. I'm sure their witnesses saved their backsides...considering the awful rumors being spread.

[Freedom2specul8]

I thought the police found numerous inconsistencies in smith's story? If that's the case, then they DID have a right to investigate her. I don't think it's fair to compare the 2 cases for that reason.

[nicmarlo]

These norms are conspicuously absent here.

Aren't they, though? Some people love to spread rumors, knowing it untrue, it's just how some people are. But I know if my friends heard these kinds of things about me, or other bad things about me, they would defend me. If some friends/acquaintances don't know me well enough to state with conviction that the rumors are untrue, they would be saying something like, "I've never heard that before, I've never see a hint of that kind of behavior, I've never even heard that mentioned as an interest by anybody associated with my friend, etc."

[BradyLS]

It's too coincidental to be anything other than a tip. You don't go back a research the same site, unless, of course, you know something.

I dunno. When I'm looking for something, I'll sometimes take a break and get in a different frame of mind before going back over the same ground. I can't count the number of times something I overlooked was staring me in the face the whole freepin' time. Granted, this different, but I would think searchers would cover the same plausible ground twice, if possible, even if they have nothing new that would bring them back to a place.

[spectre]

Read post #202. Isn't it absolutely amazing that there isn't an outrage from the VD's or their family members concerning the decadent, deviant life style the van Dam's lead?! The silence is deafening, perhaps affirmation?

sw

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

None of us can know for certain what is real and what is not. But if you want to apply the credibility standard to all pictures, I wish I had one that I saw on local news to show you.

Brenda was out in front of their home (I believe) last night where there was another makeshift memorial. She looked well groomed and talked as if she was calm as can be. Of course cameras were there to catch her thanking the "mourners", which only numbered a few.

It looked like a photo op to me. I would think that the family may want to avoid all of that right now, but apparently not. She seems to never have met a camera she didn't like.

On and off emotions SEEM insincere to me.....period.

[nicmarlo]

What about this possibility:

So far, we only have the VD's word of what occurred, i.e., the father going to sleep at a certain time after reading a story to his daughter, etc. What if (and this is IF) the mother went out, the neighbor was there, the father was home....doing things to his daughter, taking her somewhere before the mother got home.....she's already gone out of the house before the mom gets home, the father says he was sleeping, but who knows what he was doing or where he was? Can we say for certainty the father is guiltless? Until the facts of the night are confirmed, everybody has to be looked at with suspicion, along with the stories they tell.

[MizSterious]

There are "numerous inconsistancies" in the VD's stories too. As many of us have pointed out. Just read the published reports, and watch how their story morphed into the current version. Sneakypete is wrong--this is not rumored, but taken directly from their statements in print and in interviews.

[MizSterious]

You are correct, and you and I and others have steadfastly pointed that out--while the VD supporters make excuses for what most thinking people would believe is very strange behavior.

[Valpal1]

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.

Needs repeating, Bump!

[Freedom2specul8]

I understand your suspicions. I'm wondering if I should post excerpts from some of the emails I've received from parents who've suffered loss.. they were sent the past 24 hrs. One nice lady said that when she was in public, she was numb, didn't show emotions. When she was alone, she was afraid, upset and a basketcase. what do you think? She has no reason to lie. Everyone handles grief differently just like they handle love differently don't ya think?...

[nicmarlo]

Yes, but a group of "untrained" searchers? Isn't the goal to cover the most amount of ground in the shortest period of time, and continue to move out from the beginning of the search area? Why would "untrained" searchers, volunteers, get a "bug up the *ss" to go back to where they were, rather than keep spreading out? What would make anyone think that of all the areas covered, one little area wasn't covered right and, low and behold, that's the EXACT area where little Danielle was found? Just seems too coincidental.....something smells fishy is all I'm thinking.

[MizSterious]

I'm sure it's just as real as all of Clinton's tears of mourning and/or remorse, depending on the circumstances.

[Freedom2specul8]

I'll spend more time trying to find ''inconsistencies''. I do know that it's not uncommon for reporters to misunderstand, make mistakes and then correct them later. Just because they don't say it's a correction doesn't mean it's not.

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

Everyone handles grief differently just like they handle love differently don't ya think?...

Yes I do think that. I also admit that until one has experienced such tragedy, one can't know how he/she would behave.

HOWEVER, in the case of Brenda van Dam, she appears to have none of the signs of being overwrought with grief. Her hair is combed neatly, makeup carefully applied, nails done, etc.

I could understand stunned lack of emotion if other signs pointed to a person overcome by the circumstances. I see no other typical earmarks of intense suffering and it does not APPEAR to make sense.

Years ago my aunt lost a young child to sudden illness. I've heard the stories about how the shock affected her and that she was unable to cry. The doctor told her she needed to release it. BUT, all other things in her life were in shambles. She could not eat, looked terribly disheveled, could barely speak with friends and family and so on.

It's not just an absence of tears that make Brenda van Dam seem less than typical.

[BradyLS]

Here in the South something has started happening at the site of fatal traffic accidents. People will place wooden crosses, flowers, and wreaths. I can almost understand the family/close friends of the victim doing it right after the accident, but the flowers are replenished and the crosses are decorated for Christmas and this tends to go on for years.

I think this has been going on for a long time. I first noticed it in Indiana when I saw a simple white cross along the roadside from Indy to Kokomo (IIRC). Several years ago when seven Kentucky kids died in a automobile accident near Murray, KY, a significant roadside cross was to be erected in their memory. And here in Austin, TX, I've seen several inersections and roadsides decorated with crosses. A simple cross is a poignant reminder to drive safely. But I'm waiting for the day when someone's roadside 7' cross wreathed in flowers and winking lights becomes such a distraction that IT leads to an accident!

[MizSterious]

How nice, to be able to find a rationalization for everything. Although, I have to admit, you and others have also taken us to task for not taking the news reports at their word. Which is to be, Kim? Do we pay attention to the published reports, or is it ok to assume they might be wrong on occasion? (*perhaps because they're being fed caca del toro from the VD's?*) You can't have it both ways. Unless you're saying that we should only seriously consider the press reports when it agrees with your current set of beliefs? Sorry, doesn't work that way.