David Westerfield
| Danielle van Dam | |
|---|---|
van Dam in 2001
|
|
| Born |
Danielle Nicole van Dam September 22, 1994 Collin County, Texas, U.S. |
| Disappeared | February 1, 2002 (aged 7) Sabre Springs, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Homicide of undetermined etiology |
| Body discovered |
February 27, 2002 Dehesa, California, U.S. |
| Known for | Murder victim |
February 27, 2002
Danielle Nicole van Dam (September 22, 1994 – c. February 1, 2002) was an American girl from the Sabre Springs neighborhood of San Diego, California, who disappeared from her bedroom during the night of February 1–2, 2002. Her body was found by searchers on February 27 in a remote area. Police suspected a neighbor, David Alan Westerfield, of the killing. He was arrested, tried, and convicted of kidnapping and first-degree murder. He was sentenced to death and is currently incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison.
On the evening of Friday, February 1, 2002, Danielle van Dam's mother Brenda and two girlfriends went out to a bar, Dad's, in Poway. Danielle's father Damon stayed at home to look after Danielle and her two brothers. Damon put Danielle to bed around 10:30 p.m., and she fell asleep. Damon also slept until his wife returned home at around 2:00 a.m. with four of her friends. Brenda noticed a light on the home’s security alarm system was flashing, and discovered that the side door to the garage was open. The six chatted for approximately half an hour then Brenda's friends went home. Damon and Brenda went to sleep believing that their daughter was sleeping in her room. About an hour later, Damon awoke and noticed that an alarm light was flashing. He found the sliding glass door leading to the back yard open, so he closed it. The next morning, Danielle was missing. The couple frantically searched their home, but could not find her. They called the police at 9:39 a.m.
Danielle became the subject of one of the largest search efforts in state history, with hundreds of volunteers searching deserts, highways and remote areas for weeks. The Laura Recovery Center assisted in organizing the search, and a Danielle Recovery Center was set up in a real estate office in Poway to coordinate the searching. Finally, on February 27, two searchers found her nude, partially decomposed body near a trail in Dehesa, California, an unincorporated town east of San Diego. Some searchers had decided to search the Dehesa Road area, near the trail, after detectives discovered traces of Danielle's blood in David Westerfield's motor home, because Dehesa Road was a possible route Westerfield could have taken to get to the desert. Because of the condition of the body, the coroner was unable to determine a cause of death or whether she was sexually assaulted, and had to use dental records to confirm her identity.
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Wikipedia