The Kidnapping of Danielle van Dam

A mother wakes up to find her 7-year-old daughter has vanished from her bedroom. 

Season 1 Episode 1 - The Kidnapping of Danielle van Dam from California Crime with Amy Jean, a true crime podcast based out of California. 

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Music written, composed and produced by Josh and Amy Alvarado.

Song: "California Crime with Amy Jean Theme"

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Transcript

Speaker 0:00

In the early morning hours of Saturday, February 2nd, 2002, Brenda Van Dam, with four of her friends, arrived at Brenda's house after a night out at a sports bar. Upon her arrival, Brenda noticed that her alarm panel was blinking and the side door to the garage was open. Soon, it would be discovered that Brenda's seven-year-old daughter, Danielle Van Dam, had vanished from her bedroom. This is a case of Danielle Van Dam. Hello, this is California Crime with Amy Jean. I'm your host out of California, Amy Jean. On this podcast, we will be covering true crime stories bi-weekly. Earlier, I gave you a quick look into Danielle's case, but now I'm going to take you to the beginning of her story. Danielle Nicole Van Dam was born September 22nd, 1994, in Plano, Texas. Her mother, Brenda, a stay-at-home mom, was described as a good parent. Her father, Damon, was a software engineer for Qualcomm Technologies. Danielle had two brothers, one younger and one older. The Van Dams moved to Sabre Springs, California, a neighborhood in San Diego. Sabre Springs was considered a close, family-oriented, upscale middle-class community where barbecues and get-togethers were held. Danielle was described as a social butterfly who loved to laugh a lot. She enjoyed coloring, journaling, and playing with her dolls. Her younger brother Dylan stated in a local news interview: quote, we liked playing games together, doctor, school. She always wanted to be the teacher. End quote. On the evening of February 1st, 2002, Brenda went with a couple of friends to Dad's cafe and steakhouse in Poway for a girls' night out. While Brenda was out with her friends, her husband Damon stayed home to watch their children. At the bar, Brenda bumped into her neighbor, David Westerfield, whom she had encountered days earlier, when she took Danielle to his house to sell Girl Scout cookies. According to reports, she drank three vodkas with cranberry juice, a shot of tequila, and smoked marijuana. The friends played pool and danced until last call, around 2 a.m. Damon, back at home, put Danielle to bed around 10.30 p.m. At about 1.45 a.m., he awoke to whimpering from the family dog, a Weimaraner named Layla. He took the dog downstairs and let her outside for a while. Afterwards, he put the dog into his son's room. Shortly after leaving Dad's cafe, Brenda, accompanied by her friends, arrived at the Van Dam family home. Brenda said she opened the front door with her key, noticing a blinking light coming from the home security system, indicating the side garage door was open. After being told by Damon that the bedtime tuck-in for the children had gone well, she did not check on Danielle. Brenda and Damon entertained their guests for approximately an hour. At 2 a.m., a neighbor of the Van Dams would later testify in court, the occupant of the house she lived behind, named David Westerfield, drew the blinds in his home and turned the backyard light on, which was considered to be unusual behavior for him. The neighbor making this claim, a dispatcher for the California Highway Patrol, had been feeding her baby while watching these events. After the observation by the neighbor, Brenda's friends departed around 2.30 a.m. and the couple retired for the night. About 3.30 a.m., Damon testified that he awoke again and walked downstairs. He felt a cold draft coming from a sliding glass door. He added that he assumed someone left the door open after throwing a cigarette outside. He checked the locks and returned to bed. The next morning after waking up, Brenda went downstairs where Damon and their two sons were waiting for breakfast to be made. Danielle was not with them, which wasn't unusual, as Brenda would later mention that Danielle was a, quote, pretty heavy sleeper, end quote. When she went upstairs to wake her daughter, she found an empty room. Later during trial, Damon said Brenda, quote, went upstairs and she yelled, Danielle, where is Danielle? She was frantic. She was pale and we were both shaking, end quote. After searching the house with his two sons, Damon went out into the front of the street and yelled Danielle's name. After notifying law enforcement of Danielle's disappearance, a desperate search was launched. Missing flyers were dispersed throughout the community. A nonprofit children's charity offered a reward of $10,000 within days. The disappearance rattled Saber Springs residence. One neighbor reported, quote, when it all happened, I woke up to helicopters circling, saying, There's a missing girl, and I heard the neighborhood kids yelling for Danielle, end quote. The search would go on to be the largest in state history. Soon after police started their investigation, officials learned that on the same day Danielle disappeared, Saber Springs resident David Westerfield had driven away in his motor home, returning three days later. Upon his return, he found police waiting to search his house. Detective John Keane became suspicious of Westerfield right away, saying that Westerfield was sweating profusely and was overly cooperative when police searched his home. He added, while searching Westerfield's recreational vehicle, there was a strong odor of bleach. Keane saw numerous small scratches on Westerfield's hands and forearms. Westerfield told Keane that he had scratched his hands while attempting to move his RV after it became stuck in the desert. Westerfield, at the time of Danielle's disappearance, was a self-employed engineer and twice divorced father of two grown children. He was described by one member of the community as a loner, sometimes visiting dad's cafe and steakhouse to meet with a male companion. On February 22nd, police arrested Westerfield following the searches of his home, SUV, and motorhome, which yielded DNA matches to Danielle. Blood and fiber findings were among several pieces of evidence that led to his arraignment for murder and kidnapping charges. The day after Westerfield pleaded not guilty to those charges, the discovery of a child's body was found near a rural Road in Dehesa. Police rushed to determine whether the charred body was, indeed, that of Danielle. Lieutenant Jim Collins told news outlets, quote, there's a high possibility it is her. We have no other reports of missing children of the same description, end quote. The county's medical examiner, Dr. Brian Blackborn, said during trial that he identified her body by a pair of Mickey Mouse earrings that her parents confirmed were hers. Authorities were also able to match her description from a plastic necklace Danielle was reportedly wearing on the night she disappeared. Ultimately, it was dental records that would allow authorities to positively identify her, but her body was too decomposed to determine a cause of death. Before the engthy criminal trial began, a memorial service for Danielle was held in La Jolla. During the service, balloons in purple and pink, Danielle's favorite colors, were released. Deliberations for the murder trial started June 4th of that year. Westerfield faced death or life in prison. His defense team, made up of at least four attorneys, requested a speedy trial in the Capitol Murder case. Prosecutor Jeff Dusek was tasked with providing jurors, made up of six men and six women, the burden of proof that Westerfield committed these heinous crimes. The prosecution presented a compelling case. They theorized that Westerfield entered the Van Damme home on the night of February 1st through the already open side door to the garage. It is believed that he then waited in the garage until the parents went to sleep. Once the house was quiet, Westerfield made his way to Danielle's bedroom, taking the seven-year-old and leaving through the sliding glass door downstairs. He then put her in his RV and drove off, heading for the San Diego County Desert. At some point during the three days Westerfield was in the desert with Danielle. He took her life inside of his motorhome. They also argued that they could prove Westerfield was the killer based on a plethora of forensic evidence. DNA experts testified that Danielle's blood was found in his RV and jacket. Fibers from his RV were found on her body. Even Danielle's fingerprints were found in his RV. According to DNA experts, dog hairs from the RV matched the Van Damme family dog. Not only was the DNA evidence strong, but so was the circumstantial evidence. Westerfield had taken his jacket to the dry cleaners after leaving the desert. Defense attorney Steven Feldman argued that the prosecution brushed the case and that no trace of Westerfield was found in the Van Dam home or the dump site. They also argued that a foreign hair that was not Westerfield's was found under Daniel's body. The defense also brought to light Brenda and Damon's controversial lifestyle of extramarital relations and marijuana use, which had kept the community abuzz for months. As a side note, I understand that the confessions made in court by the Van Dams regarding this lifestyle may raise some eyebrows, but this case is really about a perverted neighbor using a little girl for his sick desires. I really do think that there was too much focus on the Van Dams. I can see, however, that the defense would have an obligation to bring all of this up in court in the hopes of creating reasonable doubt, but the media coverage and rumors were way too intense, considering everything this family had been through. Once deliberations finished, the jury came back with their verdicts. David Allen Westerfield guilty for the kidnapping and first-degree murder of seven-year-old Danielle Van Dam, the Girl Scout Brownie who had once sold him cookies on his doorstep. Tears erupted from enormous crowds outside the courthouse. After the guilty verdict was announced, the penalty phase began. In the state of California, juries do not sentence. That is left to the judges. Despite this, ten jurors showed up to the penalty phase to show their commitment to this case. During sentencing, damaging testimony was presented when Westerfield's niece, Jenny, a pseudonym to protect her privacy, took the stand. While shaking, Jenny stated that at seven years old, she had been sleeping upstairs with her sister and her cousin when Westerfield entered their room. He put his finger in her mouth and was, quote, kind of playing with her teeth, end quote. He left, came back, only to begin doing it again, at which time she bit his finger as hard as she could. After that, he left the room, but not until he had readjusted his running shorts. After her testimony, Jenny's mother, Jean, took the stand. She stated that Jenny came downstairs, informing her of her uncle's behavior that night. Jean also testified that she then confronted Westerfield, but found his explanation reasonable. He had gone into the girl's room to comfort Jenny, who had been fussing in her sleep. In January 2003, almost a year after Danielle was snatched, Honorable William Mudd, who presided over the trial, imposed sentencing. Death. After being sentenced to death, Westerfield declined the opportunity to apologize to the Van Dams. In spring of 2003, the Van Dams settled a wrongful death suit against Resterfield. Under terms of this settlement, Westerfield's automotive and homeowners insurance carriers paid the Van Dam family an undisclosed amount of money. In 2004, an interstate overpass near where Danielle's body was found was renamed Danielle Van Dam Memorial Overpass. Since their daughter's tragic murder, the Van Dams have established the Danielle Legacy Foundation, promoting child safety. Westerfield, now in his 70s, is, at the time of this recording, locked up in the high desert state prison. Danielle would be in her 30s. This case is extremely personal to me, making it very difficult to research. In 2002, I was a 12-year-old living in northern San Diego County, and my family was living about 20 minutes away from Sabre Springs. And I remember this case just being everywhere, and everyone was talking about it. It affected the community deeply. After Danielle was found, I remember taking two plastic rings, one purple and one pink, from my jewelry box and wearing them on a gold chain to school the next day. And I think it was sort of a child's way of grieving. There's some audio from San Diego's ABC 10 news that I want to share because I think it really expresses the fear in San Diego at that time.

Speaker 2 15:11

But the heinous kidnapping and murder took an even greater toll on the Van Dam's neighbors in Sabre Highland. People like John Larson. He not only lived there then and now, his children played with the Van Dam children.

Speaker 1 15:23

My daughter was a year younger, my son was essentially a year older, so they were right around her. And a lot of Danielle's closest friends were my kids' friends. And it took years to fully appreciate how much it bothered all the kids in the neighborhood. I mean it changed their outlook. You know, as you pointed out earlier, we try to teach our children that hey, don't worry, there's no boogey man in the closet. Well, there was.

Speaker 2 15:49

John Larson is more than father and neighborhood. He's a network correspondent. And this story is too close to home.

Speaker 1 15:55

I'll tell you the one thing it did do for me. I have photographed probably 20 candlelight vigils in my career. You know, everywhere from Africa to Washington, DC. But I've never been in one before. And I was holding the candle this time.

Speaker 16:17

Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. This is our first episode, and I'm truly honored you listened today. I hope you can join us for the next one, which will air in two weeks on Thursday, June 12th. Special thanks to my husband and sound engineer, Josh Alvarado, who was patient enough to write this music with me. And I'm your host, Amy Jean. Stay safe and take care.