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A Little Girl Was Snatched From Her Bed in the Night and Murdered
Seven-year-old Danielle van Dam was tucked into bed by her father and by morning she was gone.
On the evening of Friday 1st February 2002, 7-year-old Danielle van Dam was tucked into bed at around 10:30pm in the Sabre Springs neighbourhood of San Diego, California. Danielle’s mother, Brenda, had gone out that night to a bar with friends, leaving the little girl and her two brothers at home with their father, Damon. When Brenda returned home at around 2am, she noticed the garage door was ajar but thought nothing more of it. Brenda and Damon then went to bed together without checking the children, assuming they would be sleeping soundly. However, by this time, Danielle had already been abducted.
At around 9:30am the following morning, Brenda and Damon van Dam searched their entire house and contacted the police after finding no trace of their daughter. On that same day, the police made an attempt to interview all neighbours regarding Danielle’s sudden disappearance but noted that two were not home, including 49-year-old David Westerfield. It turned out that Westerfield had been in the same bar as Brenda the night before, but had suddenly vanished.
