Danielle Van Dam Case Study

On the evening of Friday, February 1, 2002, Danielle van Dam's mother Brenda Van Dam and two girlfriends went out on a girl’s night out. Danielle's father Damon stayed at home to look after Danielle and her two brothers. Her father put Danielle to bed around 10:30 p.m., and he said she fell asleep. At that time her father (Damon) went to bed and said he slept until his wife returned home around 2:00 a.m. When Brenda returned home with four of her friends, she and her husband Damon talked for approximately thirty minutes and then her friends went home. However, Brenda did notice a light on the home’s security alarm system was flashing, and discovered that the side door to the garage was open but apparently thought nothing of it and they both went to bed assuming their daughter was asleep 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 and he also thought nothing of it. The next morning, Danielle was not in her room and they searched for her and when they figured she was not in the house they called the police at 9:39 in the morning.

On that morning law enforcement officials interviewed the van Dams' neighbors and discovered that one neighbor, David Westerfield, was not at home. He lived two houses away from the van Dams, and owned a luxury motor home. On that Saturday morning, he picked up his motor home from another part of town, stocked it with

supplies, and left home at 9:50, minutes after Brenda called 911 to report Danielle missing. Westerfield later told police that he had driven around the desert and the beach in his motor home, and had stayed at a beach campground: this was later confirmed by witnesses, cell phone records, gas receipts and credit card records. Westerfield said he had intended going to the desert, but realized he had forgotten his wallet, so he drove instead to the campground at Silver Strand State Beach. He paid in advance for a two-night stay. However, he decided the weather was too cold, so he returned home to look for his wallet, following which he went to the desert. A witness at Silver Strand later testified that he saw Westerfield pull out his wallet while at the campground. He drove to the desert, where he got stuck in the sand on Sunday morning about a quarter mile off the road and needed help from a tow truck to get free. On his way home on Monday morning, Westerfield stopped at his regular dry cleaners and dropped off two comforters, two pillow covers, and a jacket that would later yield traces of Danielle's blood, and to be noted he was bare feet when he went to the dry cleaners. When he was interviewed he did not make any mention of stopping at the dry cleaners though.
From Monday morning on, Westerfield became the prime suspect.

Law enforcement placed him under 24-hour surveillance on February 4, because he had given his RV a cleaning when he returned from his trip, although he said it was normal for him to do so. His motorhome, SUV, and other property was impounded for testing on February 5. As per Westerfield, he did not know where Danielle was, but said he had been at the same bar that Brenda had been to that Friday night, which Brenda confirmed was

true.
After his property was impounded and searched by forensic analysts found two small blood stains on his clothing and in his motor home which were confirmed to be

Danielle’s, so Westerfield was arrested on February 22, 2002 for the Danielle’s kidnapping. He pleaded not guilty and went to trial on June 4, 2002.
The forensic evidence presented by the prosecution included Danielle's blood stains on Westerfield's jacket and on the floor of his motor home, Danielle's fingerprints in the motor home, hairs from the van Dam family dog on Westerfield's motor home bed comforter, hairs consistent with Danielle's on the sheet of his bed, and matching acrylic fibers found on Danielle's body and in Westerfield's home, among other evidence.
The forensic technicians, should analyze Danielle’s home, Westerfield’s home and motor home as three separate possible crime scenes. They should check Danielle’s home check for fibers in her room, for fingerprints on the side door to the garage and the sliding door that were found open at the Van Dam’s house. check why if the alarm lights were flashing why the alarm company did not contact them or why the alarm did not go off? Westerfield’s home should be checked if there are any fingerprints or fibers from the Danielle left behind at his house in a place that Danielle was not in when she entered the home with her mother. His clothing and RV should also be checked for traces of blood using chemicals that will glow under a blue light.