Missing Girl Search Returns to the Desert
San Diego police searching for 7-year-old Danielle van Dam returned Thursday to the Imperial County desert, where a suspect in the case has said he spent last weekend, after the girl’s disappearance.
Neighbor David Westerfield, 49, who has been questioned about the case, has retained one of the city’s top criminal defense attorneys, Steven Feldman. The self-employed engineer has not been charged. Police have searched Westerfield’s home and two vehicles. On Tuesday, Westerfield accompanied them to the desert.
Brenda and Damon van Dam said their daughter sold Girl Scout cookies to Westerfield days before she was discovered missing Saturday. Westerfield has said he had a few drinks with Brenda van Dam and her friends at a bar Friday, and left alone before midnight.
Brenda van Dam said she came home around 2:30 a.m., and discovered her daughter missing the next morning.
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