San Diego girl apparently dead, prosecutor says

Associated Press WriterSAN DIEGO (AP) -- A 7-year-old girl who vanished from her home earlier this month is apparently dead, and murder charges will be filed against a neighbor, a prosecutor said Monday.

Prosecutor Paul Pfingst also said he will file a so-called special circumstance -- murder during kidnapping -- that will carry the possibility of the death penalty if David Westerfield is convicted.

"I must conclude that Danielle van Dam is no longer living and was killed," Pfingst told a news conference. He said he made his conclusion after consulting with investigators, fellow prosecutors and the girl's family. Traces of Danielle's blood have been found but her body has not been located.

Westerfield, 50, who lives two doors from the van Dam home, was arrested Friday and was initially held for investigation of kidnapping. He will be arraigned Tuesday, the district attorney said.

Danielle's parents, Damon and Brenda van Dam, discovered their daughter missing the morning of Feb. 2. Police believe she was abducted from her second-floor bedroom of the family's north San Diego home after her father put her to bed the previous evening.

Teams of volunteers have scoured remote locations east of San Diego for the girl, and thousands of fliers have been handed out.

Authorities said last week that they found traces of Danielle's blood in a motor home and on an article of Westerfield's clothing. They also confiscated child pornography from his home, Police Chief David Bejarano said.

Westerfield has been held without bail in the San Diego County jail.

Westerfield's attorney, Steven Feldman, said previously he will likely ask a judge to impose a gag order on everyone involved in the case.

Westerfield, a divorced father of two grown children, has a 1996 conviction for drunken driving but no violent criminal history, police said.

Investigators began focusing on the self-employed engineer shortly after Danielle disappeared. He was at the same bar for a while the night of Feb. 1 where Danielle's mother went with friends while the girl's father stayed home with their daughter and two sons.

Westerfield set off in his motor home to the beach and desert the next day.

On Saturday, Damon van Dam had said he still held out a little hope that they would get Danielle back.

------On the Net:

http://www.daniellemissing.com