Van Dam Family Honors Volunteers, Police

SAN DIEGO -- The van Dam family held a tribute reception this weekend for the thousands of citizens and law enforcement who helped look for their daughter Danielle.

DANIELLE VAN DAM 1994-2002 Watch Danielle Video Montage DONATIONS The Danielle van Dam Family Trust Mail donations to: Community Bible Church 9919 Carroll Center Road San Diego, 92126 DISCUSSION Share your feelings, thoughts Danielle Web site Send mail to: P.O. Box 501515 San Diego, 92150

Saturday's catered social at Mission Bay Park featured musical entertainment and a presentation by the San Diego Police Department, which made the girl's disappearance its top priority last month.

The luncheon get-together had to be moved from a hotel to the harbor shoreline due to the extent of interest from the thousands of locals who pitched in for weeks to try to find Danielle, organizers said.

The 7-year-old disappeared from her bed late Feb. 1 or early the next morning, allegedly in the clutches of a man who lived two doors away from her family, 10News reported.

Within days, the case of the kidnapped second-grader became a national press obsession.

Working out of a makeshift "recovery center," teams of civilians joined law enforcement in combing vast swaths of the San Diego area and its environs in hopes of locating Danielle alive.

Most had no connection to the child, knowing her only from the "missing" fliers visible all over town and via news broadcasts of heartbreaking home videos that captured a carefree, playful little girl with a flare for fashion.

During the three-plus weeks she remained missing, about 2,500 people registered at the Poway search center to join in the endeavor.

Volunteers found Danielle's body under an oak tree in the rural East County community of Dehesa on Feb. 27, days after detectives arrested van Dam neighbor David Westerfield in connection with her abduction.

Westerfield, a 50-year-old design engineer and twice-divorced father of two, has been ordered to stand trial on murder and kidnapping charges. He could get the death penalty if convicted.