GLAMIS – So where? Where?
Chantil Searle looked and wondered and held on tightly to the roaring dune buggy as it muscled over the desert vastness.
Where?
Near all that scrub, maybe? By that clump of trees, not far from the dunes, perhaps?
Where?
"There really is a middle of nowhere," said Searle, always looking.
Searle, a mother of two from Riverside, did not want to think the worst of what may have become of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, missing for two weeks now.
But . .
Look for blue pajamas, she and other members of her search party were told yesterday. That's what Danielle was wearing when her father put her to bed Feb. 1 at their home in Sabre Springs.
Searle and her friends and family were among hundreds who came to different desert areas in San Diego and Imperial counties to look for clues. Or a body. Or, hopefully – but not likely, many sadly admitted – a scared and lost little girl.
The desert doesn't yield much, it seems. Half-buried was an empty Coke can. Half-buried was a plastic water bottle.
Everywhere else? Brush, dunes, sand, sky, sun.
Searle felt compelled to look for Danielle. "Every eye counts," she said.
So she sat in the back seat of the dune buggy, scanning all that was around her. Not far from this site is where David Westerfield, a neighbor of the van Dams' and the focus of the investigation, had come the weekend of Danielle's disappearance. His motor home had become stuck in the sand only miles away.
Danielle's parents, Damon and Brenda, and their supporters figured this would be a perfect weekend to try to muster a search. It's a three-day weekend for many, and this particular spot is popular with off-road enthusiasts, such as Searle and her group.
The American Sand Association, an off-road organization, helped in the effort. Two other desert sites, near Borrego Springs and Ocotillo, also were searched.
Damon van Dam simply hoped for the best. He had handed out fliers and hung banners with information about his daughter in a number of desert towns. Yesterday, he visited the search areas, armed with more leaflets.
"This is our best shot," he said, noting the number of people expected to visit the desert over the next couple of days, during which the search will continue.
"Five years from now, I don't want to be the only one coming here looking for her. I will, though, if I have no choice."
Dozens of volunteers showed up at a Borrego Springs rallying point yesterday morning. Some came from as far as Sacramento. Others, such as 71-year-old Jim Vaccaro, who lives near Chico, was vacationing here and wanted to help.
"Because I have six grandchildren," he said.
Volunteers were given water and food. Some hiked. Others rode motorcycles. Still others hit the dunes in screaming off-road vehicles.
At Glamis, they roared this way and that way, dust billowing behind them. The van Dams wanted to alert as many people as possible about this effort, in hopes that someone, during off-roading, might spot a clue.
Searle took part in an organized search. She and her family and friends come here often to play, but they figured they could take a few hours to look. If one of her children were missing, she would pray that others would help, she said.
So she looked. And looked. But it was no simple thing. After all, where could Danielle be?
The desert goes on and on and on and on.
And so does a family's heartbreak.
"I'd feel guilty if I didn't help out," said Searle, dusty and disappointed and looking back at the desert, all that desert.
Michael Stetz: (619) 542-4570; michael.stetz@uniontrib.com
