SAN DIEGO - A 7-year-old girl who vanished from her home earlier this month is apparently dead, a prosecutor said Monday. Murder charges will be filed against a neighbor.<br>
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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.<br>
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"I must conclude that Danielle van Dam is no longer living and was killed," Pfingst told a news conference.<br>
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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.<br>
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The girl was last reported seen Feb. 1 when her father put her to bed. Police believe she was abducted from her second-floor bedroom of the family's north San Diego home.<br>
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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.<br>
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Westerfield has been held without bail in the San Diego County jail.<br>
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Westerfield's attorney, Steven Feldman, said previously he will likely ask a judge to impose a gag order on everyone involved in the case. <br>
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