PET DETECTIVES

THESE FLUFFY AND FEATHERED DETECTIVES HELPED CATCH DANGEROUS KILLERS

- April Rose

Hair of the dog

Police were able to solve the brutal murder of a 7-year-old girl thanks to her beloved dog. Danielle van Dam was kidnapped and killed in 2002 by her neighbour, 50-year-old David Westerfield.

Hair from Danielle's dog Layla, a loyal Weimaraner, was used as evidence to link Westerfield to the murder.

Danielle would regularly play and wrestle Layla before bed, and the night she was snatched from her room was no different.

Westerfield had been seen at a dry-cleaning business in the days following the abduction, dropping off a comforter and a jacket for cleaning.

Authorities later found dog hair matching the van Dam family pooch on the comforter, evidence which was used to prove his guilt.

"That in and of itself tells you he's guilty beyond a reasonable doubt... that alone," district attorney Jeff Dusek said of the dog hair during the trial.