San Diego ? An autopsy confirmed Thursday that the body of a child found in the desert east of town is that of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, who disappeared from home nearly a month ago.

The identification was made through a comparison of the missing girl’s dental records and X-rays taken from the body, San Diego County Dist. Atty. Paul Pfingst said.

The cause of death could not immediately be determined and may never be because of the body’s state of decomposition, he said.

Police Chief David Bejarano informed Danielle’s parents of the autopsy results..

“They mentioned that Danielle’s in good hands now,” Bejarano said. “There’s a lot of tears and a lot of anger at dealing with the loss of their daughter.”

Danielle’s neighbor, David Westerfield, 50, has been charged with killing the girl. Westerfield has pleaded innocent to charges of murder, kidnapping and possession of child pornography.

Volunteer searchers found the body Wednesday near a small grove of oak trees, just off a two-lane road 25 miles east of San Diego.

“It has been one of the most extraordinary things I have seen in my years of law enforcement,” Pfingst said about the search.

The child was wearing a plastic necklace similar to one Danielle was seen wearing in thousands of fliers distributed after her disappearance.

Damon and Brenda van Dam had thanked volunteers Thursday, but left the office that served as a base of the searches without speaking to reporters.

“Brenda said today that love conquers evil,” said the Rev. Joseph Acton, who has been counseling the family. He described the couple as devastated.