Six times in 2006 Lafayette police officers encountered the same troubled family - an alcoholic Linda Damm and her out-of-control daughter, Tess - but apparently never forwarded the case to the county's department of social services.

Tess Damm is one of four teenagers who have been implicated in the stabbing death of Linda Damm.

Paula McKey, director of the Boulder County Department of Social Services, launched an exhaustive search of records, including phone and fax logs, in an effort to determine whether her office was ever notified that Lafayette officers had repeated contact with the teenager and her mother.

"In this case we could find no referral," said Barb Halpin, a spokeswoman for Boulder County. That despite two Lafayette police reports indicating that officers believed the department of social services should intervene. In both instances, the officers had encountered Tess out late at night or early in the morning, then returned her home to find her mother apparently intoxicated.

Lafayette Police Chief Paul Schultz and Cmdr. Rick Bashor, the department's spokesman, did not return messages left at their offices Friday.

"We've seen the police reports," Halpin said. "We've seen that their intention was to pass it along. Something broke down somewhere."

In one of the incidents, the officer who dealt with Tess and her mother wrote: "Please forward a copy of this report to the Department of Social Services."

"If they have been involved that much in the criminal justice system and no one has done any assessments or started to provide intervention for them, then that is a huge, gaping hole in our criminal justice and social services systems," said Bill Woodward of the University of Colorado's Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence.

'The system . . . did fail'

Linda Damm was stabbed to death in early February, stuffed in the back of her Subaru, and briefly buried in a cemetery, according to court records. Late Feb. 27, officers responding to an anonymous call found her decomposing body in the car parked in the garage of her Lafayette home.

Her daughter's boyfriend, 17-year-old Bryan Grove, has been charged in her killing.

Tess Damm, 15, and Jared Guy, 18, face charges of being accessories. A fourth teen, Jared Smith, 16, has been implicated in helping move Linda Damm's body after the slaying.

"The system absolutely did fail," said Mary Ellen Johnson of the Pendulum Foundation, a group that advocates more lenient treatment of juveniles suspected of serious crimes. "This could have been prevented, and it wasn't."

Linda Damm, whose separation and subsequent divorce left her to raise Tess alone, struggled for years to face her problems with alcohol.

In a statement released by her family after her death, Linda Damm was described as "a functioning alcoholic for many years."

"However," the statement said, "the last few years Linda found her addiction more and more difficult to deal with. We supported and encouraged her recent efforts to get help, but Linda was not able to conquer her addiction."

In the year before her killing, Lafayette police officers were frequent visitors to her home, were aware of her drinking problem and knew that she had trouble controlling her daughter.

In 2006, Lafayette police encountered Tess six times.

Many of the incidents included the same common themes - Tess out, on her own, and an intoxicated Linda at home.

Five of the six police reports note that Linda may have been drinking heavily.

On May 29, after an officer saw Tess, then 14, walking with another girl at 2:45 a.m., he took her home and talked with Linda, described in a police report as "unsteady on her feet" and "holding onto the wall."

"This officer told Linda that I would be contacting the department of social services," the report said. "Linda stated that she did not care."

On July 15, after another early morning incident, an officer took Tess home. There, he found Linda sitting on the front porch with a "strong and obvious odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her breath."

That officer dictated the note that the report should be forwarded to the department of social services.

Warning flags missed

In all, at least seven different Lafayette police officers encountered Tess Damm or her mother in 2006.

Woodward said warning flags should have been noticed.

Information from court documents, police reports and self-written myspace.com pages show the teens struggled in their relationships with parents, weren't involved socially and had committed numerous petty crimes. All those factors combined put the teens at significant risk for violence, Woodward said.

"Somebody should have been saying, 'We should be doing a case review of this family,' " Woodward said. "Somehow these kids didn't make it. Why they aren't in some kind of (youth) program baffles me."

Kathleen Heide, a criminology professor at the University of South Florida, said police are only one part of the system for dealing with troubled teens.

"This is a problem that is more inclusive, that parents, schools and the community should be involved in," Heide said.

For Boulder County Social Services, the threshold for getting involved is simple: Evidence that a child is in imminent risk.

McKey, the department's director, said in situations where her office believes a child may be in danger, a case worker investigates and can remove a youngster from a home.

In February, the department received 248 referrals - reports from various sources, including calls as innocuous as a parent looking for an anger-management class for a child. In 147 of those instances, case workers started investigations, McKey said.

"The message that I would really wish the community would understand is in Boulder County we do have a lot of resources available for families, and just urge people to make requests for help as soon as possible," McKey said.

Bryan Grove

Jan. 13, 2002: Contacted by Broomfield police.

Oct. 29, 2003: Ken Grove, Bryan's father, reported his 14-year-old son missing and his wife's car stolen. Bryan and a friend took the car and went to New Mexico. Bryan returned without the car Oct. 30. A day later, the car was found in New Mexico. Bryan was issued a ticket for complicity to auto theft.

April 29, 2004: Sharon Grove, Bryan's mother, called for help after her son reportedly threatened to shoot her. Bryan was upset because he couldn't use the computer. No police action was taken, and mediation was suggested.

May 20, 2005: Bryan and two friends filed a harassment complaint, alleging three men yelled at them and banged on their car. The case was closed June 4 because of a lack of any suspect information.

Aug. 25, 2005: Contacted by Broomfield police.

Sept. 22, 2005: Bryan was a witness to a crime. A lion statue was stolen from a florist and later defaced. He was not charged.

Jan. 28, 2006: Contacted by Broomfield police.

June 20, 2006: Arrested on a failure to appear warrant for a traffic ticket. He also was issued a curfew violation.

June 22, 2006: He turned himself in for an outstanding warrant and was released to his father 15 minutes later, with a new court date.

June 23, 2006: Issued a summons for shoplifting. He was found with shaving razors, shaving cream and kitchen trash bags, worth about $30.

Aug. 11, 2006: Arrested for allegedly trying to break into cars. He was charged with first-degree criminal trespass, criminal attempt and curfew violation. Another teen also was arrested.

Tess Damm

Dec. 13, 2001: Tess and two other fifth-grade girls at Ryan Elementary School allegedly threatened to kill their teacher because he was "very strict." No police action was taken, and discipline was left to school officials and parents.

Feb. 11, 2006: Linda Damm, Tess' mother, reported her as a runaway. Tess told police she didn't want to go home because her mother was too drunk.

May 16, 2006: Tess was reported as a runaway by her mother. She returned home two days later.

May 29, 2006: Tess and a friend were picked up for a curfew violation at 2:45 a.m. Officers took Tess home. An intoxicated Linda repeatedly told officers she didn't care what happened to her daughter. The officer planned to contact social services, but it isn't clear if that was done.

July 4, 2006: Issued a curfew violation after she was found in a car at a park with an 18-year-old at 12:45 a.m. The two had met on My-Space.com and agreed to meet in person. Tess was taken home by officers. Linda told police she was unaware Lafayette had a curfew.

July 15, 2006: At 5 a.m. Tess was issued a summons. A friend was taken to the hospital for alcohol poisoning and placed on a ventilator.

July 15, 2006: At 6 a.m., officers contacted Linda during the investigation for the underage drinking incident that day. Tess told officers that her mother wouldn't let her into the house. Linda told police she had difficulty keeping track of Tess. Linda was slurring her words. Officers planned to contact social services. Tess was issued a curfew violation.

Dec. 6, 2006: Linda reported Tess as a runaway. Officers noticed Linda was slurring her speech. Tess was returned home 12 days later by a Boulder County sheriff's deputy.

Jared Guy

Oct. 25, 2003: Report of a juvenile runaway.

Sept. 4, 2004: Report of a juvenile runaway.

July 19, 2006: Maureen Guy, Jared's mother, called police because her son wouldn't give her the keys to the car he borrowed earlier in the day.

Sept. 19, 2006: Maureen called for help because her son had pushed her. No weapons were involved, and a police report was not written.

Feb. 9, 2007: 911 hang-up.

vaughank@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5019; prietob@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5219

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