Remembering Justine: A Family’s Enduring Battle for Justice
Wertynews.com – This narrative first broadcast on February 15, 2025, with a subsequent update on July 25, 2026. On September 18, 2003, authorities located Justine Vanderschoot’s body in a secluded area, more than fourteen days following her disappearance. Yet for her parents, Don and Lynnette, the search for their daughter never truly ended. They continue visiting the garden situated outside Justine’s bedroom window.
“It’s … 21 years since we’ve lost Justine … but it’s still very fresh in our mind,” Lynnette Vanderschoot shared. Mementos of their youngest child and condolence flowers that poured in after her death are now permanently rooted here. Lynnette Vanderschoot: We call this Justine’s Garden.
At the center is a towering dogwood tree — a reminder of her favorite trips to the Sierra mountains and a sobering measure of how long she’s been gone.
When we celebrated the 17th anniversary, Christine said she’s been gone as long as she was here on earth.
Life Before Tragedy
Justine’s older sister Christine sums up what those years have been like for her in one word.
Christine Vanderschoot: Lonely. She was my best friend …We were only 18 months apart … We did pretty much everything together since day one.
Natalie Morales: How would you describe Justine? What was her personality?
Christine Vanderschoot: Vibrant, charismatic, just life of the party … She … made you laugh every time she’d say something. Don Vanderschoot: She was a spark in our household that’s for sure.
Lynnette Vanderschoot: Little firecracker (laughs) … Cheerleader, baseball, soccer. She was always on the go.
At 17, Justine was on the verge of graduating high school and wanted to pursue a career in fashion and beauty.
Natalie Morales: Did she know what she wanted to do in life after high school?
Christine Vanderschoot: She would sew and design her own shirts and shoes. … She had to stand out and … that was what she wanted to do for other people was make them stand out and feel beautiful.
A Family’s Fight Begins
Instead, her family is now forced to grapple with her murder and its aftermath.
Don Vanderschoot: I don’t ever want to forget about her, but I don’t want to be reminded of what happened.
Natalie Morales: But it’s not so easy to just pack it up and put it away, right?
Don Vanderschoot: No, it’s not.
In fact, the Vanderschoots say it remains an open wound thanks to ongoing efforts by Justine’s convicted murderers — Danny Bezemer and Brandon Fernandez— to get out of prison.
Retired Placer County Sheriff Ed Bonner.
Ed Bonner: Including parole hearings … I think the Vanderschoots have been back to court seven times … the last seven years, always facing the possibility.
From Friends to Family
It’s hard to imagine that both men were once welcome in the family’s home. First came Brandon.
Christine Vanderschoot: I believe it was probably seventh or eighth grade that I started to become friends with him.
A few years later, he introduced the Vanderschoots to his friend Danny.
Christine Vanderschoot: It was actually at a birthday party for me … We had a pool party. … And Danny was actually coming to the house to meet me.
But it was Danny and Justine who clicked. And while she was only 15 and he was about 17, they quickly became serious.
Christine Vanderschoot: From that party on, they were always — always together.
Natalie Morales: They … even talked about perhaps getting married, is that right?
Christine Vanderschoot: Yeah … they were very serious. … he became kind of like a fixture in our family.
Christine Vanderschoot: His dad wasn’t really in the picture … and he didn’t really have a mom. So to come into our household and see how a real family was, I think that was something that he was attracted to as well.
The Vanderschoots offered Danny the support and stability of a happy family life.
Christine Vanderschoot: I considered him like a brother almost.
Warning Signs Ignored
Don even got Danny his first real job working with him at an auto dealership, and his own key to the house. But looking back, the Vanderschoots now see red flags they didn’t recognize then.
Don Vanderschoot Controlling.
Christine Vanderschoot: Telling her who she could see and who she couldn’t … monitoring her texts and her cellphone calls. … her frustrations were really starting.
Lindsey Morris was Brandon’s girlfriend and says Justine confided in her about problems with Danny.
Lindsey Morris: He was so jealous and very possessive over her. She couldn’t go out and hang out with friends without him freaking out and getting upset, and pouting. … She even said, “I don’t know if I break up with him … if he’ll ever really
