DENNIS YOUNG - 2.5 yo (2011)/ Convicted: Mother's BF; Mark Allen Vanderhoof - Roseburg (I-5 South of Eugene) OR

A Roseburg toddler is murdered, and the boyfriend of the boy's mother
is charged for his death.  Mark Allen Vanderhoof is behind bars for the
murder of 2-and-a-half year old Dennis Young.

Police responded to a 911 call at a Mulberry Drive home on Tuesday
night.  Dennis was unconscious with serious head injuries.  He was
rushed from Mercy Hospital in Roseburg up to OHSU in Portland because of
the severity of the injuries.

"They told the hospital staff up in Portland that they boy was
outside playing on a step, and fell off the step. Of course that's why
the hospital called us because the injury the boy had didn't match the
explanation being given," said Dwes Hutson, Douglas County Sheriff's
Office.

The explanation was initially given by Mark Vanderhoof, Briana Snow's
50-year-old boyfriend.  He was the only adult watching Briana's son,
Dennis.

"Mark called Briana as she was away from home doing errands, told her
that the child had fallen and was injured and she needed to come home,"
Hutson said.

It wasn't until after Briana got home, that 911 was finally called.  
Detectives were sent to Portland to contact the family in the hospital.

On Wednesday, Mark was arrested.  He is currently incarcerated at the
Douglas County Jail for murder and first degree assault.  However,
neighbor's say this isn't the side of Mark they saw.

"He was very friendly, very nice, helpful. It totally was a complete shock," said Dana Mixer, neighbor.

They'd shared a couple meals with Vanderhoof, but back then it was
with an old girlfriend.  Neighbors says the didn't know that Dennis and
his mom were living there.

"We never heard of Briana until the Sheriff's came....I've never seen the toddler or any kids actually," Mixer said.

According to Douglas County court records, Mark Allen Vanderhoof is a
sex offender.  In 1988 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for first
degree rape.  Vanderhoof was arraigned in court Friday afternoon.

Mark Allen Vanderhoof sentenced for killing 2-year-old boy


NICHOLAS JOHNSON/The News-Review Mark Allen Vanderhoof of Lookinglass is seen in Douglas County Circuit Court Monday. He was sentenced to life in prison for the death by abuse of 2-year-old Dennis Young.

Child killer Mark Allen Vanderhoof’s silence made the mother of his victim gasp. Convicted of abusing to death a 2-year-old boy and facing the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison, Vanderhoof, 53, of Lookingglass declined to speak at his sentencing Monday. “I wanted him to talk,” said the victim’s mother, Brianna Snow. “It’s a slap in the face. It’s like he’s saying we don’t deserve to know what happened.” Vanderhoof didn’t testify at his four-day trial last month in Douglas County Circuit Court, after which Judge Ronald Poole found him guilty in the Jan. 26, 2011, …

http://www.nrtoday.com/news/6215243-113/vanderhoof-snow-death-dennis