The man suspected of abducting 16-year-old Hannah Anderson and killing her mother and brother was killed Saturday in Idaho and the teen was found safe, San Diego Sheriff William D. Gore said.
James Lee DiMaggio, 40, was killed by FBI tactical agents after a campsite was spotted from the air, Gore said. The sheriff declined to discuss details of DiMaggio’s death, saying authorities in Idaho would release details at a news conference.
He said San Diego sheriff’s authorities have notified Hannah’s father that she was rescued.
“He was very relieved and very excited and looking forward to being reunited with his daughter,” Gore said.
Plans are being made to reunite the two, probably by this morning, Gore said.
Federal and local law enforcement spent Saturday combing through Idaho’s rugged Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in search of Hannah and DiMaggio. The wilderness is the largest roadless area in the lower 48 states, sprawling across central Idaho and reaching north to the Montana border.
DiMaggio is suspected of killing Hannah’s mother, 44-year-old Christina Anderson, and her 8-year-old brother Ethan Anderson, whose bodies were found Aug. 4 in DiMaggio’s burning house in California near the Mexico border.
DiMaggio’s car was found Friday morning about 40 miles east of the tiny town of Cascade, parked where the dirt road ends and the Sand Creek trailhead enters the wilderness area.
Detectives with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department finished searching DiMaggio’s car Saturday afternoon. They had the vehicle towed to a garage in Cascade for further processing.
The discovery of the car came about three days after a horseback rider reported seeing the man and girl hiking in the area. Ada County Sheriff’s department spokeswoman Andrea Dearden, who is helping the Valley County sheriff’s department handle the case, said the rider didn’t realize the pair were being sought until he got home and recognized them in news reports.
About 150 FBI agents converged on the region Saturday morning, joining roughly 100 law enforcement officers from the U.S. Marshal’s Service, Idaho State Police, Valley and Ada County sheriff’s offices, the San Diego Sheriff’s Department and other agencies.
The Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area is roadless, which means federal law prohibits motorized vehicles from going in. Instead, searchers were hiking or riding horseback, aided by trained search dogs which could track the missing pair. There are a few airstrips in the 300-mile search area, where fixed wing aircraft and helicopters can land.
“It’s called the River of No Return for a reason,” said Mike Medberry, a 57-year-old writer and backpacking enthusiast who hiked in the area three summers ago. “This is country that is really up and down. It’s harsh and rugged, with steep terrain, lots of downed logs and thick brush.”
Ethan Anderson’s remains were not positively identified until Friday night, when the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said its crime lab had used DNA to determine Ethan’s identity. An Amber Alert was initially issued for both children.
There had been no other reported sightings of the pair since Wednesday, but the discovery launched a massive search in the southwest corner of the wilderness area.
The search area was bisected by the Middle Fork of the Salmon River, a wild waterway that winds through steep canyons and dense forests. The river is extremely popular for recreationists and floaters, some of whom will pay up to $2,000 for multi-day, guided trips down the river.
But away from the river, it’s easy to disappear, said Jared Hopkinson, the owner of Rocky Mountain River Tours in Stanley, Idaho.
“If you wanted to go days without being seen, that’s the place to do it,” said Hopkinson. “There’s a few river lodges that are accessible by fixed wing plane and raft, but other than that it is untouched by mankind, the same way it was when there were dinosaurs.”
Police set up checkpoints in the area where the car was found and near other nearby trailheads.
Law enforcement officials in San Diego have noted that DiMaggio had purchased camping gear a few weeks ago.
DiMaggio was close to the family. Brett Anderson, Hannah and Ethan’s father, described him as a best friend and said his children thought of him as an uncle.
Authorities have said DiMaggio had an “unusual infatuation” with the 16-year-old, although the father said he never saw any strange behavior. If he had, he said, “we would have quashed that relationship in an instant.”
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