The search for Hannah Anderson and James Lee DiMaggio has moved to the Idaho wilderness.
It is believed that the 40-year old DiMaggio abducted Anderson, 15 and is with her in the rugged terrain of the Idaho Wilderness.
DiMaggio had been friends with Hannah Anderson’s parents, Brett and Christina 44, for many years. According to Brett Anderson, DiMaggio has known Hannah since she was 6 months old.
Even after the Anderson’s became estranged, DiMaggio continued to maintain a close platonic relationship with Christina Anderson, Hanna and the Anderson’s son, Ethan, 8 who lived with their mother.
On Sunday, there was a fire at DiMaggio’s home in Southern Calif, near San Diego.
When firefighters arrived, there was no sign of DiMaggio. Charred remains found in the home have been positively identified as Christina Anderson and her son Ethan. A dogs remains were also found.
It is believed that DiMaggio, a telecommunications technician at The Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, lured Christina Anderson and her 2 children to DiMaggio’s home on the pretense of him saying goodbye to the family because he was relocating to Texas.
Instead, authorities suspect that DiMaggio set the fire at the home where Christina Anderson, her son, Ethan Anderson were discovered at and abducted Hannah, who may have been his target all along.
He may have had a fixation on the teenager and, according to one of Hannah’s friends, 15-year-old Marissa Chavez, she felt uncomfortable around him after he told her he had a crush on her. The Daily News reports that Chavez said,
She was a little creeped out by it. She didn’t want to be alone with him
Brett Anderson never did see any evidence of an inappropriate relationship between the two and said that his children thought of DiMaggio as an uncle.
Initially, in the search for Hannah Anderson and James Lee DiMaggio, authorities thought that DiMaggio may have been heading to the Mexican border, approximately 65 miles away from his home.
The search also focused on the possibility that DiMaggio might be heading to Texas or possibly the Canadian border.
There was a break in the case and the search for Hannah Anderson and James Lee DiMaggio is now focused in Idaho.
A horseback rider reported seeing the man and girl hiking in the area and exchanged pleasantries with them. He did not know about the Amber alert until after his encounter with the pair and notified authorities.
DiMaggio’s blue Nissan Versa was then found in a remote, mountainous area near an area known as the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness.
The Frank Church River of No Return is pure wilderness. Federal law prevents automobiles in the area. There is large population of mountain lions and grey wolves. Black bears, coyotes and red fox are also scattered throughout the area.
DiMaggio seemed to have prepared for his trek into the wilderness leading authorities to speculate that the abduction was very well planned.
Brett Anderson has pleaded with his former best friend to let his daughter go. He said,
You’ve taken everything. The damage is done. Just let my daughter go, Let her go home safe, let her be with me and try to mend things from there.
The search for Hanna Anderson and James Lee DiMaggio now encompasses nearly 200 law enforcement personnel dedicated to finding the pair.