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Kidnapped teen found safe; presumed abductor dead

Law enforcement personnel disembark from a Blackhawk helicopter at the Cascade Airport during a search for James DiMaggio, Saturday in Cascade, Idaho. About 150 federal agents have converged on Idaho's Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in the search for 16-year-old Hannah Anderson and her suspected abductor, 40-year-old James Lee DiMaggio. (Joe Jaszewski / The Idaho Statesman)
Rebecca Boone Associated Press
CASCADE, Idaho (AP) — The man suspected of abducting 16-year-old Hannah Anderson and killing her mother and brother has been killed in Idaho and the teen has been found safe, San Diego Sheriff William D. Gore said Saturday. Forty-year-old James Lee DiMaggio was killed by FBI tactical agents after a campsite was spotted from the air, according to Gore. Gore declined to discuss details of DiMaggio’s death, saying authorities in Idaho will release details at a news conference planned for Saturday evening. 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 Sunday morning, according to Gore. 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 Sunday night 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 two 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.