Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Car in Amber Alert Case Found in Idaho, Possible Sighting of Pair

San Deigo Sheriff's Department

A car belonging to the suspect in the disappearance of a teenage girl in California has been found in Idaho, authorities said on Friday.

San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore also said that horseback riders reported seeing two people matching the description of the suspect and girl in the Cascade area 70 miles northeast of Boise on Wednesday.

Authorities throughout the West have been looking for 16-year-old Hannah Anderson and family friend James Lee DiMaggio since the bodies of the girl's mother and an unidentified child were found Sunday at DiMaggio's burned home east of San Diego.

The unidentified body may be that of Hannah's missing little brother.

Authorities have said the 40-year-old DiMaggio had what they term an "unusual infatuation" with the 16-year-old.

Police previously warned that the car may have been abandoned and rigged with explosives. Evidence found in the rubble suggested DiMaggio may have fled with homemade explosives.

DiMaggio is wanted on suspicion of murder and arson in a search that began in California and spread to Oregon, Washington, Nevada, British Columbia and Mexico's Baja California state.

DiMaggio, a telecommunications technician at The Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, was like an uncle to Hannah and Ethan Anderson. He was close to their parents for years.

Christina Anderson's father, Christopher Saincome, said his daughter visited DiMaggio's home to say goodbye before he moved to Texas.

DiMaggio told Hannah Anderson a couple months ago he had a crush on her and would date her if they were the same age, said Marissa Chavez, 15, a friend who witnessed the remarks when DiMaggio was driving them home from a gymnastics competition. Chavez said Hannah was "a little creeped out by it."

DiMaggio argued with Hannah when he took her alone to Hollywood to celebrate her 16th birthday last month, Chavez said.

Brett Anderson, the children's father and Christina's husband, recently moved to Tennessee.

The Associated Press (“AP”) is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. On any given day, more than half the world’s population sees news from the AP. Founded in 1846, the AP today is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering. The AP considers itself to be the backbone of the world’s information system, serving thousands of daily newspaper, radio, television, and online customers with coverage in text, photos, graphics, audio and video.