On or about the afternoon of August 3, 2013, 16-year-old Hannah Marie Anderson (born July 22, 1997) was abducted after cheerleading practice at Sweetwater High School in National City, California. The suspect was later identified by authorities as 40-year-old James Lee DiMaggio, owner of a home in Boulevard, California, about an hour away, where Anderson, her mother Christina, and brother Ethan had been overnight guests the previous evening.
The bodies of Christina
Anderson, Ethan Anderson, and the family dog were later found in DiMaggio's
burned home. An AMBER alert was
issued for Hannah Anderson, who was
found alive in Cascade, Idaho on
August 10, a week after she was abducted. DiMaggio was killed by FBI agents
during a shootout at the Frank
Church–River of No Return Wilderness in Idaho, where he had been hiding Anderson at a campsite.
Abduction and manhunt
Boulevard murders
On August 3, family friend James DiMaggio had invited Christina
Anderson and her children to his home in Boulevard, reportedly to say
goodbye because he was planning to move to Texas.
The Anderson family, who lived about 45 miles (72 kilometers) away in Lakeside,
stayed over at his home. The children's father, Brett Anderson, was on a three-month job in Tennessee at the time.
On August 4, a fire was reported at DiMaggio's house in
Boulevard, where firemen found the bodies of Christina Anderson, a child later identified as Ethan Anderson, and the family dog. An
arrest warrant was issued for DiMaggio.
In late September 2013, the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office released the results of the
autopsies of Christina and Ethan Anderson. The autopsy of Christina Anderson found that a plastic
cable tie had been used to bind her ankles, and that duct tape was wrapped
around her neck and mouth. Her right arm and both legs were fractured, and
there was a cut on her neck. She had been struck at least twelve times in the
head. The autopsy of Ethan Anderson
determined that the boy died because of the fire, though he also had skeletal
fractures that could have been caused by events during the day of the murders.
Abduction reported
On August 4, 2013, Anderson's grandparents called the police
and reported their grandchildren missing, prompting police to issue a statewide
AMBER Alert, the first alert sent
out to cellphones in California. As the child's body found in the burned-out
home had not yet been identified, the AMBER
Alert included both Hannah and Ethan Anderson. The manhunt stretched
along the Pacific Coast from British Columbia, Canada to Baja California, Mexico.
Discovery and Rescue
On August 7, horseback riders spotted two people matching
the description of DiMaggio and Anderson in Cascade, Idaho, and notified authorities after seeing a news report
about the abduction.
On the same day that the sightings were reported, DiMaggio's
car, a blue Nissan Versa, was discovered near the Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness. The car's license
plates had been removed and brush was used to hide the vehicle.
On August 10, police discovered DiMaggio's campsite and an
FBI tactical agent killed DiMaggio near Morehead
Lake around 5:00 p.m. after DiMaggio fired at least one shot at the
officers. DiMaggio was shot six times in the head, arms, and upper torso.
Anderson had no visible injuries but was taken to a local hospital for crisis
counseling. Afterward, when asked if she was glad James DiMaggio was dead, Hannah Anderson responded, "Absolutely yes".
According to Anderson, James
DiMaggio had threatened to kill her and anyone who tried to rescue her.
Perpetrator
James Everet Lee
DiMaggio, Jr. (January 17, 1973 – August 10, 2013), age 40, was a telecommunications
technician in San Diego. According to a friend, his father, James Everet Lee Sr., was accused of
attempting to kidnap the 16-year-old daughter of an ex-girlfriend in 1988 and
committed suicide on August 10, 1998.
DiMaggio was described as the best friend of Brett Anderson, and he was like an
uncle to the children. He helped with various tasks, such as driving Hannah and
a friend from a gymnastics meet, during which he had unnerved her by saying he
would like to date her if they were the same age. During a trip to Los Angeles
with Anderson, DiMaggio also complained she "wasn't
paying enough attention to him." Anderson's friends said she did not
like being alone with him and was "creeped
out" by his comments on the drive from the meet.
DiMaggio listed Hannah’s grandmother Bernice Anderson as the beneficiary of his life insurance in 2011,
while he lived with her. A friend of DiMaggio said that he intended the
$112,000 for Hannah and Ethan, but did not trust their parents to handle the
inheritance. This prompted members of DiMaggio's family to request a paternity
test to determine if he fathered the Anderson children. Brett called the
suggestion "disgusting" and
an Anderson family spokeswoman said DiMaggio had not met Christina until she
was six months pregnant with Hannah. The DiMaggio family later withdrew their
request for DNA testing.
According to released warrants, DiMaggio received letters
from Hannah Anderson which were found in his home by investigators, and
exchanged over a dozen calls with her before the murders occurred. However, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said
Hannah Anderson was "a victim in
every sense of the word" and did not willingly go with DiMaggio. Gore
also suggested that authorities may never be able to fully determine the reason
for DiMaggio's crime rampage.
In popular culture
The 2013 Criminal Minds
episode "Route 66" was
inspired by the Hannah Anderson case.
In May 2015, the Lifetime
TV network aired the made-for-TV
movie Kidnapped: The Hannah Anderson Story starring Jessica Amlee as Hannah
Anderson, Scott Patterson as James DiMaggio, and Brian McNamara as Brett
Anderson. Anderson was disappointed by the Lifetime movie, angrily posting on her Instagram page that she
never gave her permission or information for the movie, and that even the
preview contained false facts and untrue events.
The Law and Order SVU
episode "Send in the Clowns"
was partially inspired by this case, in addition to the 2016 clown sightings.
No comments:
Post a Comment