Timeline of California killings and abduction
Aug 11, 2013, 5:12 PM
(AP) – A man suspected of killing a California woman and her young son before fleeing with her 16-year-old daughter was killed in the Idaho wilderness Saturday. The teen, Hannah Anderson, was found safe, but authorities said her abductor, 40-year-old James Lee DiMaggio, was killed in a shootout with law enforcement. This is how the story developed:
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Aug. 4: Authorities near San Diego find the burned bodies of 42-year-old Christina Anderson and a child after extinguishing flames at James Lee DiMaggio’s rural home. An Amber Alert is issued for Anderson’s two children, Hannah, 16, and Ethan, 8.
Aug. 7: Oregon state police say there was a possible sighting of DiMaggio’s blue Nissan Versa in northeast California near the city of Alturas.
Aug. 7: Shortly after the sighting near Alturas, Calif., the Nissan is spotted again 50 miles away along the same highway near Lakeview, in south-central Oregon.
Aug. 9: Idaho authorities locate the car belonging to the suspect at a trailhead near Cascade, Idaho. San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore also said that a man on horseback reported seeing two people matching the description of the suspect and girl near Morehead Lake about eight miles inside the boundary of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. The rider reports the girl appeared healthy and was not being held against her will.
Aug. 9: A coalition of local, state and federal law enforcement teams begin combing a 300-square-mile area of the rugged, remote wilderness area. The search is initially done on foot. Explosive teams, initially concerned DiMaggio may have rigged his car with explosives, conclude there is no risk.
Aug. 9: Authorities in California positively identify the child’s body found in the fire as that of the teen’s younger brother, Ethan.
Aug. 10: More law enforcement teams are dispatched to Cascade to help in the search. Police also set up a series of checkpoints at trailheads throughout the area and question other hikers leaving the wilderness area.
Aug. 10: Authorities report that DiMaggio and the teen were spotted from the air at a campsite near Morehead Lake. DiMaggio was killed in the shootout; Anderson was rescued unharmed and taken to a hospital.
Aug. 10: FBI agents release few details of the encounter with DiMaggio, citing policy to investigate all details before, during and after any encounter when an agent fires a weapon. Anderson is expected to be reunited with her father, Brett Anderson, on Sunday.
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