This composite photo released by the San Diego Sheriff’s Department shows James Lee Dimaggio, 40, left, Ethan Anderson, 8, and Hannah Anderson, 16, whose mother, Christina Anderson, 44, was one of two people found dead in a house fire Sunday night.SAN DIEGO – A car belonging to a man suspected of killing a California woman and her young son and then fleeing with the 16-year-old daughter was found in the Idaho wilderness on Friday after horseback riders reported seeing the man and girl hiking in the area two days earlier, authorities said.
The riders reported seeing the two near Morehead Lake, an extremely rugged area about 70 miles northeast of Boise, around noon Wednesday, according to Ada County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Patrick Orr. They didn’t report it until later, after seeing news reports and realizing the pair was being sought.
Idaho authorities started searching Thursday and the car was found Friday morning. There have been no other reported sightings of the pair since Wednesday.
San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said when the riders saw the two, the girl, Hannah Anderson, did not appear as if she was being held against her will. He did not elaborate. She and the suspect, James Lee DiMaggio, 40, seemed healthy.
The car, a blue Nissan Versa, was covered in brush off a road about 5 or 6 miles from the spot where the man and girl had been seen. The license plates had been removed, but the vehicle identification number matched that of the car being sought, Gore said.