CASCADE, Idaho — 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 a horseback rider reported seeing the man and girl hiking in the area two days earlier, authorities said.
The rider said he saw two people who matched the description of the pair near Morehead Lake, in an extremely rugged backcountry area 70 miles northeast of Boise sometime around noon Wednesday, Ada County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Andrea Dearden said.
The rider didn’t report his encounter with the pair until later, after seeing news reports and realizing they were being sought.
Idaho authorities started searching Thursday and the car was found Friday morning and identified through serial numbers as belonging to James Lee DiMaggio, 40.
There have been no other reported sightings of the pair since Wednesday, but the discovery launched a massive search in the southwest corner of The Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness.
More than 100 people were searching on foot and on horseback or were on their way to join the search of an area that Ada County sheriff’s spokesman Patrick Orr described Friday evening as covering 320 square miles.
The rider also told police it did not appear that the girl, believed to be 16-year-old Hannah Anderson, was being held against her will. Both people seemed healthy and were equipped with gear necessary to hike and camp in Idaho’s remote wilderness.
“There was nothing that was so alarming at the time that he felt threatened or alarmed,” Dearden said of the unidentified rider. “But after seeing the Amber Alerts, there was something that made him think, in hindsight, that it all seemed a little odd.”
Brett Anderson, Hannah’s father, said he was “very happy” that Hannah may have been spotted alive. He said he couldn’t explain why his daughter didn’t ask the horseback rider for help.
“We don’t know what kind of frame of mind she was in or what he told her,” Anderson said. “Maybe if she acted differently, there would be more dead people.”
Hannah’s grandfather, Christopher Saincome, also was relieved and refused to try to explain the girl’s reaction.
“He could have strapped something to her and told her it was a bomb. He could have had her tethered to him,” he said. “I’m sure she’s totally in shock.”
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, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said.
Police previously warned that the car might be rigged with explosives. A law enforcement team from San Diego was expected to search and secure the car at the trailhead, sheriff’s spokesman Orr said.
Morehead Lake is in the southwest corner of a rugged 2.3 million-acre preserve in the heart of Idaho. Because of its wilderness designation, the preserve is not open to motorized vehicles and traffic is limited to hikers and horseback riders — rules that will also apply to searchers.
The rider said he saw two people who matched the description of the pair near Morehead Lake, in an extremely rugged backcountry area 70 miles northeast of Boise sometime around noon Wednesday, Ada County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Andrea Dearden said.
The rider didn’t report his encounter with the pair until later, after seeing news reports and realizing they were being sought.
Idaho authorities started searching Thursday and the car was found Friday morning and identified through serial numbers as belonging to James Lee DiMaggio, 40.
There have been no other reported sightings of the pair since Wednesday, but the discovery launched a massive search in the southwest corner of The Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness.
More than 100 people were searching on foot and on horseback or were on their way to join the search of an area that Ada County sheriff’s spokesman Patrick Orr described Friday evening as covering 320 square miles.
The rider also told police it did not appear that the girl, believed to be 16-year-old Hannah Anderson, was being held against her will. Both people seemed healthy and were equipped with gear necessary to hike and camp in Idaho’s remote wilderness.
“There was nothing that was so alarming at the time that he felt threatened or alarmed,” Dearden said of the unidentified rider. “But after seeing the Amber Alerts, there was something that made him think, in hindsight, that it all seemed a little odd.”
Brett Anderson, Hannah’s father, said he was “very happy” that Hannah may have been spotted alive. He said he couldn’t explain why his daughter didn’t ask the horseback rider for help.
“We don’t know what kind of frame of mind she was in or what he told her,” Anderson said. “Maybe if she acted differently, there would be more dead people.”
Hannah’s grandfather, Christopher Saincome, also was relieved and refused to try to explain the girl’s reaction.
“He could have strapped something to her and told her it was a bomb. He could have had her tethered to him,” he said. “I’m sure she’s totally in shock.”
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, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said.
Police previously warned that the car might be rigged with explosives. A law enforcement team from San Diego was expected to search and secure the car at the trailhead, sheriff’s spokesman Orr said.
Morehead Lake is in the southwest corner of a rugged 2.3 million-acre preserve in the heart of Idaho. Because of its wilderness designation, the preserve is not open to motorized vehicles and traffic is limited to hikers and horseback riders — rules that will also apply to searchers.