James DiMaggio, the suspect believed to have started a fire in his California home which killed a woman and child, is being sought in a manhunt that is crossing state lines.
42-year old Christina Anderson was found dead in the home, which is near the U.S./Mexico border, earlier this week; the child’s body was found as firefighters searched through the rubble. Police have not confirmed whether that body belongs to Anderson’s son, Ethan, but they say the remains are consistant with their description of him. Now, an Amber Alert has been issued for 16-year old Hannah, Anderson’s daughter, and her father is pleading with DiMaggio to let her go if he has her in his custody.
“Jim, I can’t fathom what you were thinking. The damage is done. I’m begging you to let my daughter go. You’ve taken everything else,” Brett Anderson said. “Hannah, we all love you very much. If you have a chance, you take it, you run. You’ll be found.”
Authorities say they don’t have any realistic leads as to DiMaggio’s whereabouts and are branching out their search as far as they can.
“We’ve received some information that either Texas or Canada may have been the destination he was heading to. Realistically, we don’t know where they’re going,” San Diego County Lt. Glenn Giannantonio said. “We’re looking everywhere.”
DiMaggio is reportedly an old friend of Anderson’s, and her family members say they have no clue why he would ever want to harm her children.
“There was nothing out of the ordinary,” the childrens’ aunt, Andrea Saincome, said. “He seemed like a genuinely nice guy. He was close to the kids, and he was friends with my sister and my brother-in-law.”
The sheriff’s office released several photos of DiMaggio, and Giannantonio said he was believed to be driving a blue, four-door Nissan Versa with California license plate 6WCU986. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Detail at 858-974-2321 or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.