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| Friends: Murder suspect had crush on missing teen |
James Lee DiMaggio is the subject of a nationwide manhunt after the bodies of 44-year-old Christina Anderson and an unidentified child were found Sunday night in his burning house in Boulevard, Calif., 50 miles east of San Diego. DiMaggio was a close friend of the family and known as "Uncle Jim."
The California Highway Patrol has issued a statewide AMBER Alert for Anderson's 16-year-old daughter, Hannah, and her 8-year-old son, Ethan, who are missing. Authorities are still determining whether the second body found in the ashes of DiMaggio's home, about 5 miles from the Mexican border, is the boy's or another child.
Oregon and Washington also issued statewide alerts for them Wednesday.
The Texas-born DiMaggio is wanted on suspicion of murder and arson in a search that began in Southern California and has spread to Mexico and neighboring states.
The CHP said that DiMaggio was believed to be driving a 2013 blue, four-door Nissan Versa, with California license plates 6WCU986, and that he may be heading to Texas or Canada.
A possible sighting of the vehicle in southern Oregon on Wednesday afternoon, near the Modoc National Forest, turned out to be a false alarm. DiMaggio's friends described him as an avid camper.
At the request of the CHP, the Oregon State Police issued an AMBER Alert. The initial San Diego County AMBER Alert was upgraded Monday night, using California's statewide cellphone network for the first time.
Brett Anderson, Anderson's husband and the children's father, flew from Tennessee to San Diego on Tuesday and pleaded with DiMaggio to release his daughter, saying, "You've taken everything else."
"Jim, I can't fathom what you were thinking. The damage is done," he said Tuesday night outside San Diego County Sheriff's Department headquarters after being interviewed by investigators.
He also appealed to Hannah, saying he loves her very much and "if you have a chance, you take it. You run. You'll be found."
Authorities said DiMaggio had a "close platonic relationship" with Christina Anderson, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Her father, Christopher Saincome, said he had seen DiMaggio two or three times and described him as a good friend of his son-in-law.
DiMaggio was like family to the children, who called him "Uncle Jim." But Hannah's friends said he had recently expressed different feelings for the teen.
"He said he had a crush on her, but didn't mean it in an intimate way," 15-year-old Marissa Chavez toldThe San Diego Union-Tribune. "He said, 'If I was your age, I'd date you.'"
