Girl explains texts with her abductor
SAN DIEGO — A California teen whose mother and brother were killed by a family friend said on national television Thursday that she once confided with the man about troubles with her mother and explained text messages exchanged on the day of the attack.
Police say James Lee DiMaggio abducted Hannah Anderson and fled to the Idaho wilderness before he was killed by authorities.
In an interview on the NBC “Today” show, Hannah didn’t say how her family died, describe her interactions with DiMaggio during a massive manhunt, or offer details to explain why DiMaggio might have unleashed such violence.
In her first news interview since her dramatic rescue Aug. 10, Hannah said she wrote to DiMaggio about a year ago as he guided her through a rough patch with her mother.
“Me and him would talk about how to deal with it, and I’d tell him how I felt about it, and he’d help me through it. They weren’t anything bad. They were just to help me through tough times,” she said.
Hannah said she exchanged text messages on Aug. 3 with DiMaggio before she disappeared about where he should pick her up from cheerleading practice. Her statements corrected a search war- rant that said the pair exchanged about 13 phone calls.
Jan Caldwell, a spokeswoman for the San Diego County sheriff’s department, declined to comment on the content of the letters and text messages.
Hannah’s comments to NBC underscore the close relationship she had with DiMaggio, 40, who was like an uncle to her and her father’s best friend.
Christina Anderson, 44, was found dead near a crowbar and what appeared to be a pool of blood in the garage of DiMaggio’s home in Boulevard, a tiny town about 65 miles east of San Diego. The remains of Ethan Anderson, 8, were discovered in the rubble.
Hannah went online barely two days after she was rescued and said she was surprised by some cruel responses she got.