Hannah Anderson arrives at the Boll Weevil restaurant in Lakeside

Hannah Anderson arrives at the Boll Weevil restaurant in Lakeside

Hannah Anderson makes first public appearance, new details emerge about kidnap

  • By Associated Press staff
  • Friday, August 16, 2013 8:58am
  • News

By Associated Press staff

HANNAH ANDERSON, 16, attended a fundraiser with friends and loved ones at a Lakeside, Calif., restaurant Thursday to thank the hundreds who turned out to support the family.

“Hannah sends her love,” Brett Anderson said in front of the Boll Weevil near San Diego as his daughter sat inside with friends. “She is doing better day by day. We’ll just keep moving forward from here.”

Hannah, who walked through a back door of the restaurant, owned by the mother of one of her schoolmates, did not speak to the media.

Brett Anderson thanked the community for its support in both the search for his daughter and Thursday’s fundraiser.

The money would go to Hannah’s “future and getting her settled,” and any extra would likely be donated, her father said.

Her appearance came as investigators revealed a horrifying list of items found in the torched home of kidnapping and murder suspect James Lee DiMaggio.

Ammunition, firebombs, rolls of duct tape, used condoms and “letters from Hannah” were some of the items collected as evidence from the 40-year-old suspect’s burned-down home during a desperate search to find him and the missing teen, according to court papers.

The contents of the letters were not revealed.

“Many portions of this investigation cannot be discussed,” Jan Caldwell, a spokesperson for the San Diego Sheriff’s Office. “Sorry this is one of them.”

Investigators believe Dimaggio, a family friend, “tortured and killed” Hannah’s mother, Christina, 44, and her 8-year-old brother, Ethan, before setting his Boulevard, Calif., home ablaze on Aug. 4, search warrants unsealed this week show.

A DNA swab test kit also was recovered from the dead mother’s scorched car, according to the papers.

DiMaggio was killed shortly after a group of horseback riders spotted him with the teen in Idaho and alerted police last Saturday.

Once surrounded by authorities, DiMaggio fired one shot before he was hit at least five times with bullets to his head and chest.

(For previous stories, photos, search “Hannah Anderson” at www.peninsuladailynews.com )

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