FOXNews.com: 'ALL-HANDS-ON DECK'Manhunt for Teen in Idaho As Brother's Body ID'd

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'ALL-HANDS-ON DECK'Manhunt for Teen in Idaho As Brother's Body ID'd Aug 10th 2013, 13:48 Sheriff's officials say a child's body found in a burning house in Southern California is an 8-year-old boy whose mother was killed and whose sister is believed to have been abducted by a family friend who is reportedly infatuated with the girl. The San Diego County Sheriff's Department said in a brief statement Friday night that its crime laboratory has identified the body through DNA extracted through bone marrow as 8-year-old Ethan Anderson. Investigators believe James DiMaggio killed the boy's mother Christina Anderson, 44, of Lakeside, Calif., then kidnapped her daughter Hannah, 16. DiMaggio is suspected of setting fire to his log cabin and detached garage on Sunday night. Anderson's body and the badly burned child's body were found there. On the same day, authorities said the car used by DiMaggio has been found in a remote, mountainous area of Idaho, and a group of horseback riders told police they may have met up with him and the teen who appeared to be unharmed and with a backpack. It was expected to take several hours for full investigative teams to reach the rugged location, about 70 miles northeast of Boise. 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. "As far as we know, it did not appear as though she's being held against her will," San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore said. He said crime scene and homicide investigation teams are en route to the scene. The horseback riders were not aware of the manhunt until they went home and saw the news. That prompted them to go to authorities. The car, whose license plates were missing, but whose vehicle identification number has been matched to DiMaggio's, was found covered in brush about six miles from where the horseback riders met the pair, Gore said. DiMaggio fled with the girl, a family friend with whom he may have been infatuated, on Sunday. As tips poured in from up and down the coast, police cautioned that with Amber Alerts issued in five states for the car, DiMaggio may abandon the car and leave it rigged with explosives. DiMaggio is believed to have had a crush on Hannah Anderson, and is believed to have taken her on the run, San Diego County Sheriff's Capt. Duncan Fraser said. In addition to police from several states, eight FBI agents were assigned to the case from a command post at San Diego sheriff's headquarters, as the manhunt has expanded to Washington, Nevada, British Columbia and Mexico's Baja California.  "This is a pretty much an all-hands-on-deck effort," Fraser said. "It's huge." A friend of Hannah Anderson claimed the girl was "creeped out" by a crush the suspect had on her. The friend said DiMaggio explained that he didn't want the girls to think he was weird in an effort to defend himself after noticing he and the teen exchanged glances. She said he spoke while driving them home from a high school gymnastics meet a couple months ago. A neighbor also told Fox5SanDiego.com that Hannah was afraid of DiMaggio and did not want to be around him anymore, but 'she didn't know how to tell anyone.' "She's strong, she will make it through this," the neighbor said. "She's smart and I pray to God, she's just playing into whatever he's doing," she said. "I know she'll get away. I can feel it – she will come home." Amber Alerts for Hannah and her 8-year-old brother Ethan Anderson were issued in Oregon and Washington state Wednesday after reports of DiMaggio's car spotted in some areas. The blue Nissan was reportedly seen heading northbound from Alturas, Calif., near the Oregon border, then near the town of Lakeview, Ore., later in the day on Wednesday, police said. The site where the car was discovered is some 350 miles northeast of Lakeview. The children's father pleaded with DiMaggio Thursday on 'Fox and Friends' to release his daughter and turn himself in. He told his daughter to run if she has the chance. Investigators had no evidence that the relationship between DiMaggio and the missing girl was more than friendly. "We're not looking into that directly at this point," Giannantonio said. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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