Father of missing CA kids asks “Let my daughter go” (VIDEO)
A cellphone displays the Amber Alert issued late on August 5, 2013 in Los Angeles, California, which marked the first time officials have notified the public of a statewide Amber Alert through their cellphones. The alert was in reference to James Lee DiMaggio, suspected of killing Christina Anderson, 44, and kidnapping one or both of her children: Hannah Anderson, 16, and Ethan Anderson, 8.
The father of two missing California children pleaded with kidnapper James Lee DiMaggio to "let my daughter go" on Tuesday, speaking in front of TV cameras as the investigation continued into DiMaggio's suspected murder of his former wife and a child.
"I'm begging you to let my daughter go. You've taken everything else," said father Brett Anderson in an emotional plea directed at DiMaggio, wrote KABC News. DiMaggio is suspected of kidnapping his 16-year-old daughter, Hannah Anderson.
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"Hannah, we all love you very much. If you have a chance, you take it. You run. You'll be found," Anderson said.
Family friend Angelina Amati told KABC that she suspected DiMaggio had a romantic infatuation iwth the 16-year-old Hannah. "I honestly believe that Jim has snapped and couldn't handle the infatuation that he had with Hannah," said Amati to the news station.
On Sunday, authorities were called to put out a Boulevard, CA fire, and discovered the charred bodies of 44-year-old Christina Anderson and that of an 8-year-old child, who has yet to be identified, but is suspected by authorities to be son Ethan Anderson.
"We don't know who that is that was found in the rubble," said San Diego County Sheriff's Department Lt. Glenn Giannantonio of the missing boy, according to CNN, who was notably absent from his father's plea.
"It is a possibility that it's Ethan. It's a possibility that's another child that we haven't identified yet, or don't realize is missing yet," Giannantonio added.
An enormous manhunt is now underway for the 40-year-old DiMaggio, who is said to have been in a close platonic relationship with Christina Anderson, writes CNN.
A state-wide AMBER alert was issued across California on Monday night using the novel new automatic Amber alert system, which sends a high pitched emergency alert to all devices on participating networks — waking up many surprised Californians with the news.