Sheriff says Calif. teen was victim under extreme duress

William M. Welch and Doug Stanglin | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Sheriff: Victim 'in every sense of the word' California authorities revealed that Hannah Anderson was under "extreme duress" from the time she abducted and didn't learn that her mother and brother were killed until she was rescued Saturday. She is at home recovering with family. (Aug. 12)

Sheriff says rescued teen girl was victim and under extreme duress throughout her ordeal

Girl tells investigators she unaware mom%2C brother dead

Hannah Anderson doing as well as can be expected%2C family and officials say

A California teen who was rescued and her abductor shot in Idaho was "under extreme duress'' throughout her ordeal and unaware of her mother and brother's deaths, San Diego's sheriff said Monday.

Sheriff Bill Gore said Hannah Anderson, 16, "was a victim in this case. She was not a willing participant.'' He said she is now recovering with family.

"She's doing as well as can be expected after the terrible ordeal she's been through,'' he said.

Her father, Brett Anderson, said the girl and her family need privacy "to heal and grieve.''

"The healing process will be slow,'' Brett Anderson said. "She's been through a terrific, horrendous ordeal.''

The teen learned from FBI investigators that her mother and younger brother had been killed and their bodies found last week in the burned remains of the rural home near the Mexico border where James DiMaggio had lived, Gore said.

Gore said that Hannah confirmed to investigators who interviewed her after her rescue that DiMaggio had fired at least one round from a rifle as the FBI hostage team surrounded their campsite on a lake in rugged Idaho wilderness.

"It became very clear to us she is a victim in every sense of the word in this horrendous crime,'' Gore said. "She was under extreme duress.''

Gore credited a tip from four people on horseback who reported seeing the pair in the wilderness as being the key element that led to her rescue.

The saga, which kicked off AMBER Alerts in at least four states, began Aug. 4 when the San Diego Sheriff's Department said DiMaggio, a 40-year-old family friend, had kidnapped Hannah after killing her mother, Christina Anderson, and her 8-year-old brother, Ethan. Their bodies were found in DiMaggio's burning home near the Mexican border.

Authorities said DiMaggio, of rural Boulevard, Calif., was "infatuated" with Hannah. Her father said his kids had called him "Uncle Jim" and that he had promised to watch over the family.

Hannah was reunited with her father on Sunday after FBI agents rescued her on Saturday in Idaho's Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness Area and killed DiMaggio.

Hannah's maternal grandmother, Sara Britt, said that joy over the teen's recovery will now give way to mourning the teen's mother and younger brother.

"We have to focus on burying my daughter and my grandson who was murdered, and that's something we'll take a long time to deal with. But the positive note is Hannah coming home," Britt said.

Horseback Riders Help Foil Kidnapping Law enforcement authorities credit a retired sheriff, his wife and another couple with helping to rescue 16-year-old Hannah Anderson. The four spotted her with alleged kidnapper James Lee Dimaggio in the Idaho wilderness last week. (Aug. 12)

Gore said earlier that Hannah "appears to be in good shape.''

The mountainous area where the rescue took place is extremely steep, and the closest point where the helicopters could drop a ground team was more than a two-hour hike away. The agents crept close to the camp, waited until DiMaggio and Hannah separated, and then moved in.

"Obviously we would've liked Mr. DiMaggio to surrender and face justice in the court of law, but that's not going to be the case," Gore said.

DiMaggio's Nissan Versa, covered with brush and missing its California license plates, was found Friday morning near a trailhead in the wilderness area. Authorities had suspected the car may have been booby-trapped, but no explosives were found. DiMaggio was considered armed and dangerous, authorities said.

Mark John, 71, a former Gem County, Idaho, sheriff who was riding horses with his wife and another couple last week, said he talked twice with the pair, who had been the object of a massive FBI manhunt across the West.

"Red flags kind of went up,'' John told reporters in Sweet, Idaho. "He might have been an outdoorsman in California, but he wasn't an outdoorsman in Idaho. ... He didn't fit.''

John said they had entirely new gear, were wearing tennis shoes and appeared to be going in the wrong direction from where they told him they were headed. The girl appeared fine but scared, he and others in his group said, and was wearing inappropriate clothing -- either pajama pants or sweat pants and a sweat shirt, without rain gear.

"These people did not want to talk to us whatsoever,'' John said.

Mike Young, who was part of the foursome on horseback, said most people on the trail are friendly, but that these two clearly did not want to talk.

"She was trying to turn her face away. ... Then, when we went up the trail a little ways, I turned around and told these guys that there was something wrong there. It just wasn't right," he told reporters, according to KTVB-TV.

When the riders passed the pair again as they came back down the trail later, they once again tried to start a conversation, joking with Hannah about dipping her feet in the water.

That, said John, prompted a cryptic message from Hannah. According to Mark, "She said, 'Looks like we're all in trouble now.' Or, 'We're in real trouble now.' And then, we rode on out."

Christa John said the pair followed them on foot as they headed down to a lake. "She was just sitting there and I just felt I should go over and kind of see if she needed help and make contact with her," Christa John said. "I'm glad I didn't because that could have turned out terribly wrong for the four of us."

Sara Britt, Hannah's grandmother, said the family was ecstatic to hear she was safe and that DiMaggio was no longer a threat.

"No one wants to go through years of jury trial," Britt said. "I wouldn't want to see anyone dead, but it happened. We're excited to have our granddaughter home."