Sheriff: Burned body ID’d as missing California boy

By REBECCA BOONE and ELLIOT SPAGAT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

12 years ago

This composite photo released by the San Diego Sheriff’s Department shows James Lee Dimaggio, 40, left, Ethan Anderson, 8, and Hannah Anderson, 16, whose mother, Christina Anderson, 44, was one of two people found dead in a house fire Sunday night.

CASCADE, Idaho — 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.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said in a brief statement Friday night that its crime laboratory has identified the body as 8-year-old Ethan Anderson.

The statement said investigators identified the charred body through DNA extracted from the boy’s bone marrow.

The body was found Sunday along with the body of the boy’s mother Christina Anderson, who investigators say was murdered.

Ethan’s 16-year-old sister Hannah Anderson remains missing, and the search for her and her alleged kidnapper is focused on Idaho.