The car belonging to a man suspected of killing a woman and possibly her 8-year-old son in California and then kidnapping her 16-year-old daughter has been located in a remote part of the Idaho wilderness.
According to a report from the San Francisco Gate, horseback riders trekking near Morehead Lake, a rugged area northeast of Boise, were on a trail when they spotted who police believe to be 40-year-old James DiMaggio and 16-year-old Hannah Anderson hiking past them on Wednesday.
After stopping to chat with the pair and then returning home later on in the evening, the horseback riders realized that the couple they had encountered were being searched for by police and federal agents.
"The people on horseback, the four individuals who were out in that area, they thought that it was just unique that they ran across them out there," said San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore. "And when they came back, they made some inquiry and they found out about the Amber Alert and then information we have on DiMaggio."
An Amber Alert was issued for Anderson and DiMaggio after DiMaggio allegedly murdered Anderson's mother and little brother and then set his house on fire with the bodies in it. Authorities have been searching for the two since last weekend.
NBC News reports that the car suspected to be DiMaggio's was found on Friday without any license plate, but the car's identification number on the windshield confirmed it belonged to the suspected kidnapper.
According to Gore, the man and woman, presumed to be DiMaggio and Anderson, were seen carrying backpacks approximately six miles from where the car was located and appeared to be in good health. He added that according to the horseback riders, Anderson didn't seem as if she was being held against her will.
"She was alive on Wednesday and we hope that law enforcement will be able to find them up in the mountains there and return them safely," Gore said.