suspicious of why this divorced man spent so much time with the andersons, especially the kids. my brothers wondered about this guy because, maybe not before, about you they kind of out of place with the family, but they didn t it s not their business, you know? reporter: no one wanted to rock the boat. christina needed help with the kids. she trusted dimaggio like a brother. she was very careful, very protective mother. she never would have let those kids be alone with him or anything if there were any sign, truly. reporter: there was a sign though, but hannah kept is secret from everyone except her best friend marissa chavez. he just said he had a crush on her. then he said, don t think i m weird or creepy uncle jim. i just want you to know if you were my age, i d date you. she never mentioned anything like that to any of the family. i know she wouldn t have wanted to hurt anyone, make anyone else
the other. there was nothing odd about him. reporter: at least that s what everyone thought. dimaggio grew up like the andersons in the san diego suburbs. with his sister and mother, his parents were divorced and his father was not a stable influence. the father was a methamphetamine addict. that is a very cruel drug. it makes people delusional. his friend says they were protected from some of it until their mother died. dimaggio and his sister laura lived with their father a car sailsman where they suffered years of abuse. jim was abandoned with laura by their father. he would leave them with macaroni and cheese and boxes of it. jim would fish to catch fish to feed him and his sister. reporter: by the late 80s, dimaggio was a high schooler
he had been asking the andersons to visit for some time. they were getting together for some type of family gathering. reporter: bill gore is san diego county sheriff. he led people to believe he was going to be losing his house and this would be a farewell party at his house. reporter: for hannah and ethan, the cabin had always been lots of fun. brett anderson is their father and christina s husband. the kids and myself in san diego would go up there and stay the night and we would ride a go cart or do whatever, you know? be like camping out because of his cabin. reporter: the man they called uncle jim, one of brett s best friends had known the kids since they were born. jim was a very good friend of the family. reporter: jennifer willis and christina grew up like sisters. jen and tysona part of a big and boisterous extended family. he spent time with us and we loved him. he was fun. he was a great guy. tina was a good friend to him.
dark jets dimaggio hid from those around him, even the anderson family. never heard a thing about any of that. we ve been all shocked about this news. all of it. it s just horrible. i feel sorry that he didn t get help. i wish that he had. maybe this wouldn t have happened. maybe the andersons wouldn t have allowed him to get so close, but they did. especially earlier this year when bret and christina separated. bret moved to tennessee. christina stayed alone in california with hannah and ethan. david braun is christina anderson s uncle. i think that s where this fellow maybe moved in on tina a little bit. braun says some family members were slightly suspicious of why this divorced man spent so much time with the andersons especially the kids. my brothers kind of wondered about this guy, because maybe
jim, let my daughter go. you ve taken everything else. august 6th, a father s desperate plea to a killer, kidnapper, and a once very close friend. he was sort of the guy in the middle of the group of friends. andrew spanwick knew james dimaggio and his sister for half a dozen years. he calls the technician at the scripps research institute quite simply a normal guy. he wasn t loud or outgoing and he wasn t shy and retreative or isolative. he was very much just sort of the friendly guy that just was along for the ride but didn t stick out one way or the other. there was nothing odd about him. at least that is what everyone thought. dimaggio grew up like the andersons in the san diego