Hannah Anderson, the 16-year-old teen who was found over the weekend in the Idaho wildness following a six day manhunt, made her first public appearance since being rescued.
Thursday afternoon Anderson was spotted hurrying into the Lakeside Boll Weevil restaurant near San Diego, which was holding a fundraiser for her and her family. Anderson emerged from a car wearing shades and was quickly ushered into the restaurant by protective family and friends who pushed media away. She offered no comment, reports CBS News.
A nationwide Amber Alert was sent out Aug. 4 for Anderson after the California teen was kidnapped by James DiMaggio, 40, a close family friend, who is also suspected of murdering the girl's mother and 8-year-old brother. DiMaggio was the best friend of Anderson's father and was like an uncle to her and her brother Ethan. Court documents revealed that DiMaggio tortured Christina Anderson and Ethan before they were left to burn in his home.
Outside of Boll Weevil, Anderson's father, Brett, told reporters that he was grateful for the community support he has received in wake of the tragic incident.
"The community came together putting on this great fundraiser for Hannah... and this is how Lakeside rolls. So I just wanted to say how much we appreciate it from everybody, the community, family, friends for being here ... and local sheriffs and law enforcement."
He added, "Hannah sends her love. She's doing good day by day, and we'll just keep moving forward from there."
Two days after being rescued, Anderson apparently went on ask.fm, a social-networking website, Monday night where she answered a number of questions about her tragic ordeal.
The postings appear on the account of "Hannahbanana722" of Lakeside, Calif., the San Diego County community where she lived with her mother and brother, reports the Huffington Post. At one point during the lengthy series of posts, a user asked Hannah to post a photo. She complied, uploading an image showing off her wide smile.
When asked why she and her family went to visit DiMaggio at his home on the day she was kidnapped she said: "He told us he was losing his house because of money issues so we went up there one last time to support him, and to have fun riding go karts up there but he tricked us."
When asked if she would have preferred DiMaggio got a lifetime prison sentence instead of being killed by FBI agents, she said, "He deserved what he got."
Watch video of Hannah at the fundraiser below:
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