- The Washington Times - Tuesday, August 20, 2013

James DiMaggio, the man who died in a shootout with federal police in the Iowa woods where he held hostage family friend Hannah Anderson, 16, has named the girl’s grandmother as a recipient of his life insurance money.

He left $112,000 to her paternal grandmother, a spokesman for his family said on Monday, USA Today reported. The spokesman said the money was aimed at benefiting the teen girl he held hostage.

DiMaggio also is believed by police to have killed Hannah’s mother and 8-year-old brother and set their home on fire before abducting her.

The teen girl was rescued Aug. 10 and sent back to her San Diego home. The kidnapper, it turns out, was a family friend — close enough that the Anderson children considered him an uncle.

DiMaggio left the grandmother, Bernice Anderson, all his life insurance in 2011. He had lived with her for about two years before he bought his own home in 2009, police said, as USA Today reported. DiMaggio’s sister told the girl’s father, Brett Anderson, about the life insurance policy by phone.

“They had a long conversation about their mutual loss, trying to make sense of what happened and neither of them had an explanation,” the spokesman for DiMaggio’s family said.

• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.

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