Hannah Anderson spoke on the Today Show Thursday for the first time since being rescued from family friend James DiMaggio nearly two weeks ago. She revealed new details in the case, the highlight being her explanation for a series of mysterious phone calls, text messages and letters traded between her and her captor in the days leading up to her abduction.
Though authorities said that Anderson traded phone calls and texts with DiMaggio on the day of her abduction, they insisted that Anderson was still a “ victim in every sense of the word ,” implying that her correspondence with her “Uncle Jim” didn’t suggest any foul play on her part.
She said that the messages were to make arrangements for DiMaggio to pick her up from cheerleading camp .
“And he didn’t know the address or what — like, where I was. So I had to tell him the address and tell him that I was gonna be in the gym and not in front of the school,” she said. “Just so he knew where to come get me.”
As for the letters exchanged between the two a year ago, Anderson said that she wasn’t getting along with her mother and that DiMaggio was helping her work through it.
“Me and him would talk about how to deal with it,” she said. “And I’d tell him how I felt about it. And he helped me through it. They weren’t anything bad. They’re just to help me through tough times.”
She didn’t talk much about the abduction itself, but did make sure to thank her rescuers and supporters .
“I’d like to say thank you. Because without them, I probably wouldn’t be here right now,” she said.
Check out video of Hannah Anderson’s exclusive Today Show interview below:
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