Statement of Special Agent in Charge Mary Rook on the Rescue of Hannah Anderson

Good evening. I am Mary Rook, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Salt Lake City.

I want to update you about the rescue operation that just concluded.

At approximately 5:20 local time, special agents with the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team, along with the Salt Lake City Division of the FBI, observed Hannah and the suspect near Morehead Lake at a makeshift campsite. Agents moved in to rescue Hannah. The suspect is deceased. 

As a matter of policy, the FBI automatically dispatches a shooting review team from Washington to review the circumstances surrounding any situation where an FBI agent discharges a firearm.

The team will interview witnesses and determine exactly what happened. For this reason, no other details can be released at this time.

When incidents like these occur, no one ever really knows where the investigation will lead. In this case, our team faced a very challenging situation.

Our team of FBI agents, Valley and Ada County Sheriff’s deputies, Idaho state troopers, U.S. marshals, the U.S. Border Patrol, and the rest of the entire team worked tirelessly to find Hannah.

Now that Hannah is safe and being evaluated in a medical facility, FBI victim specialists are working with Hannah and her family to get them the resources they may need to get through the next phase of this incident.

As grateful as we are that she was recovered safely, we also remember the other victims in this case who lost their lives.

Moving forward, the FBI Evidence Response Team, along with detectives from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, will process the crime scene at the site of the rescue. This will still take some time and require a great deal of logistical coordination.

As the Idaho portion of this case wraps up and transitions back to San Diego County, we will continue to work with our colleagues, both in Idaho and San Diego, and provide them any continuing support they might need.

It has been said that the greatest weapon against crime is the cooperation of all law enforcement, with the understanding of the public. This case has proven that.