Amber Alert: Teen girl rescued and suspect killed in Idaho confrontation

Updated 10:08pm ET

Hannah Anderson, the missing California teenager, has been rescued and her suspected kidnapper killed during a tactical operation, authorities said Saturday.

James DiMaggio, 40, was killed by an FBI agent near Morehead Lake in a remote area of Idaho known as the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore said.

"Obviously we would have liked Mr. DiMaggio to surrender and face justice in a court of law, but that was not the case," Gore said.

Hannah will be "thoroughly evaluated" at a hospital before detectives talk to her, he said.

Police said that 16-year-old Hannah appears to be in good shape and was taken away by a rescue helicopter.

DiMaggio was suspected of kidnapping Anderson and killing her mother and younger brother.

The body of a child found in a burned California home was identified Friday evening as 8-year-old Ethan Anderson.

Anderson and his 16-year-old sister Hannah were the subject of a multi-state Amber Alert this week after their mother was found dead in a burning home.

The bodies of Ethan and his mother Christina Anderson, 44, were found on Sunday night after firefighters were called to the home of suspect James DiMaggio in Boulevard, Calif. near the Mexico border.

The identity of the child's body was not confirmed until the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said its crime lab had used DNA to prove the body was Ethan's.

Police faced a tough search for DiMaggio and Hannah after they were spotted entering the Idaho wilderness.

DiMaggio's car was found Friday morning on the edge of 300 square miles of rough terrain about 40 miles east of Cascade, Idaho. 

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The rugged Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness reaches across central Idaho and north to the Montana border.

"It's called the River of No Return for a reason," Mike Medberry, a 57-year-old writer and backpacking enthusiast who has hiked the area, told the Associated Press.

"This is country that is really up and down. It's harsh and rugged, with steep terrain, lots of downed logs and thick brush."

A horseback rider spotted the pair on Wednesday and had a brief conversation with them without realizing they might be the subject of the Amber Alert.

He called and reported the sighting after seeing a news report later that night, Andrea Dearden, spokeswoman for the Ada County Sheriff's Office told ABC News.

"They did speak and exchange pleasantries. I don't think there was a lot of information exchanged," she said.

"He left the conversation believing they were camping in the area."

The pair were on foot and were carrying camping gear, Dearden said. 

Searchers took to the wilderness on foot and on horseback Friday evening to look for Hannah and DiMaggio.

Dearden emphasized the risks of searching for two people in such a wide, rugged area.

"A missing hiker in the foothills is different than searching for a murder suspect, and the risk of that alone comes as a challenge to the search teams," Dearden said.

"When you have a square mile on flatter land, or even water, you can create a grid and literally search every inch. But when you have terrain like this, and this much land, you just can't do that."