Update 7:52 pm
Amanda Knox and family came back to West Seattle but in a move designed to protect her from the intense media scrutiny her case has generated, she was taken to an undisclosed location. Her father, Curt Knox came home and spoke to the press outside saying, "I can pretty much guarantee you're not going to find her" meaning they are shielding her from the press right now. He disclosed that she has a desire to return to the University of Washington to continue her education. Her Grandmother Elizabeth had prepared a chocolate Welcome Home cake and took it to the house, where a banner hangs. Curt said that there are no deals in place for any interviews, books, or other financial considerations at this time.

Update 5:45pm
Amanda Knox, speaking to the press for the first time since coming home said breathing heavily and holding back tears, "They're reminding me to speak in English because I'm having problems with that. I'm really overwhelmed right now. I was looking down from the airplane and it seemed like everything wasn't real. What's important for me to say is just thank you, to everyone who's believed in me, who's defended me, who's supported my family. I just want... my family is the most important thing to me right now and I just want to go and be with them. So, thank you for being there for me."

Update 5:30 pm
Amanda Knox and family landed at SeaTac Airport at around 5:15 pm as a massive array of international press awaited their arrival at a press conference
now happening. Amanda will speak.

Update 7:40 am
Amanda Knox boarded a plane in Rome headed for Seattle. She is flying in coach on British Airways and is expected to arrive after 4:30pm in Seattle. There will be a "media availability" upon her arrival but no word as to whether or not she will speak herself. At this time there are no publicly announced plans for a celebration, but it is widely expected that the international media will descend on West Seattle seeking more information.

Update 8:00 p.m.

It is now 5:00 a.m. in Rome. The city's local weather report promises a sunny day with blue skies. And that is just where Amand Knox and her family are heading, by airplane as it makes its way to Seattle's Sea Tac airport late tomorrow.

While it has been rumored on TV that Knox may give interviews upon her landing, if she is not too groggy from her court ordeal and flight, her grandmother, Edda's mother Liz Huff, also of Arbor Heights, told the West Seattle Herald that she is getting a bit weary of all the press requests. While she said her granddaughter's acquittal erases a burden she has carried for four years, she also said she cannot keep up with news channels, local, national, and international constantly ringing her phone, even though she does appreciate the support.

And what did she think of Amanda's speech to the court?

"She could have bowled me over with a feather," Huff said. Tonight she joined her son Mick, and son-in-law, Kevin, who live near the Morgan Junction, for some BBQ while they discussed Amanda's future. Huff said Amanda's future is up to her, and that the first thing she wants to do is walk barefoot in the grass, a simple pleasure she and fellow prisoners could not enjoy.
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UPDATE 2:20 pm
Amanda Knox was taken to Capanne Prison following her acquittal, where she was processed and hurried away in a motorcade to an undisclosed location. There are commercial flights booked according to published reports and she will likely be back in Seattle possibly as soon as tomorrow.

Original Post

Nearly 11 hours following Amanda Knox's impassioned plea for freedom, which she gave in front of the courtroom, the same courtroom that convicted her of murdering Meredith Kercher nearly two years ago, she was freed. She could now return to her Arbor Heights home, or anywhere else she night choose. Her then boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, an Italian, was also freed from prison.

During this appeal trial, the six jurors, the presiding judge and his assistant agreed with the "lone wolf theory", that career criminal and drifter, Rudy Guede, was the lone killer of Ms. Kercher.

The West Seattle Herald joined supporters and other media gathering at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel beginning11:00 p.m. Oct. 2 and remaining through the verdict, which arrived at 12:45 p.m. Seattle time. Supporters rented the Presidential Suite and watched the trial on TV, remaining cautiously optimistic that Knox and Sollecito would be freed.

There was much tension in the air at the suite as the TV images inside and outside the Perugia courtroom building looked very similar to those many witnessed Dec. 4, 2009, the evening Knox was convicted of murder and faced 26 years in prison.

That outcome was a nightmare for Knox and her family. This outcome, however, was a dream come true for Knox's family and supporters.

Please follow www.westseattleherald.com for updates and details of the trial outcome.