Tipster Who Found Caylee Anthony Remains Called In Tip 3 Times In August

Thursday, December 18, 2008 ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- There are new concerns surrounding the meter reader who found a child's remains believed to be Caylee Anthony.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office said Thursday that the meter reader had been to the scene before and had called police about the area in August (map from location to Anthonys' home).

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Investigators interviewed the meter reader at length about what he knows, but he is not considered a suspect in any way.

"He is not a suspect in this case," Sheriff'f Captain Angelo Nieves said early Thursday evening. "He is a credible witness and we consider him so at the Orange County Sheriff's Office."

Steve Triggs, Director of Communications for Orange County, said the meter reader had been a county employee for a “relatively short time” and would appear at a news conference with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office Friday afternoon. Triggs said he is being represented by outside counsel at the County’s expense.

The sheriff's office said the meter reader had called in tips about the exact same area to Crimeline and the sheriff's office three times in August, two weeks before Tropical Storm Fay hit and flooded much of Central Florida, including the area where the remains were found last week.
The sheriff's office said it is focusing on its own deputies who came out on August 11 and 13 to inspect the scene. It's unknown what the area looked like on August 11, the first day the meter reader called and reported seeing a gray bag.

Sheriff’s officials said the man called Crimeline on August 12th. A detective checked records and determined the area already had been checked by a cadaver dog.

The sheriff's office is also investigating deputies who came out and cleared the scene on the 13th of August. The meter ready accompanied the deputies but nothing was found.

Officials aren't releasing the names of any of the deputies involved, but they are under administrative investigation.

Nieves said the meter reader went back last week because he had a nagging feeling that it was the place to look.

"He called on the 11th, the 12th and the 13th," Nieves said. "Currently, we are following up on that sequence."

WFTV legal analyst William Sheaffer said the developments would appear to benefit Casey Anthony’s defense attorneys.

“The defense has to regard this information as a godsend,” said Sheaffer. “The defense is ultimately going to make a lot of the fact the remains were discovered after numerous trips from the meter reader… This is probably a game-changer.”

NEW SKELETAL REMAINS FOUND

Investigators also released new photos of the scene (see photos) and said skeletal remains were found Thursday afternoon.

Orange County deputies said "significant skeletal remains" were found Thursday afternoon. A late Thursday afternoon media briefing from the Orange County Sheriff's Office revealed new details in the search for more evidence after a child's remains were found less than a half-mile from the Anthony home (map from location to Anthonys' home).

Capt. Angelo Nieves said the search was expanded after "significant skeletal remains" were located Thursday afternoon. He said the newly found remains are consistent with the remains of a young child. Nieves said the area is not going to be released until possibly as late as Saturday.
"We will release the scene when it's appropriate to do so," Nieves said.

Also Thursday, the sheriff's office released dozens of images showing the search scene. The images didn't reveal anything and do not show any actual evidence, but some of the images do give the closest look yet at the search scene from the ground (see images).

EVIDENCE SEARCH CONTINUES NEAR ANTHONY HOME

As investigators worked on their eighth day looking for clues they believe will solve Caylee's murder, her mother, Casey, is awaiting the jail delivery of her order for snacks, playing cards and sketch art supplies.

Some of the most experienced investigators from the Orange County Sheriff's Office and the FBI, along with bug, bone and botany experts are sifting through the dirt by hand looking for clues that could lead them to a killer.

Even Casey Anthony's defense team admits the remains found are probably Caylee's, but now there's a big about-face by the defense.

After fighting to gain access to the crime scene, making claims that the goal was to preserve evidence, the defense now says it has no need for it any longer.

Nationally-known forensics expert and author Dr. Henry Lee was with the defense team as they tried to barge onto the scene over the weekend, even after a judge told them they had no right to interfere with the criminal investigation.

Eyewitness News has learned Dr. Lee, according to a Court TV report last year, was accused by a Los Angeles judge of hiding or destroying evidence in the murder case against music producer Phil Spector. The evidence could have been the fake fingernail of the alleged murder victim, which could have proven that she did not commit suicide.

Spector's trial ended in a hung jury.

Lee worked with Spector's defense team attorney Linda Kenney-Baden, who is also now on Casey's defense team.

DID CASEY TAKE DUCT TAPE FROM FRIEND?

An online social networking site might hold clues in the case against Casey. It might help determine where the duct tape came from that was found on a child's remains located near the Anthony home.

Eyewitness News made the discovery Wednesday as search crews spent another day sifting through dirt and knocking down tree branches. Eyewitness News learned of the duct tape details from somebody who contacted the station through WFTV.com.

An Ontario woman, Gloria Hilker, who has been tracking the Casey Anthony case on WFTV.com, emailed Eyewitness News what she says is Casey's Facebook page with a message about duct tape. She insists it's an authentic page she found and printed in July.

One specific posting in late May, from who appears to be Casey's former best friend Amy Huizenga, reads, "You lost my duct tape. I was excited to have so much left. That's why (sic) I get for giving you my purse."

The date it appeared to be posted, May 26, was around the same time as a "no clothes party" Casey attended. She had wrapped herself in a flag and, according to her, nothing else.

Eyewitness News passed the Facebook information along to law enforcement and they are investigating the possibility that the duct tape mentioned is somehow connected to the case.

Investigators found duct tape on the mouth of the child's skull found less than a half-mile from the Anthony home. Investigators have been very tight-lipped about what they took from the Anthony home shortly after the remains were found and what, if any, evidence it has yielded.