Caylee Anthony wasn't a child who was wanted, court records show

Amy L. Edwards, Sarah Lundy and Bianca Prieto

Sentinel Staff Writers
August 26, 2008

Casey Anthony wanted to give up her unborn child for adoption. But those plans were nixed by her mother, who insisted she keep the baby.

These new details and dozens more about Anthony, her family and her missing daughter, Caylee Marie, were made public for the first time Monday when prosecutors released more than 431 pages of documents in response to an Orlando Sentinel public records request...

The documents include interviews with Anthony's friends, who depict her as a caring mother and are shocked by the disappearance. Yet the same friends say Anthony lied and stole. Writings on MySpace show a family in turmoil. Detectives seeking the truth questioned Anthony but got little in response.

Among the investigators' findings:

*Anthony's mother, Cindy Anthony, posted a lengthy message on the social-networking site MySpace on July 3 -- nearly two weeks before Caylee was reported missing -- "This precious little angel from above gave me strength and unconditional love . . . Jealousy has taken her away. Jealousy from the one person that should be thankful for all of the love and support given to her . . . "

*A posting titled "diary of days" that appeared on Casey Anthony's MySpace page July 7 stated: " . . . What is given, can be taken away. Everyone lies. Everyone dies. Life will never be easy. . . . " Anthony posted the message while she was apparently watching American Psycho, a horror movie about a New York executive who is also a serial killer.

*Anthony's ex-fiance' Jesse Grund discovered she had deleted more than 200 photos of her and her with Caylee that were online.

*Childhood friend Kiomarie Torres Cruz said that during Casey Anthony's pregnancy, she wanted to put the baby up for adoption. Cruz told Anthony she would be interested in adopting the unborn child because she couldn't have children herself. Cruz said she thought Anthony was bipolar. At times, Anthony would ask her something one day, and then would not remember later that she asked the question.

*Longtime friend Ryan Pasley got a call from Cindy Anthony earlier this summer. He said she warned him against talking to Casey because "she's been lying about a lot of stuff and . . . stole money from her and her grandmother." Cindy Anthony called her daughter a "sociopath." When asked what would make Casey Anthony open up to detectives, Pasley replied, "the fear of God."

*Ricardo Morales said when he dated Anthony, she often brought Caylee to his home. All three slept in the same bed. "I feel like the person we're talking about now and the person I knew before are two different people," he said.

*Anthony Lazzaro, Anthony's most recent boyfriend whom she met online, said she was a loving and caring mother. Though he said Anthony "pretty much shacked up here," he saw Caylee only a few times. Anthony would tell Lazzaro that Caylee was at Walt Disney World or the beach and repeatedly would say they stayed an extra day. He felt "weird" about that. He described Anthony as being "a perfect girlfriend." While she stayed with him, Anthony did his laundry, cleaned and cooked.

*On July 2 or July 3, Anthony got a tattoo, "Bella Vita," which means "Beautiful Life," on her shoulder. On July 15, she went back to the tattoo parlor and made an appointment for herself and a friend for July 19.

*Simon Birch, a manager at the wrecker yard where Anthony's vehicle was towed June 30, noticed the odor from her vehicle. When Anthony's father, George Anthony, picked up the car July 15, the manager said the vehicle smelled like another once stored on the lot -- in which a man had committed suicide.

*Anthony's friend Amy Huizenga said Anthony "is someone who starts believing her lies." She said Anthony brought Caylee to a few adult parties held at night, which Huizenga didn't like. When questioned by detectives, Huizenga said, "I think something accidentally happened . . . Casey freaked out. I don't know how she solved that problem. But then created this story in her head . . . "

*On July 16, the day Anthony was arrested, detectives pressed her for truthful answers. A detective asked, " . . . Unless we start getting the truth, we're going to announce two possibilities with Caylee. Either you gave Caylee to someone that you don't want anyone to find out because you think you're a bad mom. Or something happened to Caylee and Caylee's buried somewhere or in a trash can somewhere and you had something to do with it . . . Either way, right now it's not a very pretty picture to be painting."

The detective continued, "Everything you've told us is a lie. Every single thing.

Anthony replied, "No it isn't."

Near the end of the interview, Anthony admitted she should have notified authorities sooner."I didn't want to involve a bunch of people that maybe didn't know the situation. The biggest mistake was not calling you guys right off the bat. . . . But the worse [sic] is I've done this to my daughter by allowing her to still be with a baby sitter."