www.wftv.comThursday, December 11, 2008 – updated: 5:51 pm EST December 11, 2008
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Investigators removed the remains of a young child from a site near the home of Casey Anthony's parents' east Orange County home. Meantime, investigators were trying to get a search warrant to look in the home for more evidence.
The remains were discovered Thursday morning, less than a half-mile from the house. After several hours of combing over the scene, detectives loaded the remains in a white medical examiner's van and took them away.
WATCH LIVE: Eyewitness News Coverage
REACTION: Sheriff Beary Leonard Padilla Tim Miller Legal Analyst Forensics Expert
CHAOS OUTSIDE HOUSE: Raw Video See Images
AT SCENE: Ground Images Aerial Images Raw Aerial Video
JOSE BAEZ SILENT: Raw Video See Images
About 9:30am, an Orange County water meter reader, who had gone into the woods to relieve himself, discovered a bag about 20 to 30 feet off the sidewalk in the area of Chickasaw Trail and Suburban Drive (see map), around three-tenths of a mile from the Anthonys' home (map from location to Anthonys' home).
According to information obtained by Eyewitness News, when the meter reader kicked or picked up the bag, a skull fell out. The Orange County Sheriff's Office has confirmed the remains are from a young child. Investigative sources told Eyewitness News there may have been more in the bag than just a skull but they wouldn't elaborate.
"We are assuming they are the remains of a victim," said Orange County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jim Solomons.
It is not known whether the remains are those of Caylee Anthony.
Deputies set up a perimeter near a small retention pond. Heavy rain pounded the scene, making the investigation more difficult. FBI agents and agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement were also on the scene.
Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary said the area had been underwater during previous searches, so it was not surprising the remains hadn't been found before (watch Beary press conference). Equusearch founder Tim Miller, who heads up a group that searches for bodies, said his volunteers had searched the area before but that it was full of water and an ATV had stirred up mud and muck and made visibility poor.
When asked if the remains could be those of any other child, Beary responded, "Not that we know of."
Eyewitness News reporter Kathi Belich said sources told her they were taking this very seriously and would expedite DNA tests to determine if the remains were indeed Caylee's. Investigators told her they were "very optimistic" they had found the missing girl. Beary said the FBI had told him experts at its lab in Quantico, Va. would work through the weekend on the case if necessary.
Caylee's mother, Casey Anthony, has been charged with murder in connection with the case. She is currently in the Orange County jail.
"She met with a corrections officer psychologist, and was reviewed and placed on psychological observation. However, that is not suicide watch," said jail spokesman Allen Moore.
Casey has been visited by her attorney, Jose Baez, but he would not comment on whether she knew about the day's discovery. (Baez At Jail: Raw Video See Images).
Baez has filed an emergency motion (read motion) for a court hearing at 11:30am Friday morning. He wants to be present for any forensic testing on the remains.
ANTHONYS RETURN TO ORLANDO
George and Cindy Anthony, Casey's parents and Caylee's grandparents, flew back to Orlando from California after appearing on Larry King Live, Wednesday night. On the program they continued to defend their daughter.
PLANE PASSENGER TALKS: Watch Raw Interview
RAW VIDEO: George And Cindy On Larry King Live
VIDEO REPORT: Parents Defend Casey On TV
Passengers who were on the flight said the Anthonys were calm and wore their "Find Caylee" t-shirts. They were met by deputies at the gate and whisked away.
The couple did not immediately return to their home. An attorney representing the family said the pair was too upset. However, the attorney planned to go to the house to handle a search warrant obtained by the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Orange County deputies moved to secure the Anthony home after the discovery, Thursday. The home had been the site of many protests and on-looker gatherings throughout the course of investigation into Caylee's disappearance.
Neighbors and others began showing up at the house around 11:00am.
CHAOS OUTSIDE HOUSE: Raw Video See Images
"It's unbelievable," said neighbor Nephtali Rivera. "I'm just looking at the distance from the house and the distance where they found the remains. So close."
EXPERTS REACT
Dr. Michael Baden, a forensics expert, said DNA tests would likely confirm what other evidence at the scene would tell investigators (watch Baden interview). For example, detectives said there was duct tape on the bag and the skull that were found. Baden said detectives would be able to match that tape and bag to other tape and bags they had previously gathered from the trunk of Casey Anthony's car.
"They can tell the age and height of the child. They'll have a good sense of if it's Caylee. The DNA will just confirm the evidence," Baden said.
Tim Miller, founder of the Texas-based search group Equusearch, said he had been called by law enforcement officials and told they believed they had found Caylee Anthony (watch Miller interview).
"The words were, 'Tim, it looks like we got her,'" said Miller. "I'm surprised. It was one of them cases I thought would have never been found ... I thought the best thing that would ever happen is that one day we could go to a funeral and say good-bye to this little girl ... and it looks like that will happen."
"I'm just overcome with emotion and grief right now," bounty hunter Leonard Padilla, who has been a major part of search efforts to find Caylee's remains, told Eyewitness News shortly after the discovery was made (watch Padilla interview).
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1 comment:
Hey there. I haven't written on your blog in a while because I had wanted to wait until we received more information on the case. Needless to say, yesterday's discovery was a bombshell. I had always thought Caylee died accidentally and all that Casey had been doing since then (June 16) was simply covering up her neglect and partying in the name of denial. But when you couple the web searches in March, along with yesterday's discovery (not just the body, but the tape and the fact that there was tape and garbage bags in Casey's car), I think it gets easier to believe this was premeditated murder.
If anyone is wondering why they are doing a search of the Anthony's home now instead of earlier, I think it has to do with probable cause: aside from the hair fiber in the car, they had no proof that Caylee was dead - hence, no proof that a crime was committed in the home. Now they have that proof, since they have the body. The very fact they are able to search the home (meaning they did a warrant, and got a judge to sign) means they showed probable cause that a crime was committed there. Meaning they proved to a judge that THE BODY IS CAYLEE! I can't see a judge signing off on it unless they made that proof already. I would think a simple dental record check would do it, but I think they would need consent from the Anthony's which I'm sure they would fight. But I think we can put away any doubt that this is young Caylee Anthony.
I still have some burning questions about the case, though with each day of new discoveries, those question are either answered or become moot:
1. What was actually said during the argument between Cindy and Casey? We know it was after the Father's Day visit and I already know about the stolen money Casey took from the funeral home and that the Anthony's had to come out of pocket to pay it back. But neighbors heard Casey (not Cindy) yelling, and it was Cindy who did the choking of Casey. What exactly did the neighbors hear Casey say? I think it's a forgone conclusion that Casey was still burning up from what was said and done that Sunday.
2. Was there dismemberment done on the body? Cindy took a knife out of Casey's car, and Casey borrowed a shovel from Burner either the next day or the day after. So was Casey's plan to dismember Caylee and distribute the body?
3. Regarding the tape, can we conclude that Casey tried to fake like it was a kidnapping, as if intruders snatched her, tied her up and took her to the woods to die? Was she duct taped before or after she died? To me, it doesn't make sense to duct tape a dead body (unless you are staging a crime) - but do we throw away the dismemberment idea if she duct taped a live Caylee?
4. When did she drop the body off? According to GPS traces from her cellphone, she was all over the place those two weeks in june - Blanchard Park, up and down University Blvd, always around Amscott area - my feeling is she had scattered thoughts of what she wanted to do - she had one idea (the kidnapping) then she decided against it; then she wanted to bury it in the backyard and maybe distribute the body in several scattered areas in the yard, but was scared out of it when Dad started asking questions; then started poking around Blanchard Park. I wouldnt' be surprised if there were parts missing in the bag - the skull would be the one thing she'd want to rid herself of the most. Also, did the shower at the young man's home in the morning (his last name is Waters - July 5) had anything to do with it?
5. The biggie: why? At first the ultimate question was: where is Caylee. That one's answered. Even with the web searches, I still think there's a possibility Caylee died by accident or by spontaneous action by Casey (i.e. slapping or shaking her in frustration). Sure, she may have had it on her mind back in March, but that may just be thoughts - the silly morbid fantasies of a young woman wanting to get away from her responsibilities. The chloroform is a different matter. I never believed in the chloro idea of knocking out Caylee just to party - not saying it isn't possible, but where would she be making this chloro if she's been doing this since March? In the garage? Is there evidence of it? I like the spontaneous death idea because it plays out - you have someone who believes, since March, that Caylee is holding her back. If I'm not mistaken, Morales broke off with her in February, and she was getting friction from Rusciano in march and april because she wasn't readily available. I'm sure around this time, her parents were needling her about paying for Caylee's food, clothes and compensating the parents when she went out to party. So they stopped taking care of her when Casey wanted to hang out - even if Casey slipped out and left Caylee with the parents, she'd catch hell when she got back. We still don't know what prompted Cindy to go to a counselor in mid or late May where the counselor told Cindy to toughen up to Casey. I can only imagine how Mother's Day must have been in the house. I think she had something on her mind, but kept it in her mind - until she got thrown out. That was the real catalyst. It made Casey immediately vulnerable - now she has to shack up with Lazzaro and be the doting girlfriend. She has to hope he likes kids and will put up with things when Caylee gets cranky. He doesn't - he doesn't want kids. And she has no job - so I have to imagine she spent all of her days just with Caylee, something that had to drive her crazy, especially now that she really has no place to live. And then the Father's Day fight. I think this is when the whistle blew. Casey has EXCELLENT control of her emotions, and she erroneously believes she's smarter than everyone else. So I'm sure she believe she could stage an accidental death and pretend to be the mourning mother. But she could also be the victim of a kidnapping. Or a carjacking. Which one? I think she entertained all of these ideas. I think the murder/accident happened at home - the phone calls beginning at 3:03pm suggest she may have wanted to act out the accidental death ploy, but chickened out - also, she couldn't get anyone on the phone. Since we have tape over the mouth of the body, she probably entertained the kidnapping ploy. Then we have the car being left at Amscott with the purse - hoping someone would steal it, hence a carjacking. But neither really worked as planned. She didn't follow up on the desperate phone call, the car never got stolen, so the last card she would play would be the kidnapping. But she waited too long - by the time she may have finalized the "nanny stole my baby" idea, it may have been over a week already. Why didn't she report it immediately? Not knowing what to do, she did what she's always done anytime she's stolen something - hope to get away with it without anyone knowing and have fun fun fun while you're free. Narcissists like Casey hate it when others live in happiness and peace and they don't. The Anthony's finally had peace with Casey out of the house. Her friends were about to party in Puerto Rico. Lazzaro was chilling in New York for a week, without taking her. I think Casey hated it. So she punishes her mother by denying her Caylee (not by killing her but by not letting her speak to her). She punishes Amy by stealing her money. Maybe she tried to put TonE under her thumb, but because he wasn't so much into her, she couldn't really do it.
Last thoughts. Children are very good in seeing in the hearts of people, especially their parents. They sense everything. Casey is excellent in playing her emotions to the whims of the people around her - she's a wonderful friend for those who need friends - a great daughter when it suits her needs and a great mother. She is what others want her to see. But a child knows. A child is a mirror of sorts to a parent, because a child reflects exactly what's inside. I'm sure Casey knew it and hated it. In destroying Caylee, she destroyed the one person she couldn't fake it to. Who knows what the final responses Caylee had to her mother. What we do know is something very pure was killed by something very impure.
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