Mommy's Little Girl (38 page)

 

From December 11 through December 20, crime-scene investigators from the Orange County Sheriff's Office, the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement scoured every inch of the wooded area. They cleared out sections of trees and undergrowth. Out on Suburban Drive, one investigator crawled on her knees examining all the uprooted plants placed on white sheets looking for any possible evidence caught in the foliage or the roots. Other investigators worked at sifting tables, running every bucket of dirt and leaves through screens to catch anything of any significance.

While they worked, groups of people stopped by to watch or to drop off flowers, stuffed animals and other mementoes. Many needed to make the pilgrimage to get a sense of closure. They may not have known Casey, but their hearts still ached.

The crime-scene investigators recovered more of Caylee's bones, along with a lot of others that belonged to animals. They unearthed pieces of plastic bags and fabric, shreds of pull-on pants, discarded soda cans, a busted Winnie the Pooh helium balloon, legs for a Barbie doll, a disposable camera, a piece of the same brand of duct tape found on the skull and the gas can, a tattered book that appeared to be one they'd seen Caylee reading in a video and, most heart-wrenching of all, a small heart-shaped sticker—the same size as the adhesive shape on the duct tape attached to the little girl's face.

 

A somber Dr. Jan Garavaglia, Orange County medical examiner, stood before a bank of microphones on December 19. “With regret, I'm here to inform you that the skeletal remains found on December eleventh are those of
the missing toddler, Caylee Anthony . . . The remains are completely skeletonized, with no visible soft tissue . . . and no trauma to the bones prior to death.

“. . . The manner of death in this case is homicide. The cause of death will be listed as homicide by undetermined means.”

Yuri Melich returned to the Hopespring house on December 20 with yet another search warrant. George was furious. He raved about the ceaseless intrusion into his life, even referring to the investigators as “fucking flunkies.”

Cindy was upset. She felt she'd finally gotten the house cleaned up from the last search and now here they were, ready to mess the place up again. She surprised Melich when she said, “One of Caylee's Winnie the Pooh blankets is missing.” He knew she didn't know that they'd found one at the recovery scene.

She told Detective Edwards that she'd had people walk that area a month ago, and there was nothing there. She didn't seem to be considering the possibility that it was overlooked. Her belief was that the remains had been deposited there sometime after mid-November.

 

In January 2009, the case took some strange turns. There was the recovery of the snake from David Dean's freezer. The autopsy of the diamondback found a clear cause of death: blunt force trauma, in all likelihood caused by being run over by a motor vehicle. Nothing was found to tie the snake to Caylee Anthony's murder.

The Florida Bar, investigating José Baez since October, announced that they were not seeking further disciplinary action regarding faxes sent out by Press Corp Media representative Todd Black on behalf of his public
relations client, Attorney Baez. In one, Black alleged that State Attorney “Lawson Lamar is facing tough opposition and having a missing baby is a perfect springboard for free commercial time.” Another one claimed that “the prosecution has manipulated and shamelessly used the media in the reporting of false, distorted . . . evidence.” Baez denied seeing or approving of the faxes before their dissemination. The bar continued to look into allegations that Baez violated advertising rules.

The state attorney's office also received a complaint about Baez, accusing him of making secret entertainment deals to pay for Casey's defense. The judge had to determine if there were such agreements, including the rumored $200,000 deal with ABC News, and if they did exist, whether or not they created a conflict of interest.

Meanwhile, Todd Black finally admitted to the
Orlando Sentinel
that Todd Black was not his legal name. He declined to say what his real name was. His company sent the newspaper an email: “In general, we can tell you that it's been standard procedure for many years to have our company's story reps utilize abbreviated names for security purposes.” Reporters at the
Sentinel
took this bit of news as a challenge. They pursued that story until they uncovered his real identity—a felon who'd tried to extort money from a TV reporter in California.

In what seemed to Orlando court observers to be a tit-for-tat move, Baez filed a motion with the court asking the judge to remove the prosecutors from the case. He also requested that Texas EquuSearch turn over all their records—including the names, addresses and phone numbers of all their volunteers. The judge denied the latter motion, saying that he did not have jurisdiction to order a subpoena and that the defense had failed to show the importance of this information or to prove that the organization worked as an agent of the state.

 

January also marked the announcement of an “Inspirational Caylee Sunshine Doll.” Eighteen inches high and
cute as a button, this doll even sang “You Are My Sunshine,” just as Caylee did in the bittersweet video shown incessantly on television. This new creation was from Jaime Salcedo of Showbiz Promotions, whose other products included a Michael Vick Dog Chew toy, Sarah Palin red-white-and-blue boxers and a tee shirt proclaiming belief in Bigfoot. The absurdity continued when an even more macabre doll popped up on eBay the next week: the Casey Anthony Voodoo Doll, created by an artist in New Orleans.

 

This only took the focus off the real human tragedy of the case. The events that unfolded on January 22 brought the spotlight back to the seriousness of the crime and its effect on those involved.

George Anthony spoke off-camera to Fox 35 News at the end of December. He said, “There is a hole in my heart big enough for a truck to drive through. I don't think I'll ever have closure. At this point, I'm just hoping to someday be able to accept that Caylee is gone.”

Acceptance came at a very high price. On January 22, just before 11
P.M.
, Brad Conway called the police to report that George was missing. He told the responding officer that Cindy had last seen her husband that morning when he'd left for a job interview. George did make it to the job fair, but his search was unsuccessful, in part because of the negative publicity he'd received.

Cindy told the officers that George had been depressed and upset about Caylee's death. Throughout the day, George had missed meetings—including one at their home with Brad Conway—and did not respond to her calls or text messages. She said that she'd probably added to her husband's despondency when she'd sent him to go shopping the day before to purchase jewelry for Caylee to wear during her cremation.

She noticed that George's medications were missing, along with a photograph of Cindy and Casey, and another
one of Caylee, but none of his clothing or personal belongings were gone.

Around 10:45
P.M.
, George surfaced. He sent out text messages to friends telling them he wanted to be left alone, he wanted to make sure Caylee was in God's arms and he didn't want to live anymore. He would not provide his location to anyone.

Orange County law enforcement tracked the GPS on George's cell phone to Daytona Beach. Officers filled the area where the pings originated, and spotted George's vehicle in the parking lot of the Hawaii Motel. The motel owner said that George had arrived at 7
P.M.
with a pillow and a blanket.

Once in the room, George had washed down sleeping pills with beer and started writing a letter. Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood and several officers approached the door of the room and knocked. George answered and told the chief, “Hey. I needed to get away. I needed to think. I needed to clear my head. I'm fine. You guys can leave.”

Leaving him in peace was not an option. He needed to be seen by mental health professionals. Chief Chitwood convinced George to come with him to the hospital. At 2
A.M.
, George checked into Halifax Regional Medical Center, involuntarily committed for psychological observation. A three-day stay was mandatory, but George stayed at the facility for eleven days.

José Baez released a statement from his client on Monday, February 9:

I miss Caylee every day and every minute of every day. I can't be there for Caylee's funeral, but some day, I want to go visit her grave and tell her how much I miss her. I allowed my parents to be in charge of the funeral for Caylee. I told them I wanted her buried in a casket and I wanted there to be a gravestone so I could go visit her. I asked them if there could only be a private funeral for just the family.

I know they cremated her. I still don't want a public event with cameras and everybody around for Caylee's service, but I can't stop my parents from doing what they want. I truly hope that it will help them.

In the obituary Cindy wrote for the newspaper, she emphasized that the family requested “that those with only the purest of hearts and truly honorable intentions attend the service for their beloved child.”

A dark cloud nearly rolled over Orlando. The West-boro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, announced that they were coming to protest at the service. Labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, this was the same organization that had garnered attention for picketing
military funerals to communicate their belief that U.S. troops killed in combat are suffering God's punishment for a nation harboring homosexuals. Fortunately for the family, the church demonstration did not happen.

Security for the February 10 event was tight, with private and public security present. They carried a list of people to exclude from the event—including Leonard Padilla, Richard and Jesse Grund, and Amy Huizenga. Mourners had to pass through metal detectors and were not permitted to carry bags into the church. Lines started to form outside of the church two hours before the scheduled service.

More than 1,200 people attended the ceremony. It began with a medley of Caylee's favorite songs, including “Jesus Loves Me” and “You Are My Sunshine.”

What should have been a tearful farewell to a lost life turned into yet another controversial episode in the Anthony saga. Cindy made a lot of people uncomfortable with her comment about her daughter: “It breaks my heart that Casey isn't here to honor her child, who she loved so much. Casey, I hope you're able to hear me today. I love you and I wish I could comfort you right now. I wish I could take away all of your pain and wipe away your tears.”

But it was Lee who lit up the blogosphere by talking in code. Instead of using his niece's name, he used the initials shared by Caylee Marie Anthony, Cynthia Marie Anthony and Casey Marie Anthony. “C.M.A., I miss you. C.M.A., I am so proud of you. I hope you are proud of me, too.” Bloggers judged the message's content and were nearly unanimous in thinking that Lee had directed his comments to his sister.

Casey missed the message, since she did not watch the televised service. José Baez visited with her throughout the two-hour ceremony.

On Suburban Drive at a spontaneous memorial to Caylee, a hundred people gathered for the alternative service. They arrived with flowers, teddy bears and dolls, and
placed them on a colorful pile that marked the woods where Caylee's body had been found.

 

On February 18, the state attorney's office released hundreds of pages of documents, including a page from Casey Anthony's journal. The June 21 date at the top of the page made it explosive:

I have no regrets, just a bit worried. I just want for everything to work out okay. I completely trust my own judgment & know that I made the right decision. I just hope the ends justifies the means.

I just want to know what the future will hold for me. I guess, I will soon see—This is the happiest that I have been in a very long time.

I hope that my happiness will continue to grow—I've made new friends that I really like. I've surrounded myself with good people—I am finally happy. Let's just hope that doesn't change.

Traditional news sources and bloggers alike grabbed that page and ran as hard and as fast as they could, reporting that Casey had written this passage just days after murdering her daughter. For hours, everyone seemed to overlook the fact that on the opposite page, in the upper left-hand corner, Casey had written “ '03”—if that was an indication of the date, it had been written two years before Caylee was even born. With no certainty of the timing of the entry, the story went from blazing hot to frosty cold before the late night news.

 

While Roy Kronk's attorney was threatening to sue Leonard Padilla over his unfounded speculations about his client, the defamation case pitting Zenaida Gonzalez against Casey Anthony moved into its deposition phase. George, Cindy and Lee were all served with subpoenas. Attorney Brad Conway got a temporary reprieve for Cindy and George on the grounds that his clients weren't mentally
or emotionally equipped for questioning at that time. Lee, on the other hand, wanted to be done with it as soon as possible.

He said that he had never heard of Zenaida Gonzalez until the night his mother called 9-1-1, and that the woman who was suing his sister was not the nanny Casey blamed. He laughed a lot during the interview, as if he weren't taking it seriously. Everyone was shocked when Lee contradicted his previous testimony to the police. He'd told law enforcement that Casey was a habitual liar and a thief. During this deposition, though, he said, “To this day, I believe everything my sister tells me.” That mistake exposed Lee to the risk of perjury charges.