Her face has haunted a nation. A beautiful little girl goes missing 6 weeks before her third birthday. Caylee Anthony was last seen on June 16, 2008 in Orlando, Florida. She is 3 feet tall with brown hair, hazel eyes and a birthmark on her left shoulder. While this, unfortunately, is not an uncommon occurrence this case has a peculiar twist. Her mother, Casey Anthony, waited a month before reporting her missing. The case has been constantly in the media since Casey and her mother Cindy made the initial call to police about the little girl's disappearance.
While it is still not known where little baby Caylee is, several facts have become apparent in the past few weeks about the circumstances surrounding her disappearance. Her mother, Casey, has told many lies to police and investigators when asked about the disappearance. She told the police that she was working at Universal Studios and even went so far as to enter the park and start walking towards her supposed "co-workers" before confessing the lie. She told the police that Caylee was at her babysitter's and that her name was Zenida Fernandes-Gonzalez. Casey has been unable to identify any photographs of this supposed babysitter. Casey told police that she left Caylee at an apartment with Zenida that has been vacant for months. Casey told police that she was looking for Caylee before she reported her disappearance to the police. Casey's friends who saw her during this time report that she never mentioned that Caylee was missing. There have been several pictures of Casey partying and dancing at various bars during this time period.
Another fact of this case is that there has been a decomposing body in the trunk of Casey's car and likely, in the backyard of the house Casey shares with her parents. Cindy Anthony herself reported the smell of a dead body in Casey's car when it was found. Cindy is a nurse and likely knows what a dead body smells like. The police reported smelling death in the air when they were examining Casey's car. They too know exactly what a dead body smells like. If that were not enough evidence of a dead body, then perhaps the highly trained cadaver dogs hitting on both the trunk of the car and the back yard will convince you. There has also been evidence of decomposition through a new test which uses air sampling of the suspected area.
Recently another damning piece of evidence has been released to the media. There has been tests confirming the presence of large amounts of chloroform in the trunk of Casey's car. Also, Casey's computer showed evidence of someone performing internet searches on chloroform. The media has shown in recent days that chloroform can easily be purchased off the internet for as little as $60. Chloroform has been banned for consumer use, including cleaning products, since the mid 70's.
Despite these cut and dried facts of the case, Casey's parents remain supportive of their daughter. They have even recently helped her bond out of jail for a second time. Cindy Anthony has been reported yelling at the media many times that Caylee is not dead and that she is with the babysitter. Cindy has said that the smell of decomposition, which she herself first reported, was the smell of rotting pizza. George, Casey's father, maintains that Caylee is still alive. While I understand this position, I do not think that it is a reasonable conclusion of the available evidence. Are Cindy and George being good parents supporting their daughter Casey? Or should they be more concerned about Caylee's well being, as she is just a child?
There have been several phone calls that Casey has made to her family reported publicly. In these calls, her family is desperately trying to get the truth out of Casey. Casey appears completely uncooperative, elusive and narcissistic in these phone calls. I cannot imagine the pain that her parents are going through. Not only have they lost their grand daughter Caylee, now they are at risk of losing their daughter Casey as well. These double whammy loss must be unbearable. However, denial is not just a river in Egypt. I can understand wanting to back their child up in any circumstance. The support they are now giving to Casey goes beyond all ties to reality. They must know that she knows more than she is saying. If Casey had anything at all to do with her daughter's disappearance or any harm that may have come to her, she deserves to be in prison for a very, very long time. At this point, I cannot imagine how Casey is not involved. And I also cannot imagine how her parents are still supporting her and her release from jail.
