ORLANDO, Fla. Casey Anthony waited at least a month before reporting that her daughter Caylee, 2, was missing. And even then, it wasn't Casey who called the Sheriff's Office to report that the toddler had been abducted. It was Casey's mother, Cynthia Anthony.
At 8:44 p.m. on July 15, 2008, Cindy Anthony called Orange County 911. After initially reporting that she wanted her 22-year-old daughter arrested for stealing her car, Cindy told the dispatcher, "I have a 3-year-old that's missing for a month." Caylee was then three weeks shy of her third birthday.
The dispatcher sounded shocked when she asked if Cindy had reported the missing baby.
"I'm trying to do that now, ma'am," Cindy said. She explained to the dispatcher that her daughter had stolen her car and some money and had disappeared four weeks ago. "She's been missing for a month," Cindy said. "I found her, but I can't find my granddaughter."
The dispatcher said she was sending a sheriff's unit to the Anthony's house on Hopespring Drive, just outside the city limits of Orlando.
An hour later, Cindy called 911 again. This time she sounded panicked. "There's something wrong," she told the dispatcher. "I found my daughter's car today. It smells like there's been a dead body in the damn car." Cindy said she had not seen her granddaughter since the middle of June.
The dispatcher asked to speak to Caylee's mother. Casey got on the line. "My daughter's been missing for 31 days," she said. "I know who has her. I've tried to contact her." Casey told the dispatcher she got a call from Caylee earlier that day, but the call only lasted a minute before someone hung up the phone. When she tried to call the number back, Casey said, it was out of service.
Casey claimed her nanny, a woman she identified as Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, whom she said had been babysitting Caylee for nearly two years, had kidnapped the little girl.
"Why are you calling now?" the incredulous dispatcher asked. "Why didn't you call 31 days ago?"
"I've been looking for her and going through other resources to try to find her, which was stupid," Casey said.
From the beginning, something about the story didn't sound right. A young mother waiting an entire month to report that her daughter, not quite 3 years old, had been kidnapped? Soon, though, the story would take an even more sinister turn and would capture the attention of the nation.
At 8:44 p.m. on July 15, 2008, Cindy Anthony called Orange County 911. After initially reporting that she wanted her 22-year-old daughter arrested for stealing her car, Cindy told the dispatcher, "I have a 3-year-old that's missing for a month." Caylee was then three weeks shy of her third birthday.
The dispatcher sounded shocked when she asked if Cindy had reported the missing baby.
"I'm trying to do that now, ma'am," Cindy said. She explained to the dispatcher that her daughter had stolen her car and some money and had disappeared four weeks ago. "She's been missing for a month," Cindy said. "I found her, but I can't find my granddaughter."
The dispatcher said she was sending a sheriff's unit to the Anthony's house on Hopespring Drive, just outside the city limits of Orlando.
An hour later, Cindy called 911 again. This time she sounded panicked. "There's something wrong," she told the dispatcher. "I found my daughter's car today. It smells like there's been a dead body in the damn car." Cindy said she had not seen her granddaughter since the middle of June.
The dispatcher asked to speak to Caylee's mother. Casey got on the line. "My daughter's been missing for 31 days," she said. "I know who has her. I've tried to contact her." Casey told the dispatcher she got a call from Caylee earlier that day, but the call only lasted a minute before someone hung up the phone. When she tried to call the number back, Casey said, it was out of service.
Casey claimed her nanny, a woman she identified as Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, whom she said had been babysitting Caylee for nearly two years, had kidnapped the little girl.
"Why are you calling now?" the incredulous dispatcher asked. "Why didn't you call 31 days ago?"
"I've been looking for her and going through other resources to try to find her, which was stupid," Casey said.
From the beginning, something about the story didn't sound right. A young mother waiting an entire month to report that her daughter, not quite 3 years old, had been kidnapped? Soon, though, the story would take an even more sinister turn and would capture the attention of the nation.
It has been almost exactly three years since Casey Anthony was found not guilty of murdering her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, but she is still essentially a prisoner, one of her lawyers says. Anthony, now 28, lives in an unnamed location in Florida and remains afraid to go out in public because of death threats, Cheney Mason tells CNN.
She does clerical work at home for various clients, but "she hasn't been freed from her incarceration yet 'cause she can't go out," the lawyer says. "She can't go to a beauty parlor, she can't go shopping to a department store, she can't go to a restaurant, she can't even go to McDonald's. She can't do anything."
The Orlando Sentinel notes that Mason says Anthony doesn't live alone, and isn't romantically involved with anyone.
Anthony — who accused her father of sexually abusing her — "does not have any blood family anymore" and the family she has now consists of members of her defense team.
Mason says he thinks she "wants to speak out"; Anthony declined CNN's request for an interview, however.
"I know she has very strong feelings for what has happened to her. I also know she's very saddened by her loss and she will never forget her daughter Caylee, ever," Mason says.
His book, Justice in America: How Prosecutors and the Media Conspire Against the Accused, will be released this summer. Mason— the third attorney associated with the case to write a book — says it will include information never revealed before, and will go beyond the Anthony case to explore broader legal issues.
0 comments:
Post a Comment