Signs Point to Mom: The Unsolved Murder of Three-Year Old Caylee Anthony
The world was entranced by Casey Anthony’s bizarre behavior and blatant disinterest of her role as a young single mom. Everyone blamed her for her daughter’s murder.
Caylee Goes Missing
Casey Anthony, a twenty-two-year-old single mother from Orlando, Florida, had a reputation for unruly and reckless behavior. Her daughter, two-year-old Caylee, lived with Casey’s parents, Cindy and George Anthony in Clearwater, Florida. After a heated family argument in June of 2008, Casey took Caylee to remain under her custody. After about a month of no communication between Casey and her parents, Casey came to her mother and told her that the nanny she hired, Zenida Fernandez Gonzalez, stole her 1998 Pontiac, an unknown amount of cash, and fled with Caylee. She said they had been missing for thirty-one days. Cindy and Casey reported Caylee missing to the police on July 15th. When it was revealed that Caylee had been missing for thirty-one days, the dispatcher asked why she did not report Caylee missing sooner. She replied that she went to go look for her herself, admitting the foolishness of the idea.
As it turns out, Casey’s nanny did not kidnap nor steal from her. Casey is arrested on July 16th for lying to investigators, child neglect, and interfering with a criminal investigation. Authorities struggled to get the truth from Casey and found her web of lies odd and suspicious.
The final straw, however, was what was found, or smelled, in the Anthony family’s car. After the vehicle was impounded, George Anthony went to retrieve the car. He was overwhelmed by the stench coming from the trunk and told authorities that it smelled like there was a dead body in there, and demanded that Casey be considered the prime suspect for Caylee’s disappearance.
Covering It Up
After Casey’s arrest for the three previous charges, the use of a cadaver dog on the trunk of the family’s car confirmed that a dead body had been placed and remained in the trunk for several days. She was then declared a ‘person of interest’ for Caylee’s disappearance. While her charges were minor when she was first arrested, her suspected involvement in her daughter’s disappearance raised the price of her bail to $500,200, to which a California Bounty Hunter paid in full in hopes that Casey would lead investigators to Caylee. When she refused to speak to any authorities, the bond was later rescinded, and she returned to the Orange County Jail in September.
On October 14th, Casey was charged with first-degree murder. She was also charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter, and four counts of lying to law enforcement. In addition, a strand of Caylee’s hair was found in the trunk of the Anthonys’ vehicle. By this time, investigators had a hard time finding concrete evidence in order to prosecute Casey. While it was revealed during her trial in 2011 that, yes, the car’s smell matched that of a decomposing body, Casey lied to authorities about her daughter’s whereabouts for a month, and even found children’s bones buried about a half-mile away from the Anthonys’ house, there were no obvious details that could pinpoint the blame to Casey.
The case became a media frenzy. The whole world wondered whether Casey killed her daughter or not, and why couldn’t authorities figure it out? The internet micro analyzed her appearance, behavior, and past actions, trying to figure it out for themselves. Most thought she was guilty, few thought she was innocent. Pictures were posted of Casey drinking and partying during the period of time where Caylee went missing. Soon before the trial, her father attempted suicide, sending the media into another slew of theories. Between Casey’s bizarre behavior and party-girl reputation to the public, everyone pointed their fingers at her.
Was it Really Casey?
Casey’s outlandish trial began on May 24, 2011. The prosecution maintained the argument that Casey was a wild girl with no interest in raising a child, so she murdered her daughter and buried her body to escape the responsibilities of motherhood. The defense argued that Caylee accidentally drowned at George and Cindy's pool, and George was the one who found and covered up Caylee’s death. It was also argued that a utility worker found Caylee’s body and buried it in the woods.
Forensic evidence proved that Caylee’s body was in the trunk of the Anthonys’ car for several days before being removed. Computer evidence also showed that Casey searched the terms ‘chloroform,’ ‘head injury,’ ‘chest trauma,’ and ‘ruptured spleen.’ High amounts of chloroform, a powerful cleaning liquid, were found in the Anthonys’ car. Casey’s mother later testified that it was her who searched ‘chloroform’ on her computer, claiming that she used it to remove a stain found in the trunk when they bought the car years earlier.
While the forensic evidence confirmed that Caylee’s death was intentional and ruled as a homicide, it was up to the jury to decide if it was her mother who was behind the crime or not. After deliberating for 10 hours and 40 minutes, the jury found Casey not guilty of murder. Casey, now 35, has not spoken to her parents since the trial. Today, she lives as a free, but globally hated, woman, probably continuing her party-girl streak more anonymously.