Those with experience in CPS - Children's Court cases, as well as criminal defense attorneys, are listening to the news stories covering missing 3 year old Caylee Anthony with a bit of a different ear than some of the commentators covering the unfolding saga. It's not our first rodeo with this sort of circumstance, unfortunately.
Right now: Caylee's mother, Casey, has been arrested for Child Neglect and for Providing False Information to a Police Officer. She has a lawyer. Bond has been set at $500,000.00. Tips are coming into the Sheriff's Department, and forensic testing is being done of Casey's car as well as the grandparents' back yard, but the whereabouts and condition of Caylee remain a mystery.
Caylee was last seen over six weeks ago - on JUNE 9, 2008 - and mother Casey has told the police that she dropped Caylee off with a babysitter (named Zenaida) at the Sawgrass Apartments in Orange County, Florida. Grandmother Cindy reported the child missing on JULY 15, 2008, bringing in law enforcement authorities into the situation which led to Casey's arrest. (Source: Orange County Sheriff's Department Media Advisory dated July 16, 2008).
Tonight, there is a prayer vigil for the missing toddler.
Sites with good collections of information include:
Orlando Sentinel (local coverage, lots of videos of court hearings, press conferences, statements by family)
Nancy Grace's Case File on Caylee at CNN.COM
Caylee's Blog
Thoughts on this:
1. Casey Anthony is considered a "person of interest" which translates to many ears as "prime suspect."
2. That half-million dollar bond is a big one. Sounds like there are lots of arguments being made that Cindy is a major flight risk if she gets out of jail.
3. Just because Casey Anthony doesn't sound like we'd like her to sound doesn't mean that she is guilty of killing her child. Inappropriate emotions can mask many things - though it was clearly stupid of Casey Anthony to blab away on an obviously NOT private phone line.
4. Tips are coming in -- helped in part by the $200,000 reward that's being publicized. One interesting tip: a little girl matching Caylee's description boarded a flight out of Atlanta, and spoke with the tipster, and the tip looks promising.
Kids are stolen and kidnapped every day. It would be foolish to rule out that possibility now - or later - just because Caylee's mother isn't crying when we think she should be.
Two questions to ponder:
What the heck is the entire family doing, waiting 6 weeks to notify police that this small child is missing? They're supposedly close-knit. There's a story here.
And, where and who is Caylee's dad? Have any members of his family ever been involved in Caylee's life?
Sunday, July 27, 2008
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