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August 8, 2008
Casey Anthony's story loses credibility with investigators' every turn
Topics: News
Three weeks into the search for Caylee Marie Anthony, Orange County sheriff's investigators say they are still untangling the deceptions spun by her 22-year-old mother.
Detectives released new details about the case Thursday as part of a search warrant executed at Casey Anthony's home earlier this week. The report recounts the latest dead ends encountered by investigators pursuing Anthony's story that the girl vanished last month with a baby sitter.
Among the highlights:
*Casey Anthony told investigators she received a brief call from 2-year-old Caylee about noon July 15, the day the child was reported missing. Investigators subpoenaed Anthony's cell-phone records and found no such call. The two closest incoming calls came from her boyfriend at 12:13 a.m., and from someone named Kyle about 3:35 p.m.
*Anthony told investigators that Caylee's baby sitter, Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, lived with a woman who worked as a hostess at a T.G.I. Friday's. Investigators spoke with a T.G.I. Friday's corporate representative who told them they had no employee by the name Anthony gave.
*Anthony said she told two people about Caylee's disappearance, both of whom supposedly worked with her at Kodak for Universal Studios. Detectives learned Kodak had no employment records for either person.
*Detectives obtained some of Anthony's e-mails and found one that appeared to be from a worker at Universal Studios, where Anthony said she worked as an event planner. The supposed sender of the e-mail, about an upcoming Universal event, does not work for the company and the e-mail domain of the sender's address was invalid.
Anthony remained behind bars Thursday at the Orange County Jail, two days after prosecutors filed formal charges against her for child neglect and filing a false statement.
Caylee was reported missing July 15, a month after she supposedly disappeared. Anthony said she hadn't seen her daughter in "31 days," since leaving the youngster with Fernandez-Gonzalez on June 9. When she went to pick up the girl, she said, both of them were gone.
However, a detective has determined that Caylee and her grandmother, Cindy Anthony, visited a relative together six days later, the sheriff's report stated.
Detectives are testing hair and a mysterious stain found in the trunk of a family Pontiac that Anthony was using in June. A cadaver dog alerted on the trunk, indicating the presence of human-decomposition odor, but family members maintain the smell came from old pizza.
Clothing taken in search
On Wednesday, detectives executed a search warrant at Anthony's Lee Vista-area home and left with nearly a dozen articles of clothing from Anthony's closet, including pants, skirts and shirts, according to the document released Thursday.
Another detail disclosed in the report was that Cindy Anthony told investigators this week that she found a pair of slacks and two pairs of shoes in the Pontiac before she reported Caylee missing. The grandmother "removed the pants and washed them due to the fact that they smelled like the car," the report said.
Previously, technicians visited the home to collect toothbrushes, a hairbrush, a comb and an oral thermometer Caylee once used. That same day, authorities also collected court-ordered DNA samples from Anthony in jail.
Investigators went to the family home on Hopespring Drive again Thursday because Cindy Anthony wanted to give them another piece of evidence. After about an hour, authorities left with a large brown evidence bag.
Sheriff's officials would not comment on any of the evidence listed in the affidavit or removed from the house Thursday.
Lawmen talk with Fuhrman
In a related development, Orange County authorities met for about 30 minutes at sheriff's headquarters Thursday with Mark Fuhrman, the former Los Angeles police detective made famous during the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
Fuhrman told Fox TV host Greta Van Susteren on Wednesday night that he had learned about a "flurry" of calls from Casey Anthony's cell phone to her parents and others June 16, when she was alone at the house with Caylee. Detectives have not publicly discussed such calls.
Capt. Angelo Nieves described the 30-minute session Thursday as a "meet and greet." He would not say what was discussed.
"We didn't discuss anything official with him," Nieves said.
Susan Jacobson of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Amy L. Edwards can be reached at 407-420-5735 or aledwards@orlandosentinel.com. Bianca Prieto can be reached at 407-420-5620 or bprieto@orlandosentinel.com.
Posted by admin at August 8, 2008 9:24 AM
