DNA Confirms Skeletal Remains Are Caylee

Florida Toddler Had Been Missing Since June; Mother Casey Anthony Charged

(CBS/AP)  Skeletal remains found in the woods are the Florida 3-year-old who has been missing since June, but they don't reveal any clues about how she was killed, a county medical examiner said Friday.

A utility worker stumbled upon the remains last week, less than a half-mile from where the girl lived. DNA tests confirm that the remains match Caylee Anthony's genetic profile, said the medical examiner, Dr. Jan Garavaglia.

Caylee's mother, 22-year-old Casey Anthony, was indicted in October on first-degree murder and other charges, even though no body was found. She has insisted that she left the girl with a baby sitter in June, but she didn't report her missing until July.

It took authorities several days to analyze the remains, and some tests are still being completed. Some of the bones were as small as a pebble and had been scattered, and the fragments were hard to find by excavators who searched on their hands and knees, authorities said. The bone fragments did not reveal any trauma before death, Garavaglia said, but exactly what happened to the girl remains a mystery.

I think there's been an open wound in the community. And I believe we can start putting some closure to those open wounds," said Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary, according to CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella.

Investigators say they may have missed an opportunity to make their case stronger, Cobiella reports. The same witness who tipped them off about the little girl's remains told them about the site three times in August.

A search team said they did not check the wooded area sooner because it was submerged in water. Beary said his department was investigating reports that the utility worker who called in the tip leading to the discovery of the remains had tried several times in August to call in his suspicion about a bag in the area.

"If we missed a window of opportunity we don't know," he said. "I'm not throwing anybody under the bus because we don't know. That's why we conduct an administrative review."

A message left for the attorney representing George and Cindy Anthony, Casey's parents, was not immediately returned.

The Orange County utility worker, Roy Kronk, identified himself at a brief afternoon news conference. He said that he had contacted the Orange County Sheriff's office in August to report that he had seen "something suspicious, a bag, in the same area."

Reading from a statement, he said he was cooperating with the sheriff's office and FBI and would not discuss details with the media.

David Evans, his lawyer, said Kronk is not involved in the girl's disappearance.

"His participation in this matter is strictly as a concerned citizen with a sharp eye, good instincts," Evans said. "Those who have speculated to the contrary could not be more wrong."

Evans asked that the media give his client and other utility workers their privacy.

The case captivated the community where the little girl's family lived, and Caylee has been a staple on national news as her grandparents pleaded for tips, promising that the girl was still alive.

Caylee's grandmother first called authorities in July to say she hadn't seen the girl for a month and her daughter's car smelled like death.

Police immediately interviewed Anthony and soon said everything she told them about her daughter's whereabouts was false. The baby sitter was nonexistent and the apartment where Anthony said she had last seen Caylee had been empty for months. Anthony also lied about where she worked, they said.

Other troubling details emerged: Photos surfaced of Anthony partying after her daughter went missing. Friends said she was a habitual liar, but also a good mother.

Last month, the Orange County State Attorney turned over almost 800 pages of documents showing someone used the Anthonys' home computer to do Internet searches for terms like "neck breaking" and "household weapons."

In mid-March, someone searched Google and Wikipedia for peroxide, shovels, acetone, alcohol and chloroform. Traces of chloroform, which is used to induce unconsciousness and a component of human decomposition, were found in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car during forensic testing, the documents say.

[farremoved]

How disgusting. That Mother should be so ashamed. Its hard to imagine such a crime.

Posted by sockpuppet4

You''ve got to be kidding me......."ashamed"!? When (not if but WHEN) she is convicted she should be field dressed with a dull, rusty knife!! I can only hope that the DA will have enough evidence to reverse course and put the death penalty back on the table...........this piece of craaap deserves to have her lights put out!

[cepe10-2009]

"utility worker stumbled across them" Too funny - more like after several botched attempted he led police to where he dumped the body...

[clem641]

bout time i have been watching this on nancy grace from day one atleast we can call this a win for the mom dont let her get away withthis make her do her time dont let her take the easy way out withthe needle to good for her let her think of all the days shebeen missing let her think bout what she has done to folks in herlife she must be locked up an throw away the key no more play time for her i vote nancy grace for prez too have happy holidays also

[twriter1]

Wake up and smell the coffee!!!! Who had computer access???? The possible motives are:
1.) Casey sold Caylee to a drug dealer who later raped and killed Caylee.
2.)Casey''s boyfriend killed Caylee.
3.) A pedophile killed Caylee.
4.) Caylee''s death was an accident by using too much chloroform so Casey could go party.

[honestabe8]

BarbaraM99: Madison Avenue is much the same as Hollywoodland. If you buy the right product, a hot woman (or man, depending on the product) will favor you....

[honestabe8]

I would like to spend a week with a particular cabinet appointee. Think Reservoir Dogs.

[dcrc49]

How can you say, "they found nothing that ties Casey to the body"? What about the smell of death in her car that the grandmother reported, the chloroform, and hair belonging to someone who had died? And I bet they''''ve found more at the crime scene.
************************************
I don''t believe that it was said that nothing they found ties Casey to the body. During the press conference yesterday, it was said that evidence found and collected at the site led to the conclusion that this was a homicide so I think there was a great deal of evidence that won''t be released for a while. My guess, all that was found points to one person, Casey.

[barbaram99]

Why we care.
It is a child that was killed.
We pay to educate her/him in the school system.
They grow up to have a family.
And so no,
Children don''t pick out their names.
True we can''t save the world but we can make a difference.
Hollywoodland is full lies just to make money. People believe shows like CSI are real when they are not. We have a bunch fed a diet of TV. It shows.

[judyinsc]

Some people just don''t seem to have a heart beating in their chest. Who among us could not mourn an innocent life snuffed out by a cold blooded killer, ESPECIALLY when it sure looks like the mother is the one who did it, and why? Because she didn''t want to be bothered by the little girl, because she was jealous that her parents showed the child such love. That''s the real reason! Wish Cayce would confess so that the parents don''t go on thinking that their daughter could not have done this to their precious grandchild. Who would want to believe that their own child could do this to another human being, not to mention her own child? Get JUSTICE for Caylee. please! I have cried many tears for this child. It''s Christmas! She should be opening gifts this year and excited about Santa and instead the family is making burial plans. Cayce, I hope you rot!

Judy

[me4prezz]

Why does anyone who didn''''t know these people CARE? Why is this girl on magazine covers and web pages? Thousands of children (and adults) die every hour on this planet, and many are murdered, by their parents or by stepfamily or by boyfriends, or by strangers, or by the president of the United States or by opposing tribes in primitive areas. Why do the media make such a big deal out of this little girl with the dorky name????? Why does it MATTER???? Even as I type this a child is dying because of a drunken driver, because of leukemia, because of AIDS, because of STARVATION!!!! Who gives a F about Cayleeeeeeeeeeee.....


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by contrarian6 at 02:44 PM : Dec 20, 2008

That may be true, but anyone with a heart has feelings and issues anytime a child dies, especially when it looks like the one person who was supposed to protect her killed her. That is why we care. Something you wouldn''t know about. We can''t save the world, but maybe...just maybe...we can do something to make sure this woman doesn''t do this again to another child.

[ms1-1-1]

mydiatribe,

can''t wait ''till they announce whoose finger prints were found on the bag, guess?

[ms1-1-1]

A utility worker stumbled upon the remains last week, less than a half-mile from where the girl lived. He called the police, he called the sherriff''s department an everyone was on cocaine no one took the calls serious. I say first order of business the Police Chief is FIRED. He can go scrub floors at Wal-Mart and lick toilet boils.

Second order of business, where is the cesspool sewage FATHER, never at any time did he say "I, loved my daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony, 3, never"

I hope these two cesspools sewage human beings die in hail.

[mydiatribe]

Some citizens who sit for jury duty are unduly influenced by Hollywood television shows such as CSI.

The consequence is that SOME well intended citizens may think that "beyond a reasonable doubt" means without ANY doubt.
A dead baby is found in a trash bag within 1/2 mile of the mother''''s house who has no reasonable explanation for her daughter''''s absence. DUH!
REASONABLE--BTW, Something Casey Anthony is NOT!
What''''s the reasonable conclusion you draw?

[vanfer-2009]

The grandparents let their screwy daughter, who stole from them, go off with this little helpless child for four weeks, without checking up on her! SHAME. This never should have happened...........

[redhedgrl1]

i knew it was caylee, we all did, but somewhere deep down inside i was hoping beyond hope that she was still alive. what a tragedy.

[annia1233]

I hope she (the mother of Caylee) is put in the same cell and group therapy of "Susan Smith" and "Andrea yates", the three of them will be sucking Mr. demon''s little "weenie" in hell.
Women like that should be sterized and put in a cell with rats and feces until they die.

[marymcq]

Are we dealing with the Mayberry Police Force, I think even Barney Fife would have checked out the tip about the bag, especially if there was a sweet little girl missing. I hope someone in prison gets ahold of her, I also read somewhere that she just got involved with yet another man (NEXT) and this man said if he ever did want kids, he wouldn''t want girls. So Sad, at least that beautiful little girl is finally with someone who loves her, God. I bet Casey''s stupid mother wishes she let her give the baby up for adoption now, huh Mrs. Anthony? That always gets to me, someone else trying to control someone else''s life.

I seen part of a jail visit the grandmother had with the mother of the child. The mother definitely knows what happen to the child and I dont know for sure if she had anything to do with it, but for her to sit there and let an innocent child go through what she went through is beyond me and her a$$ should rot in jail for the rest of her life!!!!!

[redhedgrl1]

how can you say it was an accident when there was duct tape around her head (mouth)!!!!!!

[rsmik]

I am most curious about the chloroform evidence, it isn''t like one can just run out to Walmart and pick some up.