Caylee Anthony: The Untold Story

(CBS News)  It is a case that has captivated the country.

In the summer of 2008, Orlando, Fla. toddler Caylee Anthony disappeared, only to be discovered six months later a short distance from her home, her skeletal remains stuffed in plastic bags and her mouth sealed with duct tape. Her mother, Casey Anthony, was charged with the horrific crime after not reporting her daughter missing for a month, and allegedly lying to police.

As Casey, now 23, faces a murder trial and the possibility of the death penalty, her parents, Cindy and George Anthony, are standing by their daughter as they search for the truth.

And, for the first time, three of Casey's defense lawyers discuss the case in an exclusive interview with CBS News' "The Early Show" anchor Maggie Rodriguez.

"In a moment's notice, our lives can change. We went through probably the worst tragedy that one could face," said Cindy Anthony.

For Cindy and George Anthony and their entire family, that moment came suddenly in the summer of 2008, when their precious 2-year-old granddaughter, Caylee, who lived with them, disappeared. Their lives have been a horrendous nightmare ever since."What we've been through in a year has been hell," George told Maggie Rodriguez. "It's changed us dramatically in our faith, in our belief in God."

It was bad enough that Caylee had disappeared. But what's made it even more devastating for the Anthonys is that their daughter, Casey, has been charged with murdering her."Casey would not hurt Caylee," said George. "She wouldn't do that.

"But Casey Anthony had become a suspect because she had lied repeatedly to detectives and waited a month before reporting that her daughter was missing.In December 2008, six months after her disappearance, the search for Caylee ended with a gruesome discovery just blocks from the Anthony home. The little girl's remains were found in a wooded area; her mouth was sealed with duct tape and her body stuffed in two plastic bags.

Now, Caylee's 23-year-old mother is in jail awaiting trial. Casey Anthony could face the death penalty.

"I pray every night that when I wake up the next morning, that it would be just a nightmare. And Caylee would come in the morning and wake me up," Cindy told Rodriguez. "But you know - that prayer can't be answered."

For a grandmother and grandfather, the questions are almost unimaginable about what really happened to Caylee. And is it even remotely possible that their daughter could have done this?

"It's been a tough year. And I miss my girls," said a teary-eyed Cindy.

George and Cindy's own attorney, Brad Conway, said the family wants only one thing.

"They brought me on this journey to help them find the truth" he explained. "They want the truth. But it's gonna be difficult, very difficult when we get there."

And what if the answers lead to Casey? "Then I'll have my answers," said Cindy.

The investigation of Caylee's disappearance and murder has been perhaps the nation's biggest crime story for over a year and the frenzy shows few signs of letting up. Diane Fanning has just written a book on the Caylee Anthony murder.

"Sometimes it just matters if it hits somebody right in the media. And this one did," Fanning said. "Probably 90 percent of the country had been following that case from the first day."

People seem transfixed by every minute development - like the work of thousands of volunteers who flooded central Florida on foot, on horseback and by boat - all looking for Caylee in the shadow of the Magic Kingdom.

"She lived in a place that's considered a mecca for children. And this beautiful little child disappears from here. It just is jarring," Fanning said. "And it makes for a good story."

A morbid fascination stalks the Anthonys and even their neighbors; so do belligerent protesters.

"There has been no privacy from the inception of this case," Conway said. "Their home was invaded by people that live in Orlando, protesting. Protesting the fact that Casey was still living there."

The protests began in late summer 2008, long before Caylee's remains were found, as details of the case began leaking out and Casey went in and out of jail, arrested for lesser crimes like child neglect and making false statements.

Investigation timeline

"People hate her. I think it's almost like a hangman's type mentality for some of these people," said George.

In early August 2008, after one of her arrests, Casey was openly defiant, complaining to her parents about the public's outrage with her:

"I don't care about the media; I don't care about what people have been saying about me. That doesn't matter. Because I know it's not true. And everyone that knows me knows that isn't true," she said from jail.

Listen to excerpts of the Anthonys' jailhouse visits

But protesters refused to leave, often dragging little children with them, screaming obscenities and pushing and shoving at all hours of the day and night.

"How are you supposed to feel when you're being called particular names? It just gets to you after a while. It needles you. It eats at you," George explained. "If you get spit on... and you get stuff thrown at you, what are you supposed to do? You're supposed to stand back and just not let it bother you?"

Conway said George and Cindy Anthony have been unfairly targeted and "that needs to stop."

The protests died down when Casey was arrested for the murder in October 2008. The media frenzy never really subsided, and for Cindy, it eventually became too much.

"I've asked you guys to respect my privacy," she said, addressing the reporters and protesters outside her home at one point. "All of you leeches, all of you parasites, all of you maggots out here. OK? That's true. Because that's exactly what you guys are. All of you guys!"

George Anthony finally reached a breaking point, too. In January 2009, he was hospitalized after
threatening to commit suicide. Sheriff's deputies found him in a Daytona Beach motel after he'd sent family members text messages saying he didn't want to live anymore.

"Knowing that my granddaughter was gone, knowing where my daughter's at and what she's facing for the possibility of her life, how much it's hurting Cindy... I couldn't take it no more," George told Rodriguez. "I wanted to join Caylee. I miss her so so much."

These days George says he's doing much better, but is still struggling with the overwhelming loss and an uncertain future - all of it under the watchful eye of an insatiable public.

"People drive by every single day, get out and take photographs... people just driving by... It happens all the time," he pointed out to Rodriguez as he spotted someone taking a photo outside his home during their interview.

"They have made themselves part of the story," said John Morgan, a prominent attorney and businessman in Orlando. "It's out of the movies! Like I said, great looking guy, beautiful family... [a] little house in a great subdivision. But you would never have imagined what we've now discovered that was going on inside that place."

Something friends of Casey say was going on for a long time.

"Casey Anthony... she's a habitual liar... a troubled human being," explained Pam Bondi, an assistant state attorney in Tampa, Fla., who is familiar with, but has no connection to the Anthony case. "Clearly she needed help."

"It erupted," Morgan said. "It was Mount Vesuvius."

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[tbbaot]

For those of us that have followed the case, we have seen the entire Anthony family prove over and over just how dysfunctual they are. You can clearly see how Casey became the selfish little unwed mother that didn't want Callie and didn't want her mother to have her either. That is the whole motivation behind the murder and the pack of lies that began the second Cindy hollared "We found her car, it smells like a damn body has been in there".

[Cayleeanthonyjury]

CACEY IS THE FACE OF EVIL IN THAT EYES I SEE. Her parent NEVER loved her. They loved her granddaughter Caylee Anthoney. Her parents love only Caylee and her daughter Casey turns to sex and parting for relief. Casey killed her daughter because she resented her mom. Her mom took her granddaughter as ?her own baby child and nursing her? and not treating Caylee Anthony as her ?granddaughter?.

Their parent is trying to save her daughter right now by promoting some kinda child abduction good cause. Godsh?they just don?t want to believe that their daughter killed their granddaughter (or I shall say theirs- the grandparent?s ?baby?) because they (the grandparent) took away and separate ?mother and child? bond. Cassey killed the baby because she feels that the baby no longer is hers. Anyway, Casey deserves to die in the ?electric chair?. This is not a case of child abduction, Caylee Anthony went missing under her mom?s care and Casey NEVER reported to the police till 30 days later when her grandmom discovered the shocking situation. If I were the foreman at her death sentence, I would NEVER hesitate to turn on the switch on her. Instead of tears, I want to see blood flowing from Casey?s eyes as she was crying in hell?

[Janice492230]

I commented on this case earlier and have had the opportunity to read more and I no longer feel any sympathy at all for the grandparents. They are so in denial. I know it must be difficult to believe that your child could commit such a terrible crime, but they need to wake up and face the reality. The Nanny will not be found, she either does not exist, or as stated, Casey read and obtained her info somewhere and used her name. My daughter is 22 and just had her first child. I love her very much and am glad she is a great Mom, but these parents really need to stop their denial, they are obviously not stupid or ignorant, and they have to see the holes in Casey's story. What kind of Mother has her daughter missing for an entire month and does not report it? If Mother and daughter, Casey and Cindy, were so close, the FIRST person Casey would have run to in hysterics would have been her Mother. Then immediately, it would have been reported to the police, not a month later and not only after the Grandmother smelled what she herself thought was a body in the trunk of Cindy and Casey did not get along, Casey left her parents home and committed this horrible crime, and would have STILL not reported it until the Grandmother Cindy, realized something was wrong. She saw it then, and deep down this lady knows her daughter is involved. As hard as it may be for her to accept, she needs to stand up for the victim, this innocent child that lost her life. This means admitting her daugther is exactly what she is, a monster and a killer.

[LuvingChrist]

Casey has lied so much she probably does not even know the truth. I pray that she tells the truth and faces her judgment here rather then where she will be going! My heart does go out to the parents, George and Cindy and i do not believe they were involved at all in their grand daughter's death. I do believe they were having problems with Casey and know that she was very mentally disturbed. Why would a mother not report her daughter missing? The state has the evidence they need, "Casey turn to Christ"!

[llcolatrella01]

Who is the daddy? I do not believe it was the boy who died in the car accident.If his family believed that they would have wanted that beautiful baby.I did not see 48hrs although i have always liked the show. if part 2 is the other side of the story,then i'll watch. i would just like to know where is Caylee's Daddy???

[jcdugger1234]

Essentially what Casey's lawyers want you to believe is this...

Casey dropped off Caylee at a location that she couldn't exactly remember, with a person that nobody (including Casey's family and lawyers) can even verify exists. Then Casey lies to her family AND investigators because she's supposedly trying to "Encyclopedia Brown" the whereabouts of her daughter on her own. (Casey's lawyers will unbelievably contend that Casey feared if she told the police the truth, her daughter would be in even more trouble). Then they will try to explain away the partying and cheeky-photo-taking...along with that disgusting tattoo...by saying she was trying to find her daughter and she didn't want to let on that she was terrified about her missing daughter. That she was simply doing her best Sherlock Holmes impersonation and getting to the bottom of her missing daughter's whereabouts. Uh-huh.

THIS is what the Defense is going to take to trial. I guess they're simply hoping for an OJ-style (IQ deficient) jury. Good luck.


JD

[jcdugger1234]

CBSNEWS...where we protect murderers in exchange for ratings!

I love the title "The Untold Story"...then they go on re-hashing everything everybody already knew about the case. It should have been titled "The Alternate Reality Story".

This and the recent Steve McNair article were clear cases of simple money-grabs by CBSNEWS. Anything to drum up ratings I guess.

If you believe Casey's story (her current story as of today of course)...you need a few more years in the 3rd grade. Get a brain.

JD

[joadun]

To USA_CITIZEN: Why would you applaud CBS for presenting a show from both prospectives. Other than that of the Anthonys, where was the other prospective? This show was NOT impartial and unbiased because it allowed the Anthonys and ONLY the Anthonys to again air their misguided and unrealistic views on national TV.

[DaLeeta]

I helped for 2 weeks on a search team to find this precious little angel in HOT and HUMID July/August Florida weather, while her 'mother' sat in the A/C playing on the computer. Not once did she volunteer to help look for her little girl. Not once did Cindy or George try to help look! We were fighting snakes, poisonous spiders and gators while Casey was lying and sending the police on a wild goose chase!
Cindy Anthony started this circus with the media because she would not shut up and then even SHE said that the car smelled like a dead body was in the car. She and George have changed their stories a hundred times to protect the murderer of the grand-daughter that they say they loved. She is on this show acting like things were so good between she and Casey and earlier she was saying that they had a horrible relationship and that she was a pathological liar. Now she says that they had a great relationship????
Jose Baez is just off the wall and he doesnt help keep the circus down either. Right now he is the ring leader!
I just pray that VERY soon something will come out that will prove that Casey did kill this beautiful child or IF there was another killer that it will come to light.

[damilia]

Parents, please set Rules and Boundaries for your children. This is a clear example of always saying Yes and not enough saying No. I know people today who are borderline Casey Anthony personalities, and who's to say they won't snap one day. People want to have children to receive assistance (a Gov't check); however, they do not know the daily every minute love and nurturing it takes to Raise a Child. It's a sign of our society. Get Stable first (like Marriage), THEN have children.