Caylee's Grandma: I Mulled Suicide, Too
Caylee Anthony's grandmother considered committing suicide in the wake of the disappearance of the two-year-old.
Caylee's mother, Casey Anthony, has been charged with killing her.
In the second part of an exclusive Early Show interview, Cindy Anthony told co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez she had her brush with suicidal thoughts in July. That's when she reported to police that Caylee was missing.
During part one of the interview, her husband and Caylee's grandfather, George Anthony, discussed the time he attempted to take his own life, in January.
Previously, it had only been public knowledge that George had tried.
"George and I are living the same nightmare," Cindy said to Rodriguez. " ... I can't judge George for certain things that he's done. You know? I understand certain things. I understand his suicide attempt. A lot of people don't know: I was there, too. I wrote suicide notes back in the end of July and August. No one knows that.
"(I wrote the notes) because I couldn't bear not having Kaylie around and not knowing what happened to her. And I wanted -- you get to a point when you miss someone so much, that you think life's not worth living."
And what kept her from going through with it?
"Actually," Cindy responded, "Casey. Once Casey came home, the first time that Casey came home, the very first night -- being able to see her and hug her."
Caylee disappeared in June. Casey, 23, is charged with first degree murder, and prosecutors say they'll seek the death penalty. She has pleaded not guilty. Casey was arrested in October. Caylee's body was found in December. Casey's trial is tentatively set for this coming October. Casey has claimed Caylee was with a babysitter when she vanished.
On July 15, Cindy called police. She's heard on the 911 call saying, "There's something wrong. I found my daughter's car today. And it smells like there's been a dead body in the car."
When Rodriguez asked if she regrets having made that call, Cindy responded, "No, I don't regret anything I did. How can I? I don't know how I would react any differently. I know, after I made the first 911 call, Casey thanked me in the car, because she said I did something that she couldn't do, (which) was to go to the police."
Both Cindy and George, as they had in part one, expressed what Rodriguez characterized as "unflinching" support for and faith in their daughter.
"I believe in her," Cindy insisted.
"There's some people," George pointed out, "who just say, 'Well, we should just be done with it, just ... be done with it. You can't. That's our daughter. You know?"
"No matter what she may or may not have done?" Rodriguez asked.
""No matter what, that's still our daughter," George answered. "That's - no - no matter what."
In the first part of the interview, Rodriguez gently said to George, "A little more than a month after (Caylee)was found dead, you had a very difficult moment. You almost took your own life. You ready to talk about that now?"
"I can talk some about it," he responded. "I mean, to try to keep your family together no matter what, to have so much put on you every single day, to be scrutinized, to be - have people come at you at so many different directions like protesters at our house and stuff. All that weighs on you after awhile. I mean, to think how they tried to destroy my wife. Tried to destroy my son. Came after my daughter. Said negative things in such a way that I'm going to protect my family no matter what. And got to the point on that one day that there is just so much a person can take. I mean, sure that was the wrong direction to go in, and I know that. And I want to talk to more people about that kind of stuff. You can't give up, even though the days get very hard for you. There's other ways. There's people to talk to besides your own family. People you can reach out to and talk. They're going to be there for support to help you."
PART TWO:
PART ONE: