Caylee Anthony Update 12 December

An Orange County utility worker may have found what dozens of investigators and search crews have been looking for during the last five months -- the bones of missing toddler Caylee Marie Anthony.

A meter reader this morning walked into a patch of woods near Hopespring and Suburban drives and discovered a plastic bag on the ground.

When he lifted the bag, a child's skull rolled out.

The location of the remains is less than one-quarter mile from where Caylee lived with her mother, Casey Anthony, and her grandparents.

Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary confirmed the bones belong to a child, but would not verify if they are the remains of the toddler.

However, Tim Miller, founder and leader of Texas EquuSearch -- the group that has been helping detectives search for the missing girl -- said a sheriff's investigator in the case thinks the remains are Caylee's.


he bones "appear to be Caylee, but with any case, we have to wait until a positive ID is made," Miller said. "It looks like finally it's over with."

The medical examiner's office collected the remains Thursday and Beary said the discovery is a top priority for the forensic investigators at the FBI.

"We are trying to put it all together," Beary said.

The fastest the bones can be tested for DNA identification is a couple of days, if the case is given priority, according to Dr. Marcella Fierro, former chief medical examiner of Virginia.

It will be virtually impossible to determine if the skeleton is male or female without DNA, she said.

"Until you really have the bones showing the effect of hormones or adolescent development, it would be tough to gender them," said Fierro.

Caylee was 2 when she was reported missing July 15.

Anthony, 22, was indicted in October for first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child, four counts of providing false information to law enforcement and a slew of check fraud charges.

She is being held without bail at the Orange County Jail.

Anthony, her parents George and Cindy Anthony; and her defense attorney, José Baez, have insisted that Caylee is alive.

George and Cindy Anthony were flying from California, where they appeared on CNN's Larry King Live on Wednesday, while today's events unfolded. After their flight landed at Orlando International Airport on Thursday afternoon, law-enforcement officers rushed them off the plane and away from the media.

Orlando attorney Brad Conway, who said he represented George and Cindy Anthony, was at the airport and told reporters that his clients were "obviously shocked.''

"It's the worst possible news they could get," Conway said, referring to the body found near their home today.

Hours after the remains were discovered Baez filed an emergency motion in court, requesting the defense to be present for all forensic testing.

"If the body found is determined to be that of Caylee Marie Anthony, then the defense would request that their own experts be permitted to be present during any forensic testing done, including but not limited to DNA testing or autopsy," Baez wrote in the motion.

A hearing is set for Friday before Orange Circuit Court Judge Stan Strickland.

Baez's spokesman, Todd Black, said he is holding out hope.

"We certainly hope it isn't [Caylee]," Black said. "If it is, it is a sad day."

The area where law-enforcement officers discovered the remains of a child was quickly transformed into a circus as a crowd of spectators and a swarm of media surged into the area.

EquuSearch volunteer Deborah Smith said she had "a bad feeling" about the area where the remains where found because Anthony once mentioned her daughter was nearby.

In a recorded telephone conversation Anthony had with her brother Lee Anthony in July, she said Caylee was "close to home."

"That's still my best feeling at the moment," she said.

Smith said the area where the remains were found is "really wet and steep and there's lots of snakes back there."

Mandy Albritton of EquuSearch said their workers did not search that location in September because it was under water.

When the search group returned in November, the site had been fenced off.

Resident Dorothy Jackson, 58, who lives two miles from the Anthonys' home, is certain the bones belong to Caylee.

"This is her. I know this is her. I know this is Caylee Marie Anthony," Jackson said.

Kalani Bowles, an 18-year-old who has publicly defended the Anthonys, said Casey Anthony is not guilty of doing anything to harm her daughter.

"Casey is a good person and her family are good people," Bowles said. "If it is Caylee, then whoever did this doesn't have common decency."

Somebody should tell Mr. Bowles that most children who are murdered are murdered by people they know. And three year olds don't usually don't know that many people. So the person lacking in common decency is more than likely her own mother. But then again some people will do anything to get their face on tv. Watch his foolishness in the video above.

At least the police taking their home over as a crime scene has enabled them to have some time to grieve in private. This is not a moment I would want to live out in the press. Will this be the trigger to open their eyes to the fact that their daughter more than likely killed Caylee.

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