Update: 2:28pm ET 12/12/08Casey Anthony’s defense team says that Orange County Sheriff’s department has told them they are confident that the remains found yesterday ARE Caylee Anthony’s. The medical examiner has said there was evidence found that lets them already make a tentative ID that it is Caylee. There are reports that the child may have suffered a broken neck. Casey Anthony is reportedly still having panic attacks and is hysterical. Good. Should be good entertainment for the jail guards. It won’t, however, help any attempt at an insanity defense. She has nothing to bargain with now. Prosecutors may put the death penalty back on the table.
Update 7:18 ET12/12/08: Investigators took 7 huge bags full of stuff from the Anthony home, 2 vacuum cleaners, and several other items. The vacuum cleaners suggest the investigators are looking for fiber evidence to match what was found yesterday. The Anthonys are free to come back to their home now, although it isn’t certain that they will. It is still a media circus outside their home. Forensic scientists will be looking for any signs of intentional harm to Caylee, and the reports that the skull found had duct tape across it’s mouth is NOT a good sign.
Update 10:31 ET: Crime scene tape is being placed around the Anthony home right now. The authorities just rolled up, hopped out, and began taping everything off around the house. Remember, cadaver dogs hit on Casey’s car, and in the back yard of the car. Police are guarding the entire property. Casey apparently had to take a sedative when she heard the news today. Shocker.
Update 7:20 pm ET: The black plastic bag found with the likely remains of Caylee Anthony is opaque, not able to be seen through. Tim Miller of Equusearch called off his first search for Caylee after he lost a 4-wheeler in this exact area to the mud and water. He feared that searchers would damage or destroy any possible evidence that might have been in the water. What a great call by Tim Miller.
Update 5:50 pm ET: Judge Andrew Napolitano says that the application for the search warrant tells him that the bag of bones was probably NOT where it was found today, when prior searches of the area took place. He says this could mean there were accomplices to the crime, and that this could be why the search warrant has been issued for the Anthony’s house. He admits this is a theory based upon his reading of the warrant application. I tend to disagree with the Judge, this is an area with a gazillion water-areas, the bag is rumored to have clothes in it, and could have been submerged for months. Why would someone else take Caylee, kill Caylee, and then dump her body just several doors down from her house? Also, remember, there is soil from the shovel that is involved in this case. The soil can be compared to the soil at the scene where the evidence was found.
Also, Jose Baez has just reached his office, and reporters are waiting to question him. It appears that the neighborhood is not being blocked off completely, as people from all over have descended upon the area around the Anthony home.
Update 4:45 pm ET: George and Cindy Anthony have just been escorted off of their plane by police. They will be leaving Orlando International Airport in a police escort, will not be going to their house, and will be going to an undisclosed location, possibly the Sheriff’s office. According to the Anthony’s spokesperson, Michelle Bart, they will not be returning to their home for at least the next 48 hours.
Update 4:15pm ET: Casey Anthony’s attorney Jose Baez has just filed an emergency motion with the court to preserve any forensic evidence in this case. This is a strong indication that Baez believes the remains found today are those of Caylee Anthony. These motions are normally granted, and prevent any type of forensic testing that would destroy the evidence, however since this is going to the FBI lab, it is unlikely that they are going to allow outside forensic people in there, or to handle evidence. There will be a hearing tomorrow at 10 am ET on this motion.
Snarkfood has been reporting all day on the remains found very near the home of the Anthony family, that are almost certainly those of little Caylee Anthony. Casey Anthony, Caylee’s mother, has been charged in her murder, and is currently in jail awaiting trial. You can read our earlier, detailed report at the story linked here.
It is rainy now in the area, and currently the authorities are removing the remains and other evidence from the scene so close to the home Caylee grew up in. The remains are reportedly being sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia. The Anthony house is in complete lockdown, with no one being allowed inside except authorities. A search warrant has been executed for a complete search of the home.
Search warrants must be VERY specific. This means that something they’ve found today has triggered the need to search the house. They’ll be looking for tape, garbage bags, clothes… all types of evidence they may be able to match to the remains and other evidence found this morning. They may look for shoes that could match footprints found at the scene.
Fox News Orlando says that there will probably be a bulldozer brought in to the scene as well, because this part of the area has at times been underwater, and some evidence may now be IN the ground. Orlando Sheriff Kevin Beary says they will be searching the ENTIRE area, that they will take their time, and that there will be:
“No mistakes. The remains have been taken to the medical examiner’s office, they are securing the Anthony home and the crime scene, and will be out there all night long. The fact that the remains are of a small female child makes us think we may have Caylee, but there is a lot of work left to do.” He says that if anyone tries to come into the scene and mess around, they will be going straight to jail.
Continue reading Caylee Anthony’s Remains Likely Found: Updates
