MURDERED: Caylee Anthony

Summary

Detailed Summary of "Clues" Podcast Episode: "MURDERED: Caylee Anthony"

Podcast Title: Clues with Morgan Absher and Kaelyn Moore
Hosts: Morgan Absher and Kaelyn Moore
Episode: MURDERED: Caylee Anthony
Release Date: May 28, 2025
Description: This episode delves deep into the haunting mystery surrounding the disappearance and death of two-year-old Kaylee Anthony, exploring the intricate web of lies, forensic evidence, and the highly publicized trial that captivated a nation.

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Introduction to the Case

Morgan Absher and Kayla Moore kick off the episode by setting the stage for one of true crime's most controversial cases—the disappearance and subsequent death of Kaylee Anthony in 2008. They emphasize the complexity of the case, highlighting the tangled web of lies and conflicting behaviors exhibited by Casey Anthony, Kaylee's mother.

---

The Anthony Family Background

[07:54] Kayla Moore:
“On the surface, the Anthony's seemed like this all-American family. There was the dad, George Anthony, who met his wife Cindy back in the late '70s in Ohio. George was a police officer at the time and worked his way up to being a detective. Meanwhile, Cindy was a registered nurse...”

The Anthony family, comprising George and Cindy Anthony and their children Lee and Casey, appeared outwardly stable. However, underlying tensions and peculiar behaviors hinted at deeper familial issues. For instance, Casey's habit of frequently running out of gas—prompting George to keep gas cans at home—was an early sign of her erratic tendencies.

---

Casey's Pregnancy and the Birth of Kaylee

In 2005, Casey Anthony, then 19, became pregnant with Kaylee. Initially considering adoption, Casey was persuaded by her parents to keep the child. Kaylee was born on August 9, 2005, and Casey remained a young single mother, working as an event planner at Universal Studios Orlando. Despite her responsibilities, Casey's behavior was often seen as immature, with numerous reports of her partying and maintaining a carefree lifestyle.

---

The Disappearance of Kaylee Anthony

[06:27] Kayla Moore:
“This case is really big. A lot of you know about it, and you might have preconceived notions...”

On June 16, 2008, Casey took three-year-old Kaylee to stay with a nanny named Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez, known as Zanny. However, neither Casey nor Kaylee returned home the following day, marking the beginning of a month-long disappearance that shocked the nation.

---

Suspicious Clues and 911 Calls

[15:00] Kayla Moore:
“...Casey's car was towed back to her parents' house. Inside, the car smelled like human decomposition.”

When George Anthony retrieved Casey's abandoned white Pontiac Sunfire from the tow yard, he and the tow truck supervisor reported a foul odor resembling decomposing flesh. This raised immediate suspicions, but the Anthony family was accustomed to loading trash into the car before disposal, which could account for the unpleasant smell.

First 911 Call ([21:37]):
Cindy Anthony initially contacted authorities to report her daughter Casey for grand theft of the car and money, not specifically mentioning Kaylee's disappearance.

Second 911 Call ([24:10]):
“I have someone here that I need to be arrested in my home. Possible missing child of a three-year-old that's been missing for a month.”

Only after Casey admitted to Cindy that Kaylee was missing did Cindy escalate the situation to emergency services. Police subsequently visited the nanny's apartment but found it vacant, deepening the mystery.

---

The Discovery of Kaylee’s Remains

[38:10] Kayla Moore:
“Investigators found a human hair in the trunk of the family's Pontiac... match the color and length of Kaylee's hair.”

In October 2008, forensic investigators discovered a strand of hair in Casey's car trunk that matched Kaylee's. Later, on December 19, 2008, Roy Cronk, a utility worker, found Kaylee’s remains in the woods near the Anthony home. The autopsy confirmed her death as a homicide, though the exact cause remained undetermined.

---

The Trial: Prosecution vs. Defense

Prosecution's Case:

The prosecution portrayed Casey as a negligent and irresponsible mother who led a carefree lifestyle despite her daughter's disappearance. Key evidences included:

• Behavior During Disappearance: Casey was documented partying, including attending "Hot Body" competitions and getting a tattoo during the month Kaylee was missing.

• Prosecutorial Evidence:

  • Chloroform in the Car ([48:12]): An air sample from the trunk showed high concentrations of chloroform, suggesting possible sedation of Kaylee.
  • Duct Tape on Kaylee's Remains ([42:43]): Multiple pieces of duct tape matched those found in the Anthony home, indicating an attempt to suffocate Kaylee.
  • Cindy’s 911 Calls: Recorded calls showing Cindy’s desperation and confusion about Kaylee’s disappearance were presented to highlight Casey's lack of genuine concern.

Defense's Case:

Led by attorney Jose Baez, the defense argued that Kaylee accidentally drowned in the Anthony family's swimming pool and that George Anthony helped cover it up. They suggested:

• Accidental Death: Kaylee could have slipped and drowned while Casey and George were preoccupied.

• Questioning Evidence: Defense experts contested the validity of the chloroform test and the interpretation of the duct tape, proposing that these findings could be attributed to mundane explanations like garbage decomposition.

• Allegations Against George Anthony: The defense introduced claims that George had sexually abused Casey during her childhood and extended those allegations to suggest George might have harmed Kaylee to cover up past abuses.

---

Verdict and Public Outrage

[61:08] Kayla Moore:
“On the charge of first-degree murder, the jury found the defendant not guilty...”

On July 5, 2011, after a highly publicized trial, the jury acquitted Casey Anthony of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and manslaughter. She was, however, convicted of four counts of providing false information to law enforcement. The verdict sparked widespread public outrage, with over one million viewers watching the live broadcast and protests erupting across Florida.

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Post-Trial Revelations and Continued Mysteries

Months after the trial, significant evidence was uncovered that could have altered the trial's outcome:

• Missed Computer Searches ([69:12]): Investigators initially overlooked searches conducted on Casey’s Firefox browser. Subsequent discoveries revealed searches for "foolproof suffocation" and articles about poisoning, directly correlating to the methods suggested by forensic evidence.

• Impact on Verdict: These missed searches fueled suspicions, as they appeared to be premeditated searches aligning with the prosecution's theory of Casey's guilt. However, this evidence surfaced too late to influence the initial trial.

Additionally, the defense's portrayal of George Anthony as a potential abuser introduced further complexities, although paternity tests conclusively ruled him out as Kaylee's father.

---

Legacy and Advocacy

Despite the unresolved questions and controversial verdict, Kaylee Anthony's tragic death led to impactful changes:

• Kaylee’s Law: Enacted in various states, this law mandates parents to report missing children within 24 to 48 hours, emphasizing the critical nature of the initial response in such cases.

• Advocacy Efforts: The Anthony family briefly operated the Kaylee’s Fund Foundation to honor Kaylee’s memory, although it was dissolved after less than a year.

• Continued Public Interest: Even years later, the case remains a focal point for discussions on media influence, forensic science, and the complexities of the justice system.

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Conclusion

The Caylee Anthony case remains one of true crime's most perplexing and emotionally charged mysteries. With conflicting narratives, missed evidence, and a deeply divided public, the quest for absolute truth continues to elude definitive conclusion. Kaylee's untimely death serves as a somber reminder of the profound impact such tragedies have on families, communities, and the broader societal fabric.

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Notable Quotes:

• Cindy Anthony on Kaylee's Personality [12:34]:
  “From the moment I first saw Kaylee Marie, from the instant she was placed into my arms, she stole my heart forever.”

• Morgan on the Dreaded Decomposition Smell [17:10]:
  “It smells like there was a dead body inside.”

• Cindy’s Final 911 Call [24:10]:
  “Possible missing child of a three-year-old that's been missing for a month.”

• Closing Verdict [61:20]:
  “Find the defendant not guilty.”

---

Timestamp References:

• Introduction of Casey and family dynamics: [07:54]
• Casey's pregnancy and Kaylee's birth: [09:08]
• Initial disappearance and 911 calls: [15:00] - [24:52]
• Discovery of remains and autopsy details: [38:10] - [42:43]
• Trial proceedings and key evidence: [46:07] - [65:23]
• Verdict and public reaction: [61:08]
• Post-trial evidence and legacy: [69:12] - [81:09]

---

This comprehensive summary captures the essence of the "MURDERED: Caylee Anthony" episode, providing listeners and readers with an in-depth understanding of the case's complexities, the unfolding trial, and its lasting impact on society.

Transcript

[Morgan Absher]

Foreign. This is Crime House.

[Kayla Moore]

Even though they looked kind of like this all American family, on the surface, just a lot of stories started coming up about how much they didn't get along.

[Morgan Absher]

But here's where things start to get really suspicious. Casey goes back to her parents house on Hope Spring Drive. Except Kaylee isn't with her. It smelled like a body had been in there. It smelled like human decomposition. Only there is no body in the car. Hi. Welcome back to Clues, where we sneak past the crime scene tape to explore the key evidence behind some of the most gripping true crime cases.

[Kayla Moore]

And these aren't just ordinary cases. They're complex puzzles where forensic science, investigative techniques and and sheer grit collide in order to uncover the truth and deliver justice. I'm Kayla Moore and I'll be piecing together the timelines, bringing the history and breaking down the hard facts of these cases.

[Morgan Absher]

And I'm your Internet sleuth Morgan Absher. I'll be diving into the theories and pulling out the threads that may or may not add up.

[Kayla Moore]

Each week on Clues, we'll explore how the smallest pieces of evidence think microscopic fibers, partial fingerprints, even a small strand of hair can lead to groundbreaking discoveries and might even bring long away to justice. These clues shine a light on stories that have been waiting, sometimes for decades, to finally be heard. So join us as we uncover the breakthroughs, the heartbreak and the relentless pursuit of answers behind these unforgettable investigations at Crime House.

[Morgan Absher]

We value your support. So please share your thoughts on social media and remember to rate, review and follow. Subscribe wherever you're listening to help others discover our show. For bonus episodes, early access and ad free listening, join our Crime House plus community on Apple Podcasts.

[Kayla Moore]

Today we are talking about Caylee Anthony, the little girl at the center of one of true crime's most haunting and heartbreaking mysteries. In 2008, Kaylee's mom, Casey Anthony was on the COVID of every tabloid after her two year old daughter's remains were found near her home in Orlando, Florida.

[Morgan Absher]

What followed was a tangled web of lies, bizarre behavior and a trial that gripped the nation. As the prosecution painted Casey as a cold blooded killer, the defense told a different story. One of dysfunction and deep family secrets. Which is why the truth about Caylee's final moments still remain a mystery to this day. More on the case and all of the clues involved right after this quick break. One of this week's partners is merit makeup. And the beauty industry can feel so overwhelming. 50 shade eyeshadow palettes.

[Kayla Moore]

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[Morgan Absher]

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[Morgan Absher]

I got rosacea. Girl, I feel you.

[Kayla Moore]

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[Morgan Absher]

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[Kayla Moore]

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[Morgan Absher]

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[Morgan Absher]

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[Kayla Moore]

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[Morgan Absher]

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[Kayla Moore]

We have a big one that we're diving into today. But first, do you want to catch me up on what's been going on in your life?

[Morgan Absher]

I just got back from Minnesota, took a little weekend trip.

[Kayla Moore]

Oh yeah? How was that?

[Morgan Absher]

It was good. But like, I realized I'm Having my wedding on my family farm. And there is a lot of work.

[Kayla Moore]

That needs to get done before, like, on the farm. The farm needs work.

[Morgan Absher]

Oh, yeah.

[Kayla Moore]

A lot of.

[Morgan Absher]

A lot of dirt that's gotta be moved. Some gardening. And I also went back because my grandma, like, they thought she had a stroke a couple of weeks ago, but she's been dealing with this insane vertigo.

[Kayla Moore]

Whoa.

[Morgan Absher]

So if anyone out there has dealt with, like, month long vertigo or like, has a grandparent that has dealt with it, because I know it's a bigger thing in the older adult community.

[Kayla Moore]

It's not like an ear infection or something.

[Morgan Absher]

They've gone through everything. It's like, not positional. She went through, like, vestibular testing with a pt. Like, they cannot figure it out. So.

[Kayla Moore]

Wow. I'm sorry. That's really scary.

[Morgan Absher]

I know. The poor little thing, she's just like. She's over it. She just feels terrible. So we're trying to get her some answers.

[Kayla Moore]

Yeah. My grandma had this thing where she would just lose track of time where she would think she was getting in the car and then kind of come to a few hours later. Yeah. It's very strange what happens when you get older. It's really scary.

[Morgan Absher]

What's going on in your world.

[Kayla Moore]

Um, have you seen Sinners yet?

[Morgan Absher]

No. It's on my list. I love Hailee Steinfeld, so I'm like.

[Kayla Moore]

She'S so good in it.

[Morgan Absher]

Everyone's amazing.

[Kayla Moore]

Everyone is so good in it. You have to watch it. I saw it last week and I need to go see it again. Definitely my favorite movie of the year so far.

[Morgan Absher]

Wow.

[Kayla Moore]

You should go see it if you can.

[Morgan Absher]

Well, on that note, we want to set today's bar high. We really want to do this case justice. So shall we dive in?

[Kayla Moore]

Let's do it. So this one is a really big case. A lot of you know about this case. You might have preconceived notions. Morgan and I, when we were doing the research on this one, we really got lost in the research and we were reading books and going through documentaries and just like, listening to so many other podcasts about it. What I want to have happen before we start diving into the facts of this case is leave a comment on what you think happened if you're familiar with this case. And then I want to hear from people if their mind changed at all by the end of this. Because the more I learned about this case, I think the more confused I got as to what could have happened. So I'm just curious what everyone thinks and A quick reminder, if you're watching this on YouTube, you're gonna see some photos that'll help you visualize a couple of elements in this case. But if you're listening, don't worry, you can find the same photos on our social media. Luz on Instagram also, a little housekeeping. Before we get into it, I wanted to add here before we get started. I know this is a highly covered case. I know a lot of other places have covered this already. We're actually going to talk a little bit about how covered this was as it was happening in the media. But this is still a very important case to talk about, I believe, because a child did die and someone was responsible for that child's death. But no one ever served time for the death of Kaylee Anthony. And personally, I just think it's worth it to keep making a racket on this case until justice can be served. And with that, let's dive a little bit deeper into who the Anthony's are.

[Morgan Absher]

Absolutely.

[Kayla Moore]

I will say on the surface, the Anthony's seemed like this all American family. There was the dad, George Anthony, who met his wife Cindy back in the late 70s in Ohio. George was a police officer at the time and he worked his way up to being a detective. And meanwhile, Cindy was a registered nurse. She worked at a local hospital. And they had a son, Lee in 1982. And then they had a little girl who followed in 1986. Her name was Casey Anthony. She's going to be who we talk a lot about in this case. But in 1989, the couple moved from Ohio to Orlando, Florida. And while they were there, George worked a bunch of different security jobs to keep his family afloat at the time. And they bought this cute little house on Hope Spring Drive in this quiet middle class neighborhood in Orlando. And that's where the Anthony's would raise their family. And that's where this case takes place. As I was reading more about the family, even though they looked kind of like this all American family on the surface, they just. A lot of stories started coming up about how much they didn't get along. People sometimes described them as being sort of strange. I read this story about how George used to have to keep gas cans in the house because Casey would drive the car so much and always refuse to fill it up with gas. So she would just like run out of gas in the middle of the road and have to call George and he would have to come fill her car up with gas again.

[Morgan Absher]

So odd.

[Kayla Moore]

In 2005, the family grew a little bit more. Because 19 year old Casey gets pregnant with her own daughter. Daughter. Morgan, do you want to talk a little bit more about Casey?

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah. There is a lot to unpack here when it comes to Casey Anthony. Like the fact that according to a friend, when Casey learns she's first pregnant, she considers giving the baby up for adoption. She actually doesn't really tell her family she's pregnant right away. It's about seven months in her pregnancy when family finally are like, okay, no, like you're actually pregnant. But up until that point, she was saying, no, I'm not. I'm not even having sex yet.

[Kayla Moore]

Wow.

[Morgan Absher]

And so at that point, you know, Casey says, I want to give the baby up for adoption. And her parents really step in and say, no, no, no, no. You're gonna keep this child and we'll help you. We're gonna step in and whatever you need, we'll make sure everything works out.

[Kayla Moore]

And after she gives birth to Kaylee, she actually keeps living with her parents. Probably grateful for the extra help like you were talking about. They suggested that should keep the baby so they can all help. And she is a young single mom. She's working at Universal Studios, supposedly as an event planner for them at the time. But in a lot of ways, Casey is still a kid herself. She never actually graduated from high school. She didn't have enough credits. She never really thought of going to college because that just kind of seemed out of the question for the time being. And plus, the more you read about Casey's backstory, it seemed like having fun was maybe a priority for her at this time in her life. There's a lot of stories about how much she did like to go out and did like to party. And there's a lot of mixed reports on this kind of behavior. So some people say that Casey would take Kaylee to the parties when she would go out and party. Others said that Casey was actually a really good mom and sometimes would stay in with Kaylee. Sometimes she would yell at her friends for drinking too much. She was almost taking on like this motherly role within the friend group. Others told stories about how Kasey would spend the night elsewhere and would bring Kaylee from time to time. Either way, Kasey and Kaylee seemed to be pretty inseparable around this time. And that includes when it comes to her boyfriend, Tony Lazaro. So in 2008, Kasey was dating 21 year old Anthony Lazaro, who goes by Tony. He was a student at Full Sail University. He was also a club promoter. When they started dating. It was very hot and heavy. It kind of came on really quickly. I know they suggested that they move in together really quickly. This is also according to Tony. He talks about this too. One thing he said too is that he spent most of his time skipping class to stay in bed with Casey all day during like the early weeks of their relationship. But it's worth noting here, Tony is not Kaylee's dad.

[Morgan Absher]

No.

[Kayla Moore]

In the summer of 2008, they had only started recently dating. By the time he met Casey, she already had Kaylee. And the fact of the matter is we don't really know who Kaylee's dad is. Even to this day we still don't know. And it's a pretty big part of the mystery. But we're going to talk a little bit more about that later. But what we do know about Kaylee is this. She was born on August 9, 2005. Her grandparents, George and Cindy said that she was a joyful and playful little girl. George even described her as, quote, a comedian. To me, Cindy's words are even more heartbreaking when you hear them now. She said, quote, from the moment I first saw Kaylee Marie, from the instant she was placed into my arms, she stole my heart forever. She wouldn't wake up crying, she would wake up laughing, she would wake up just smiling. She was always a happy child. She loved her family very much.

[Morgan Absher]

But as much as this seemed like your average family with their ups and down, there was definitely some tension building in the Anthony home which Casey and Kaylee were still living at. I mean in one source, this kind of started from the very minute Kaylee was born. There was a note that Cindy actually held Kaylee before Casey did. And so her mom was really trying to step in or it would seem, kind of assert herself in a more motherly role. And it was around June 16, 2008 that a 22 year old Casey had supposedly had enough. She takes the almost three year old Kaylee and leaves her parents house, allegedly after a big disagreement. She tells Cindy she's bringing Kaylee to go stay with a nanny for the day. Someone named Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez, sometimes referred to as Xanny the nanny. But the following day Casey isn't back and neither is Kaylee, which is a big deal because the two of them still live there. Instead, Casey calls Cindy and says she, Zinaida, the nanny and Kaylee are all headed to Tampa for a work trip that she has to go on. Remember, she is working as an event planner for Universal. But after that they don't see Casey or Kaylee for the next month. Now, according to Casey's boyfriend Tony, there was no work trip. Actually, during that time, it seemed Casey bounced between Tony's house and another friend's place, Amy Huizenga's. Amy actually says Casey said that she was trying to keep Kaylee away from negativity at her home caused by her parents arguments and potential separation. But here's where things start to get really suspicious. On the evening of July 15, about a month later, Casey goes back to her parents house on Hope Spring Drive. Except Kaylee isn't with her. And Cindy apparently overhears Casey telling her brother Lee why Kaylee isn't with her. She says the nanny stole her and refuses to give her back.

[Kayla Moore]

Okay, I want to interject here for a second because we need to know the real reason that Casey decided to come home after being gone for an entire month.

[Morgan Absher]

A month.

[Kayla Moore]

Because it wasn't to tell her parents that Kaylee was missing. That doesn't seem like it was her intention. Let's take it back a little bit though. So earlier that afternoon on July 15, 2008, George and Cindy get a call that one of their cars, a white Pontiac Sunfire, has been abandoned in a parking lot and has been moved to a tow yard. Usually Casey drove it. This actually is the car that Casey would drive until it ran out of gas and then her dad would have to come fill her tank. Remember, at that point they hadn't seen Casey for an entire month, but they get this phone call that the car has been abandoned. So they go and they pick up the car. They're kind of used to bailing Casey out of these situations, but once they open the doors, they notice that the car smells horrific. Not just bad, but actually multiple people claimed that it smelled like human decomposition.

[Morgan Absher]

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[Kayla Moore]

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[Morgan Absher]

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[Kayla Moore]

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[Morgan Absher]

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[Morgan Absher]

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[Kayla Moore]

So I actually do have a question about this and I want to hear your perspective on it because did you, when you were in school for ot, did you ever smell human decomposition? Like, were you working on cadavers?

[Morgan Absher]

I did have to work on cadavers in anatomy lab in undergrad. But the thing is like the formaldehyde smell is so overpowering by that point.

[Kayla Moore]

Yeah.

[Morgan Absher]

That you don't get a true sense of what just decomposition is true.

[Kayla Moore]

No. Okay, that's a good point. So you haven't smelled human decomposition.

[Morgan Absher]

No. But like you smell animals in Minnesota like roadkill or like you encounter things like that. Like there, there is a smell to rotting flesh.

[Kayla Moore]

There's a very specific smell to rotting flesh. George was a cop his whole career. If he smells human decomposition and he knows that his granddaughter is missing, why didn't he call 911 immediately? And he didn't. And so you mentioned that there was actually trash in the car. Even though everyone's saying there's human decomposition smell, they pop open the trunk and there's trash. Well, the Anthony's actually used to have to load their trash into the car in the trunk and then they would drive to a dumpster and drop it off. So it's not unrealistic to think that when Casey first took the car, she maybe threw the trash in the trunk because she was going to go drop it off somewhere and she forgot about it. And so while this car was impounded, the trash was actually in the trunk fermenting this whole time. And there's another person who is at the actual, like, toe area. The person who worked at the toe. And they interviewed him later and he was like, oh, yeah, cars come in here all the time with dead bodies in them. Like, I've smelled dead bodies in cars before. This smells like a dead body. But again, George comes to him, tells him that Casey and Kaylee are missing. He claims that it did smell like a dead body. That guy also doesn't call 91 1. So I'm just a little confused. I think it's worth noting here that even though at that time people thought it smelled like a dead body, no one called the police to report it.

[Morgan Absher]

My alarm bells would be ringing. But, you know, given that this girl doesn't like to even fill up her own car and touch a gas pump. Hey, your dad put trash in the car for you to throw away. I could see. I'm not gonna touch it. Yeah, that's not my job. And it would appear that Casey was, I don't know, telling people different reasons for the smell. Like she doesn't note the trash to her friend.

[Kayla Moore]

Yeah.

[Morgan Absher]

She actually tells her friend Amy Huizenga, that the smell in her car could be coming from her hitting a dead animal.

[Kayla Moore]

Right, Right.

[Morgan Absher]

So we're getting some conflicting info on the trunk smell here.

[Kayla Moore]

Yes, this. The car smell is a huge question mark for me in this case. Yeah. And so up until this point, all Cindy and George thought was that Casey was off somewhere with Kaylee. Right. She had said that they were going to a theme park. She said she had a work trip, whatever. But now they find her car abandoned. It maybe smells like decomposition. Regardless, it smells very bad. And Cindy starts thinking, I have to find my daughter and my granddaughter asap. So the parents end up taking the car back home with them. George has to go to work, so Cindy is left down to track 22 year old Casey. And eventually she calls someone who maybe might know where Casey is, and that's Amy Huizenga. Amy says that Casey is at her boyfriend Tony's apartment. And Amy actually meets up with Cindy that afternoon. And the two go to Tony's together. Lo and behold, Casey is there. Only Kailee is not there with Casey. It is just Casey by herself with Toni. I'm not exactly sure what Casey says to her mother when she's asked about Kaylee in that moment, but I know that Cindy gets very upset and forces Casey to leave the apartment with her. And Cindy later says, quote, I wouldn't let her grab anything but her shoes. And after that, Casey and Cindy drive around town trying to find Kaylee.

[Morgan Absher]

Clearly Cind is in an absolute panic here. And I mean any grandmother would be. Is Kaylee with Zanny the nanny? Does one of Casey's friends have her? What is going on? You have Amy saying Casey's not at her parents house because she wants to be away from the tension and their potential separation. But again, Tony and Amy, like no one's curious or worried where Kaylee is.

[Kayla Moore]

Right.

[Morgan Absher]

Cindy is now panicking.

[Kayla Moore]

Yeah, absolutely. And this is when she finally does the thing that I've been wanting people to do this entire time, which is she calls 911 from her cell phone as they're in the car driving around. But what she says on this call is also a little bit strange. She doesn't mention that Kaylee is missing. Instead she tells authorities that her daughter stole her car. And she asks where she can bring Casey to have her arrested for grand theft of the car and money. And we're going to play a little clip here.

[Morgan Absher]

I have a 22 year old person that has grand theft sitting in my auto with me. So the 22 year old person stole something?

[Kayla Moore]

Yes.

[Morgan Absher]

Is this a relative? Yes. Where did they steal it from my car and also money.

[Kayla Moore]

Okay.

[Morgan Absher]

Is this your son? Daughter.

[Kayla Moore]

Okay.

[Morgan Absher]

So your daughter stole money from your car? No, my car was stolen.

[Kayla Moore]

We've retrieved it today.

[Morgan Absher]

We found out where it was at, received it. I've got that and I've got affidavits in my banking account. I want to bring her in.

[Kayla Moore]

And she does this. Even though Cindy had actually given Casey permission to use the car, it seems she was just very upset that Casey had her car towed and impounded. And so after this, Casey, Cindy drives Casey back to their house on Hope Spring Drive. We know that George isn't home because he left for work, but Casey's brother Lee is home. And it's kind of known, even though the family dynamic is strange, it was known that Casey and Lee talked to each other a lot. They usually would tell each other about their lives and share secrets and stuff. And Lee and Cindy start interrogating Casey about where Kaylee is. This whole time Casey is insisting she's with the nanny, she's with Zenida. So Lee and Cindy start saying that they're going to go to Zenida's apartment and pick Kaylee up that night. We need our granddaughter back. But Casey tells them that's actually not a good idea. And this is when the second 911 call happens. And this is at 8:40pm on this call Cindy says she needs, quote, someone to be arrested in my home. She also mentioned something about a, quote, possible missing child, a three year old that's been missing for a month. Here's a clip of that.

[Morgan Absher]

I have someone here that I need to be arrested in my home. Possible missing child of a three year old that's been missing for a month. A three year old? Yeah.

[Kayla Moore]

Have you reported that?

[Morgan Absher]

I'm trying to do that now, ma' am.

[Kayla Moore]

After this call, the family continues to argue and sort out the details of what's going on. Cindy is getting increasingly frustrated because the police still haven't arrived. And it's at this point she overhears Casey telling Lee that Kaylee's actually been gone for an entire month and that the nanny has stolen her. So once again, Cindy calls 911 around 9:40pm which is an hour after the 8:40pm call where she said that there was possibly a missing child and no cop showed up. I want to play a little clip of that 911 call here.

[Morgan Absher]

I called a little bit ago, the deputy sheriff saying I found out my granddaughter has been taken. She has been missing for a minor third for my other side.

[Kayla Moore]

Admitted that she's been missing.

[Morgan Absher]

Okay, what's going here now? Okay, what is the address that you're calling from? 4937 Hope Spring Drive. We're talking about a three year old little girl. 4937 what? Hope Spring.

[Kayla Moore]

H O P E S P R.

[Morgan Absher]

I N G Orlando. My daughter finally admitted that the baby's in store.

[Kayla Moore]

I need to find her.

[Morgan Absher]

Your daughter admitted that your the baby is where it just said it took her a month ago that my daughter's been looking for. I told you my daughter was missing for a month.

[Kayla Moore]

I just found her today, but I.

[Morgan Absher]

Can'T find my granddaughter.

[Kayla Moore]

She just admitted to me that she's been trying to find her herself.

[Morgan Absher]

There's something wrong. I found my daughter's car today and it smells like there's been a dead body in the damn car. Okay, what is the three year old's name?

[Kayla Moore]

Kaylee. C A Y L E E. Anthony. So you can hear in this call, Cindy's very emotional, rightly so. She tells the 911 operator that her granddaughter has been missing for a month. She repeats Casey's claims about the nanny. She literally says, quote, I found out my granddaughter has been taken. She's been missing for a month. Her mother finally admitted she's been missing. This is when she finally says to police that the car Smelled like human decomposition. But what's interesting is later on she would actually confessed that she only told the police about the human decomp smell because she thought it was the best way to get their attention, thinking maybe then they would actually show up to the house because they had not been showing up even though they knew that maybe a child was missing.

[Morgan Absher]

It is kind of concerning that you're mentioning a missing child on three calls and police haven't arrived yet. However, on these calls, Cindy wasn't prioritizing that it was, I need to have her arrested for stealing my car and money.

[Kayla Moore]

Right.

[Morgan Absher]

And the child was kind of an afterthought, which you haven't seen her in a month. Okay. I feel like that would be maybe the top of your mind on these calls. But everyone handles things differently. But the 911 dispatcher on this final call, like, does want to hear from Casey. They're curious, what is the deal? Your mother's clearly frantic, but, like, what's actually going on here? So Casey gets on the phone and does confirm what her mom already said, that Kaylee has been missing for a month. She also tells the dispatcher, quote, I know who has her. I have tried to contact her. And she goes on to talk about the nanny. So late on July 15, law enforcement finally arrive at the Anthony home. And when they question Casey in person, she repeats her story about the nanny. From everything I read, Casey didn't seem to be frantic, distraught. She was somewhat calm, collected, and just telling police all about this nanny story, which to me seems very odd. If I had a three year old that was missing for a month, it'd be anything but calm. But regardless, police are like, okay, well, why don't you take us over to the nanny's place? Let's go investigate, see if we can find your daughter. They hop in a car, and she goes with the deputy to a complex called the Sawgrass Apartments to look for Kaylee and the nanny, Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez. She points out the apartment with where she said she last left Kaylee. The officer goes up, knocks on the door, peers in, no one's answering. And the more he's, you know, waiting and peering in, it actually looks like the apartment is vacant. No one's in there. Which is even more suspicious. He ends up finding an employee at the complex. And this employee tells the police that no one by the name of Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez lives here. They actually never have.

[Kayla Moore]

Even knowing this case, I get goosebumps, like when you say that.

[Morgan Absher]

So the officer takes Casey back to her parents house. And that's when she gives the police a written statement. In it, she's doubling down on this nanny thing. This report even describes her saying, quote, Zenaida is a 25 year old, is from New York. She is roughly 5 foot 7 inches tall, 140 pounds. She has dark brown curly hair and brown eyes. Zinaida's birthday is in September. She also says she met Zinaida through a Mutual friend in 2004. And she's been watching Kaylee as her nanny for a year and a half or maybe two years.

[Kayla Moore]

She rattles those facts off so fast for a person that doesn't exist.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah, there's one source that I saw where you know, this friend, the mutual friend that she met, Zanny, the nanny threw was even like paying for Kaylee's nanny fees. Casey goes on to describe Kaylee as. Kaylee will be 3 years old on August 9, 2008. She was born on August 9, 2005. Kaylee is about 3ft tall, white female with shoulder length light brown hair. She has dark hazel eyes, brown, green and a small birthmark on her left shoulder. On the day of her disappearance, Kaylee was wearing a pink shirt with jean shorts, white sneakers and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. But here is where accounts really start to blur. According to this statement, Casey says that on Monday, June 9, 2008, which is about a month ago at this point between 9am and 1pm Casey dropped Kaylee off at the Sawgrass Apartments to spend the day with Zenaida. Her mother. Cindy tells police during those calls that the last time she saw Kaylee was June 7, a few days before Casey says she dropped her off later. However, these dates really do change. Cindy says the last time she saw Kaylee was on June 15th.

[Kayla Moore]

When you're going through the forensic records of who was home at what time, June 15th does seem like the actual date that the last time anyone saw or at least the last time that Cindy saw Kaylee. And it seems like Cindy's stories start changing a lot from this point. And that's something that I just want to make a note of here. But Cindy's not the only one who starts saying things that aren't necessarily true. Casey's story has a lot of holes in it. She continues by saying that that day she actually went to her job at Universal Studios Orlando, where she had been working for over four years. And when she left work at around 5pm she was on her way to pick Kaylee up. But Kaylee wasn't There. And neither was an Ida or Zenida's two roommates. So Casey waited outside of the apartment. She even tried calling Zanny. And even though the babysitter's phone worked that morning, when Casey dropped Kaylee off that afternoon, when Casey calls, it's no longer in service. Phone number has been disconnected, she tells police. And about two hours later, Casey decided to go out and look for Zenida and Kaylee herself, not contact authorities. So she first decides to go to some of Kaylee's favorite places, like a nearby park. And when she still couldn't find them, she goes back to her boyfriend Tony's apartment to figure out what to do next. And again, she does not call the police at this time. And according to Tony, her boyfriend, she didn't even tell him what was going on. And she certainly did not alert her family.

[Morgan Absher]

Beyond shocking to me, like, okay, she didn't tell Tony, but, like, nothing appeared to be wrong at all. Casey does say she spent the next several weeks searching for her daughter. And her excuse for not alerting the authorities in this is, quote, I have avoided calling the police or even notifying my own family out of fear. I have been and still am afraid of what has or may happen to Kaylee. And she goes on even further, quote, I was never able to check on the status or well being of my daughter. Zinaida never made an attempt to explain why Kaylee is no longer in Orlando or if she's ever going to bring her home. Here's where she really drops a bomb, though. Casey says that earlier that same day, before talking to police and finally reporting her daughter missing, she did get a phone call from Kaylee. She said it was the first time she had heard Kaylee's voice in weeks. And she said that Kaylee was really excited to speak with her. Casey was convinced, you know, based on this phone call and this, this glimmer of hope she was getting, that it would be only a matter of time before she would be reunited with her daughter.

[Kayla Moore]

And of course, we know that all of that is a lie.

[Morgan Absher]

We do know. And let's, let's really see how the plot unravels here. Yeah, things start to heat up and take a pretty interesting turn the following day. July 16th. An officer named Detective Melish is looking into this case. I'm not sure if he was trying to find the nanny or if he was looking more into Casey's background, her employment history, but something isn't adding up for him. He's basically questioning everything, and it's kind of Already clear that this woman is putting them on a goose chase. There's some holes in the story. So later that afternoon, Detective Melish asks Casey to go with him to Universal Studios, because remember in her statement, that's where she's been working for the past four years. And when they get there, Casey tries to go through an employee security gate, but she doesn't have an ID card. She forgot it. And she gets to the security desk and is asking them to let her in and saying, oh, well, this is my manager. Call my manager. Well, the manager isn't listed in the company database. She's arguing. Supervisor gets called over. They just seem overwhelmed with this. But shockingly, security lets her in. Welcome, ma' am. Come on, come on. Through the doors. So she takes police with her to an employee only building and is going down hallways and showing them, oh, this is my whatever office, and making a show of it.

[Kayla Moore]

I read that she was even, like, waving to people walking down the hallway.

[Morgan Absher]

Just like, waving.

[Kayla Moore]

And they were like, uh, hi, okay, who are you?

[Morgan Absher]

And she clearly doesn't know her way that well around because she eventually leads police to a dead end hallway. And it's kind of at that point she realizes, hey, gig is up. I. I don't work here, actually. She actually has not worked for Universal for three years since she went out on maternity leave. She's been lying about still working there to her friends, her family, this entire time. Which makes sense why she was always asking her family for money. But this is when Detective Melish finally says, enough is enough. It's time to come clean. So he brings Casey to a conference room at Universal and he starts to confront her about all these lies. And that's when Casey admits she did lie about where the nanny lived, but insists she's been telling the truth about her having kidnapped Kaylee. The detective is exasperated. They go back and forth, they say, if, you know, if something happened, just. Just tell us. It's. It's okay.

[Kayla Moore]

Why would you lie about where the woman lived? If you are trying to find your daughter and you aren't lying about the fact that someone took her, it's not.

[Morgan Absher]

Adding up for them.

[Kayla Moore]

It does not add up at all.

[Morgan Absher]

And so later that day, Casey was taken to the sheriff's office and arrested for child neglect, providing false information to law enforcement and obstructing an investigation.

[Kayla Moore]

And this is when the police really start to look a little bit deeper into this case. And this was like the domino that knocked over all the other dominoes. Like, once this first lie fell they just realized all of the things that Casey had been lying about. And one of the things actually that they learned was a big lie in Casey's life was the identity of Kaylee's father. This is something that even Casey's closest friends haven't been able to get a straight answer out of her. Many of them have said they've been confused about various things that Casey told them over the years. But they know that Casey started dating a guy named Jesse Grund in the early stages of her pregnancy. That was around January of 2005. He initially took on the role of a father figure at the beginning of Kaylee's life because there were periods, even though the timeline didn't really add up, where he actually believed that he was Kaylee's dad. But eventually a DNA test was performed and he was not the father. Casey reportedly told another friend that Kaylee's father was in the army, and she later told that exact same friend that he had died in a car accident. There were actually a few times where Casey said that it was someone who had died in a car accident. I believe there were two people who had previously died. And when they looked into it more, those timelines didn't really add up either. She also said that one of these guys she had met while working at Universal Studios and that it was just a one night stand, will probably never know the truth of who Kaylee's father is. Because according to NBC, Kaylee's birth certificate never even listed a father. And while this isn't super important to the case, a lot of people have children where they don't know who the father was. You know, that doesn't really change anything about the case. It's just interesting to note here that, like, this would have just been one more advocate for Kaylee. As we went on, if Kaylee did have a father in the picture, someone else that could have been pushing the investigation to actually find her.

[Morgan Absher]

It also really demonstrates Casey's line here. I mean, to tell multiple different stories to the same friend. Almost as if you're forgetting which lies you've told to which people. Yeah, it just kind of leads back to her credibility and how she doesn't really have any.

[Kayla Moore]

And knowing that Casey stories are very prone to changing, the police start really taking that into consideration. And that's why a few days after Kaylee's disappearance is reported on July 22, Casey Anthony is officially declared a person of interest in her case. And after a hearing, Casey's bail is set at $500,000. But not even a month later, on August 21, Casey is released after her bail is paid by a bondsman with the help of her parents. Another situation where Casey's parents come to her rescue. She's brought back to their house. She has to wear a monitoring device. And then a month and a half after that, on October 14th, Casey is charged with first degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter, and four counts of providing false information to law enforcement. And that's because the investigators discovered a second clue in the case.

[Morgan Absher]

Investigators found a human hair. It was found in the trunk of the family's Pontiac. Same one that Casey had been driving. Same one where they smelled human decomposition. And after running it through DNA analysis, it showed that it belonged to either Casey, Cindy, or Kaylee. The hair wasn't the length of Casey's, and it wasn't color treated or dyed like Cindy's had been. And it also matched the color and length of Kaylee's hair. They then compared it to a sample from Kaylee's hairbrush, and when examined under a microscope, investigators are confident it's a match. Investigators also note on this strand of hair that it seems to have decomposition bands on it. Given this evidence, the case is really building against Casey. And for those that don't know, a decomposition band is also known as a postmortem root band, PMRB for short. And it's this opaque band that you can see under a microscope, and it's observed near the root area of hairs from a decomposing body. But while this is being treated as a homicide investigation at this point, there's obviously one very big piece of evidence missing. Kaylee. Kaylee's body. That is, until later that year on December 11, 2008, when a utility worker named Roy Cronk is walking in the woods near the Anthony's home on Hope Spring Drive, about a half a mile away from it, actually. And he's out looking for a spot to relieve himself, and he sees what he thinks are unmistakably the bones of a child. And I believe he also had tried to call multiple times.

[Kayla Moore]

Yeah, he had seen the bones earlier and called. And no one came to check it out.

[Morgan Absher]

No, I mean, more of that evidence could have been tampered with animals. So that was frustrating for me. But on December 19, 2008, these remains were taken in and they were positively identified as being Kaylee Anthony's. And this, as well as Kaylee's autopsy becomes our next big clue.

[Kayla Moore]

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[Morgan Absher]

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[Kayla Moore]

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[Morgan Absher]

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[Kayla Moore]

Healthy financial habits together on Greenlight. Get started risk [e-mail] Spotify I'm going to get into the autopsy a little bit and I want to say here that there's a lot of details that we're going to spare everyone from because the autopsy itself is very upsetting. It is a child who died, but here's kind of what you need to know. So from what the forensics investigators could tell, Kaylee's body had most likely been left out in the woods during what he says were the initial stages of decomposition. And based on the state of remains and the weather during the time of Caylee's disappearance, remember it was summertime when she disappeared. They were still able to estimate that she had been dead for about six months. And that makes sense because when Kaylee first went missing, it was the middle of June. The autopsy determined that the manner of death was homicide, even though they could not determine the cause of death. And that's interesting that they were still able to do that. But even though they couldn't tell how she died, they knew it was homicide because of the manner in which she was found. Right. She was found in a bag that had been duct taped and like thrown off the side of the road like a laundry basket. Yeah, it did not look like an accidental situation, like someone had intentionally put her there. Clearly placed here, no trauma was evident and no drugs were detected. After examining Kaylee's bones, although a lot of people do bring up here that because the it was such late stages of decomposition, it was hard to tell if there were any drugs in her system. There was something else of note in the way that the remains were found. And it's really important to bring up here, and that is that pieces of duct tape had been found on Kaylee's body. And I know you really looked into this more.

[Morgan Absher]

I went down the rabbit hole on this next clue, the duct tape. There was an autopsy report that said, quote, although there is no trauma evident on the skeleton, there is duct tape over the lower facial region, still attached to head hair. This duct tape was clearly placed prior to decomposition, keeping the mandible in place. There were three pieces of duct tape on Kayleigh in total. And the tape appeared to have an outline of a heart sticker on it. So on the very. Like if you have all these pieces, the very outside heart sticker that someone had intentionally placed there.

[Kayla Moore]

Because maybe.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah, I don't know any duct tape that comes with heart stickers on it. This I know, is a big part of why the medical examiner did rule homicide. Because unless there's ill intent, why would duct tape be placed on a baby's mouth?

[Kayla Moore]

Right. Absolutely. The counterpoint to that, though, that I had read is that it didn't. Because again, late stage decomposition, it wasn't exactly clear where on the head the duct tape was. I know it says here the duct tape was placed prior to decomposition, keeping the mandible in place. So some people believed that it was just holding her jaw up. Others believed that it had been placed on her nose and mouth previously. That's going to come up again later. And I also want to mention here that, remember I was talking about these gas cans that George had in his garage for when Casey ran out of gas. The duct tape that was found on Kaylee actually matched duct tape that was found on those gas cans in the Anthony home. Just another huge thing to bring up.

[Morgan Absher]

Chills.

[Kayla Moore]

Literally.

[Morgan Absher]

Again, like, just chills.

[Kayla Moore]

Yeah. And it's probably worth noting here, too, that even though Roy was the one that found the remains, there was a huge search effort happening.

[Morgan Absher]

Massive.

[Kayla Moore]

I read people were driving hours into Orlando to help search for Caylee. Like the whole public was so invested in this trial.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah. I mean, there was an equine search team that came. The owner of the company didn't charge the Anthony's for this. I mean, it was a massive, massive effort on all fronts from the community and private investigators trying to find Kaylee.

[Kayla Moore]

Right. And when her remains were eventually found, it just made the public that much more angry with Casey. And this is when the charges against Casey become very real. Because now we do have the body, which is what Was missing initially in the charges.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah.

[Kayla Moore]

Even though Kaylee's body had been found, there were still so many questions, like, was the duct tape put there on purpose? Why was she found where she was found? There were so many questions, and the public was hoping that all of this would get answered in a big trial that was gonna happen for Casey.

[Morgan Absher]

A huge trial.

[Kayla Moore]

Huge trial.

[Morgan Absher]

They wanted nothing less for America's most hated woman.

[Kayla Moore]

Yeah. And now these charges were no longer. Child neglect, manslaughter, lying to police. The prosecution wanted to make sure that if Casey was found guilty of this crime, she would pay for it with her Life. So on April 13, 2009, prosecutors announced that they would be seeking the death penalty. But as happens in these kinds of trials, it would take another two years before the trial actually began. It's really hard to get juries for death penalty trials. And by that point, Casey's initial bail had been totally revoked, which meant that she was going to spend a lot of time behind bars before her trial. And the trial finally came on May 24, 2011, when both sides delivered their opening statements.

[Morgan Absher]

Now, we have two sides in a trial. There's the prosecution and the defense. Let's cover the prosecution side first. The prosecution painted Casey as this irresponsible party girl who showed no remorse after her daughter vanished. And they backed this up with all the evidence of her shopping, drinking. During the month Kaylee was supposedly missing. There were Facebook posts really highlighting how Casey was out and about on the town. She entered herself in hot body competitions. Yes.

[Kayla Moore]

That's like the famous photo of her that got pulled, passed around. Was her in that hot body competition?

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah. She was out on the town having a good time. Having such a good time that she even went and got a tattoo that said Bella Vita, meaning the good life. And a lot of the witnesses that the prosecution was calling for this trial were people that were really close to her, like her ex, Jesse Grund, who at one point thought he was Kaylee's father. They brought in Amy Huizenga, the friend who helped Casey's mom, Cindy, find her that July afternoon and bring her home. Casey's own family took this stand.

[Kayla Moore]

And just a reminder, too, it's the prosecution calling these witnesses. They are testifying against Casey.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah.

[Kayla Moore]

Yeah.

[Morgan Absher]

They even used Cindy's 911 calls, and those were played in court as she was questioned about the disappearance. Lee, Casey's brother, also testified and spoke about the car's smell as well as the night of all the 911 calls. In fact, a good portion of everyone's testimony really did focus on the car. Even George discussed the corpse, like, odor that he noticed that day. You can have all these opinions. There's gotta be hard evidence. And after this smell was discovered in the Pontiac, forensics were performed, and they did what's called an air sample test sometime before August 27th.

[Kayla Moore]

Yeah, this is a really important one to talk about. This is, like, a huge deal in the trial.

[Morgan Absher]

They feel like this is the smoking gun for them.

[Kayla Moore]

Yeah.

[Morgan Absher]

And this was about a month and a half after the car was discovered that they started conducting this. And we could get into the weeds of how this works. I'm still kind of like science. Where's my phone? A scientist button on this one.

[Kayla Moore]

Yeah.

[Morgan Absher]

But essentially, this test indicated that there were very high concentrations of chloroform as well as other chemicals found in the trunk. And they do this by cutting out a little sample and chemical compounds and they create gas. And it's this whole thing.

[Kayla Moore]

Right.

[Morgan Absher]

You guys watch a YouTube video on it. It's honestly mind blowing how we got there.

[Kayla Moore]

I think this is the first time that it was ever used as evidence in a trial, though. This is the first used.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah, it was. You know, the fact that this chloroform was found in very high concentrations could mean a few things. It could mean that Kaylee was possibly killed or sedated using chloroform. Or it could mean that it was just naturally released from the body as it was decaying in the trunk, which can happen as a body is naturally decaying. Chloroform comes out.

[Kayla Moore]

There's also other reasons that chloroform would have been found in the trunk. For instance, a lot of cleaning supplies have chloroform. There were other things found in the trunk, too, like gasoline. So it wasn't unrealistic to think that a cleaning supply had been used in the trunk. And so the defense used an expert that was basically saying it could have been the cleaning supplies. And he stated that he could not conclusively, quote, determine that the presence of those compounds indicated that there had been human remains in the trunk of that car. Even though the defense did bring up their side on why the chloroform might just have been in the trunk and it not be suspicious. There is another part of chloroform in this case that does make it sound a lot more suspicious.

[Morgan Absher]

There sure is. So the prosecution brings up the fact that they were able to find an Internet search on chloroform Something along the Lines of how to make chloroform. During the trial, they did, as we mentioned, call Cindy, the mom up on the stand. And Cindy kind of took ownership of that one. She said, no, I was. I was searching something about chlorophyll because the dogs had been eating the chlorophyll, the bamboo. So I was curious if they had chlorophyll poisoning. So that's how they tried to give an explanation to why there were searches for chloroform on the computer. But I don't know. Chloroform, chlorophyll. I feel like if my search terms for chlorophyll, dog poisoning were that I don't know how they got there. And, you know, maybe Cindy didn't know how to use the Internet, but either.

[Kayla Moore]

Way, I mean, I think of my mom using the Internet, and if she was trying to search for chloroform or for chlorophyll, it absolutely would have been chloroform that she was looking up. Just like a.

[Morgan Absher]

But type some key words. Why do you need to know how to make it if your dogs are getting poisoned by it? Chloroform aside, forensics also find a bunch of small flies in the trunk of the Pontiac, which, according to an expert who testified for the prosecution, means that Kaylee's body had probably passed the initial stage of decomposition before she was placed in the car. But this is where the defense brings on another expert.

[Kayla Moore]

This expert said that they only noticed that there were a few bugs on some paper towels that were inside of Casey's trunk. And if there was a body in the trunk, they said they would have expected to see hundreds of dead flies, which wasn't the case, because, again, remember, the trash was in the trunk. It's not unrealistic for there to have been flies there.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah, and I did see in some sources that the trash did have maggots in it.

[Kayla Moore]

It did. Yeah.

[Morgan Absher]

So maggots are baby flies. For those that might not know.

[Kayla Moore]

Yeah.

[Morgan Absher]

But their main argument, the whole thing that the prosecution was really putting together, is that Casey Anthony killed her daughter by sedating her with too much chloroform and then used duct tape to suffocate her. Then Casey put Kaylee's body in the trunk of the Pontiac and later disposed of it in the woods, all while lying and saying that her daughter had been kidnapped by the nanny, who police did discover in their investigation. Zinaida was a real person, but was not a nanny, had no idea who Casey was. Never watched Kaylee. So big lie there.

[Kayla Moore]

Huge.

[Morgan Absher]

And this trial at this point really did seem to be kind of this battle of experts, which isn't uncommon for a case this huge. We saw it in one of our first cases. We covered Laci Peterson. Yeah, but there's also the mention of the duct tape. Again. The prosecution argued that the duct tape proved the death was a homicide and not an accident, which the medical examiner did also rule. They even had an FBI forensic examiner testify about the duct tape found on a skull. And he said it did appear to have come in contact with a small heart shaped sticker, as I mentioned. And you know where else they found these heart shaped stickers? In Casey Anthony's bedroom. But another expert brought on by the defense said something entirely different. They claimed you couldn't see an outline of a heart. So again, just this back and forth war between the prosecution and the defense.

[Kayla Moore]

Yeah, absolutely. And that's why I kind of want to break down the defense's case. This is where things start to get really, really complicated, especially when it comes to the entire Anthony family. So Casey's defense attorney, one of them is Jose Baez. And he has represented Aaron Hernandez, Harvey Weinstein, he's kind of known for taking on these high profile cases of people who are generally hated by the public. And he says that Casey did not kill her daughter. Instead, he insists that Kaylee's death was a wildly unfortunate accident. One that was mishandled, sure. But they say that Kaylee accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool on the morning of June 16 and her body was hidden as a cover up with the help of Casey's father, George. This episode is brought to you by Pluto tv. Are you looking for your next case? Pluto TV has all your favorite crime dramas streaming for free, which means suspicion is free. With countless cases to crack.

[Morgan Absher]

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[Kayla Moore]

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[Kayla Moore]

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[Morgan Absher]

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[Kayla Moore]

There was some evidence that came forward that didn't really look great for George Anthony. Like the fact that he was the last person besides Casey to see Kaylee alive. And that was on June 16th. Apparently he was home with Casey on the day that Kaylee disappeared. But he claimed that he went to work. We know that he was at work at 3:04pm because he called Casey from his job and his office was about nine to 10 minutes away. That's very important. I'm going to come back to that. When he came home that night though, he said both Casey and Kaylee were gone. Now, these things alone are not enough to point fingers at him. But there's something else to really look at here. And that is the above ground swimming pool that the Anthony's had in their backyard. Apparently, and this is according to everyone, Kaylee loved this pool. Her family could not keep her out of it. And they knew that Kaylee could get out of the house through a sliding glass door by herself. And the defense actually showed a picture to the jury of two year old Kaylee opening the sliding glass door to let herself out. They knew she was strong enough and tall enough to do that. So they suggested that she spent what was the last day of her life on June 15, splashing around with her grandma Cindy. But that evening, the defense suggested Cindy forgot to pull up the ladder when they were done. And this is something that Cindy had admitted to having to do because Kaylee would get into the pool by herself. So they always had to remove the ladder to the pool. And they insist that Cindy forgot to pull up this ladder. So the defense suggested that the following morning, Kaylee might have gone out to the pool while George and Casey were preoccupied inside, climbed the ladder, fell in and accidentally drowned. And they suggest that George helped Casey cover this up. And that's kind of a new thing that was introduced into the case at this point. Right. Even the general public hadn't really been thinking that maybe George was responsible for this as well. So they had to build this case against George. And that becomes a huge part of the defense's case. To support this, the defense starts pointing to George's personal history, his behavior both before and after Caylee's disappearance. For instance, detectives learned that George apparently had a mistress who the defense claimed he met during the search for Kaylee. This mistress even testified that in private, George had told her Kaylee's death was in fact an accident that snowballed out of control. Though he was asked on the stand about this and George denied ever even having an affair with her, they knew that they had the affair. So that was kind of like an unexpected thing for him to say. Yeah, but he said that he only visited her home once during. To console her because she had cancer.

[Morgan Absher]

I mean, they had text messages between the two of them. So.

[Kayla Moore]

Right. George also, during this trial, starts lying about a lot of stuff that he doesn't have to lie about. On top of that, George was questioned during the trial about a past suicide attempt. And this also becomes a huge point in the defense case. So In January of 2009, about a month after Kaylee's body was found, George attempted to die by suicide with medication and alcohol. He, as this was happening, was texting a lot of people, kind of saying weird things, saying goodbye, stuff that made people really concerned. So they ended up calling the police and he was found in a motel along with a five page suicide note. Before he had died, they were able to save him. I think they pumped his stomach and he was okay. I've read that note. I know you've read that note.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah.

[Kayla Moore]

Personally, I think it's really hard to decipher what's going on in the note. You can tell he's getting a little loopier and loopier as it goes on. He had taken medication. But this is what the defense really points to in the note. He does say, quote, I blame myself for her being gone. And of course, this can mean so many different things. This can mean I blame myself for Casey being this kind of mother. I blame myself for not searching harder, whatever. But he doesn't go on to explain that. But the defense goes on to say that he meant that he was partly responsible for Kaylee's death.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah, and I. I think we'll post the note on our clues podcast on Instagram and we'll have it on socials for you guys to read and kind of give your thoughts on. But when I read it, I was very surprised by how guilty he was coming across in this note. Or just like remorseful for his actions. Like, I've let everyone down. I've let you down, Cindy, because it was addressed to Cindy, but I've let you down, Cindy Lee, Casey, Kaylee. It's a really confusing note to try to decipher, so I would love to hear some of your thoughts on this note and see what you guys think about what George was trying to say in it.

[Kayla Moore]

It's hard to decipher any intention from it, which is why I personally haven't really used that, as when I am trying to think about what happened. I haven't really taken the suicide note into much account, but the most questionable evidence that comes out against George was these abuse claims that are made against him in the courtroom. And again, this is also brand new information.

[Morgan Absher]

Brand new information. A bombshell.

[Kayla Moore]

This allegation discussed in the tabloids amongst the public. But according to Casey, George had sexually abused her from the ages of 8 years old to 12 years old. And the defense didn't just say that George abused her. They also suggested that her brother Lee did as well. They even go so far as to have Lee and George paternity tested to see if they're the father of Kaylee. And they're not.

[Morgan Absher]

They're not.

[Kayla Moore]

They're definitely not. But the defense really doubled down on these abuse allegations, saying that Casey's strange reaction to the death, meaning her not reporting her daughter missing for a month, was a trauma reaction to George's alleged sexual abuse from when she was a kid. And later, Casey would go on to tell reporters that George abused Kaylee as well, and that George killed Kaylee to cover up the alleged abuse.

[Morgan Absher]

And these are huge allegations to make. And, you know, despite this, Casey did not take the stand during her own trial. She did take her lawyer's advice and did not get up there. And after nearly six weeks of testimony from dozens of witnesses, you know, these experts going back and forth, really debating the evidence and the clues, it was finally time for closing arguments. On July 5, 2011, after 10 hours and 40 minutes, the jury returned with a verdict. And they found Casey, on the charge of first degree murder, not guilty. On the charge of aggravated child abuse, not guilty. On the charge of manslaughter, not guilty. She was, however, found guilty on four counts of providing false information to authorities. And we're gonna insert a little video of when this verdict was read. When I watched it, I was kind of dumbfounded.

[Kayla Moore]

Most people in America were very, very shocked when this verdict was read. No one was expecting it.

[Morgan Absher]

No. So here you go, guys. Let us know what you think of this.

[Kayla Moore]

As to the charge of first degree murder, verdict as to count one, we.

[Morgan Absher]

The jury, find the defendant not guilty.

[Kayla Moore]

So say we all dated at Orlando, Orange County, Florida, on this 5th day of July, 2011. Signed for person as to the charge.

[Morgan Absher]

Of aggravated child abuse, verdict is to count two, be the jury find the defendant not guilty. So say we all dated at Orlando.

[Kayla Moore]

Orange County, 4, Florida, this 5th day of July 2011. Signed 4 person as to the charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child, verdict.

[Morgan Absher]

Is to count three, we the jury.

[Kayla Moore]

Find the defendant not guilty. So say we all dated at Orlando, Orange County, Florida, this 5th day of July 2011 signed for person.

[Morgan Absher]

On July 7, 2011, Casey was sentenced to four years in jail just for lying to police. And she was additionally fined $1,000 for each of her four counts of providing false information to law enforcement. However, only 10 days later, Casey was actually released from jail. Because this trial had taken so long to get underway, she was given credit for time served and good behavior. And so she was released.

[Kayla Moore]

Everyone in the entire country and even today is very confused as to how this could have happened, How a jury of 12 peers all agreed that Casey was not guilty for anything.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah, I mean, regarding this, Florida has a lot of interesting laws in regards to, like, information and it being public. So, yes, a case coming out of Florida, it just. It spirals in the media, and it really did for this. She was on every magazine cover. There was jury members leaking information to blogs.

[Kayla Moore]

Yes.

[Morgan Absher]

There was so much that went down with this.

[Kayla Moore]

And you would have thought that that would have actually helped her case. And so that's why I want to bring up this book, Acquittal by Richard Gabriel. I have it here. I read this. He is a consultant for high profile cases, and he comes in and basically helps people build their case. So he came in and he helped the defense. And one thing he noticed was everyone in Florida knew everything about this trial. Because you have the sunshine laws in Florida where you can just release all the information.

[Morgan Absher]

It's all out there.

[Kayla Moore]

When Richard gets to Florida to help build this case, he realizes that everyone they pull knows not only knows about this case, but thinks Casey is guilty. So they're having a really hard time building a jury because everyone automatically thinks that Casey's guilty. And also the death penalty is on the table. So this is like a huge deal. What Richard suggests they do is build, like a mock jury of 12 people. They get 12 people together, they pull everyone. Every single person thinks that she did it. So they're like, okay, we're going to run through a fake trial, and we just want to figure out where you guys start getting confused. And what he noticed, this is so interesting, is when they were talking about Casey being a bad mom, Casey partying, Casey not looking for her daughter for 31 days, everyone was like, she's guilty, she's guilty, she's guilty. The second they started entering the evidence into the trial, people started getting confused. And there's a few things that they really got confused about. So one of the things was the chloroform test that was pulled.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah.

[Kayla Moore]

Because that was never done in a court before. That was, like, totally new science. And for this jury, they were like, wait, there's no DNA evidence that Casey did this. There's no DNA on the duct tape. There's no DNA, really, anywhere on the scene. But you want us to believe that you took an air sample from a car from six months after this happened, and you were able to tell from that air sample, and even when you were describing the test, you were kind of getting confused. You're like, I, I, I don't know.

[Morgan Absher]

I Watch a YouTube video, guys.

[Kayla Moore]

Right. I want to phone a scientist, but.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah, where's my scientist friend?

[Kayla Moore]

Well, imagine being on a jury and having that experience. All of the jurors are feeling the same way, too. They're like, I just don't know that I can trust the science. I don't understand how it works.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah. And that, I mean, for an average bear, it's. It is difficult. And I think that's kind of the feat that the prosecution has to overcome, is like, how can you explain this evidence and the science in layman's terms?

[Kayla Moore]

Absolutely.

[Morgan Absher]

And so it's hard to take a jury, 12 people of her peers, and convince them without reasonable doubt that she did it.

[Kayla Moore]

Well, here's the thing, too, is it was a death penalty case. So these jurors needed to be extra certain that they were sending the correct person to the electric chair, or else they were not going to be able to sleep at night. So you. You have to really prove beyond a reasonable doubt, this is not just a murder charge. This is a death penalty case. So after they have this mock trial and they introduce the evidence to people, because it was Florida and all the information was out, people thought they were going to be coming into a trial that had new information because they had already read about all this in People magazine. They thought they were gonna sit down on the jury and be told the smoking gun, like the. The big piece of information that hadn't been released to the public. And what they found was they were just given the same information they had read already in the tabloids.

[Morgan Absher]

Very anticlimactic.

[Kayla Moore]

So they were like, wait, I know all this information. I know that I don't really understand the science. And now I'm just kind of confused. And so by the end of this mock trial, they pulled the jury and they found that only three people thought that she had done it. And after that, the defense was like, oh, yeah, we got this one in the bag. There were a couple pieces of evidence that showed up on the trial that should have been slam dunks but were totally botched. And so you talked about the chloroform search. That was one that was hugely botched. So the prosecution said that chloroform had been searched 84 times on the computer in like a three minute span. And the defense was like, absolutely not. No one searched chloroform 84 times in three minutes. And then Cindy came forward and said that she was the one that made the chloroform search. But they were able to prove that she was actually at work during the chloroform search. So it wasn't her. It was most likely Casey that did it. And this kind of brings me back to what I said at the beginning of this entire episode is that the Anthony's were very strange. And a lot of people thought that they had very strange family dynamics. And by the end of the trial, the jury agreed. They saw Cindy lying on behalf of Casey, they saw George not lying on behalf of Casey, really trying to send her to the death penalty. And they just thought, you know what, this family is too weird. There's a lot of weird dynamics going on. I could totally see this being an accident and them just all lying for each other.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah. And when you have everyone lying to you, who do you believe?

[Kayla Moore]

Right.

[Morgan Absher]

And when it is such big stakes at hand, a death penalty case, I mean, you have to be 100% certain. And they weren't. They had reasonable doubt.

[Kayla Moore]

Yes.

[Morgan Absher]

But the public was not happy about this verdict. I mean, as you guys can imagine, this was the most hated woman in America at this point. And the public was completely outraged. There were protests happening all over Florida. Everyone was really emotional too. I mean, a lot of people believed that Casey was guilty and that justice had not been served.

[Kayla Moore]

What was the famous Nancy Grace? Oh, my gosh, somewhere the devil dances in hell tonight. She said something like that and it became like the famous line of the trial.

[Morgan Absher]

Good old Nancy Grace giving me the chills.

[Kayla Moore]

Really upset about this.

[Morgan Absher]

CNN did say that over 1 million people watched the live stream on the verdict, which at the time, I mean, that was a huge number.

[Kayla Moore]

I think even today, if that many people watch CNN for one thing, that would be huge.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah, well, I mean, and this number two is even more wild. 40 million people watched this trial at some point. Wow, it's massive. The media was heavily criticized in this. They were also paying people and Casey herself to access this story. ABC gave $200,000 to Casey in August 2008, shortly after she'd been arrested. The payment was so they could Use family photos and videos of Kaylee, which she then apparently used to pay her legal bills.

[Kayla Moore]

That happens a lot in the documentary space, by the way. If you're watching a documentary and they're like, we didn't pay this person for the documentary. Yes, they didn't get a fee to be in the documentary, but they got a huge fee to license those photos.

[Morgan Absher]

That's a crazy little fact.

[Kayla Moore]

Yeah.

[Morgan Absher]

Look at you.

[Kayla Moore]

That's how they get around it. Yeah.

[Morgan Absher]

It has been only 14 years since the trial ended, and people continue to still wonder why the jury decided on a not guilty verdict. I know myself before I really got into this and started looking up the definitions for everything she was charged with. And you know what the definition of just reasonable doubt is. I myself question. I'm like, it seems like a slam dunk.

[Kayla Moore]

And yet I think if I was sitting on that jury with the information that was presented to me, knowing what I knew, I could see myself agreeing with them. But there was a huge, huge piece of evidence that was not admitted into the trial.

[Morgan Absher]

And this really could have.

[Kayla Moore]

This would have changed everything.

[Morgan Absher]

This could have changed everything.

[Kayla Moore]

I think it would have changed everything. Do you want to talk about it? Yeah.

[Morgan Absher]

Where's my botched button? Where's my botched button? Slam it. So about a year after the trial, it was actually discovered that computer investigators failed to look at all the web browsers used. And just think about you guys out there. Like, I myself am a Safari girl. That's all I use. Justin uses Google Chrome. There's Firefox. There's so many different browsers. So when investigators were going through the family's computers, they only looked at Internet Explorer searches, not the additional history on those other search engines, which Casey's preferred browser was Firefox. So when they did this, there was new evidence that showed someone searched for, quote, foolproof suffocation and clicked on an article about poison and putting a plastic bag over someone's head. And all of these searches were done on the very day Kaylee was last seen alive.

[Kayla Moore]

If you were to tell a jury, hey, I know you don't understand the science that's going on, that's totally fine. You're just normal people. You're not scientists. But the last day that Kaylee was seen alive, her mother made a search on her computer for foolproof suffocation. And we know that there was duct tape. Three pieces of duct tape. One on the nose, one on the mouth, one on both, perhaps that was found on her head. What do you think about that? I don't think any jury takes that and thinks that there's not some guilt.

[Morgan Absher]

No, I mean that is, that would have been in my eyes, the smoking gun to this case.

[Kayla Moore]

What is the most shocking to me about this is Jose Baez later said that he knew about that search and he was waiting for the prosecution to bring it up and he had a whole thing planned. He was going to go on this whole rant about George's suicide attempts and how George used the computer to Google or to search foolproof suffocation because he wanted to do that to himself. And, and they never brought it up. And he was like, that was the one thing that would have done us in. And they just never brought it up, which is insane. You want to know why else I think that Google search is so important, which I don't hear this get talked about a lot. But there's, there's a couple timeline things that happened on June 16, the last day Kaylee was seen alive. So we know from digital forensics that that Google search for foolproof suffocation happened at 2:51pm and we know that George was at work at 3:04pm now he said he left for work at 2:30pm but it takes him about 9 to 10 minutes to get there. Meaning there was a chance he left his home as late as 2:55pm and that is four minutes after the Google search for foolproof suffocation happened. Which means, at least to me, there is a decent chance that he was home when Kaylee died and he knows exactly what happened. But all of this was not really revealed until after the trial. No, the jury didn't know about any of this and who knows what the outcome would have been if it was mentioned. But truthfully, there's so many little details about this case, particularly in regards to Casey's story, that just don't make sense.

[Morgan Absher]

There were some people on the jury that came out afterwards and said they couldn't see her doing it, she was just too pretty and put together well.

[Kayla Moore]

They also dressed her like a grieving mother. The defense put her in sweaters with her hair up.

[Morgan Absher]

They played it up. They definitely played it up. And I think it speaks to, you know, the halo effect and how you can present someone so doe eyed and endearing and an image is perceived on that and it's just, it's pretty baffling.

[Kayla Moore]

Now that we know a lot more about the case and the trial and what was botched. What was botched? So there's a couple of possibilities that come to my mind when I think about this. So there's the possibility that Kaylee did accidentally drown while Casey was home alone. I don't know how you explain foolproof suffocation searching that, but that's one possibility. There's also the possibility that Kaylee accidentally drowned while Casey was home with George, and he was privy to it, and he helped her get rid of the body. And then there are the possibilities that Casey intentionally killed Kaylee. Either George was there or wasn't there when that happened. We can talk a little bit more about Zanny the nanny. Some people say that Casey had been drugging Kaylee with Xanax regularly as a way to keep her calm, help her sleep. And maybe that was where Zanny the nanny came from. Zenida. Right. Maybe it was kind of a really sick inside joke.

[Morgan Absher]

So. So up.

[Kayla Moore]

Even George, Casey's dad, would go public with the theory that Casey had sedated Kaylee with drugs so that she could go out and have fun. This was a huge thing, too. George was just, like, on all of the prison phone calls, was saying things to Casey like, yeah, I believe you will figure this out. It'll be okay. And then was going straight to the media and straight to the police saying, something's wrong. I think my daughter did this.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah. And something we have not talked about, which is the smoking gun for a lot of people as they dissect this case. Kasey was in jail for quite some time, and her parents visited her. There's one clip I've seen, and her dad is saying, you know, things like, you know, papa loves you, and blah, blah, blah. I wish I could give you a hug. And mom chimes in, like, Casey, people are saying that Kaylee's dead, and she just rolls her eyes and says, surprise, surprise.

[Kayla Moore]

Yeah.

[Morgan Absher]

So, you know, there's so much in this case, like, I don't. Again, like, going back to the jury, I'm like, I don't know how a jury could see that and just be like, your daughter's still missing. But you say, surprise, surprise. Clearly, this family was so dysfunctional. Everyone's lying. We will never know what happened in this case.

[Kayla Moore]

No. Both Casey and George have come forward to say what they swear happened that day.

[Morgan Absher]

They're still, like, somewhat changing their stories in recent interviews. And what's crazy to me is now you have Casey going on social media and saying, I'm an advocate. I'm a legal advocate. It's like the disconnect.

[Kayla Moore]

Yeah, well, according to her. So this is what she said. In that 2022 Peacock documentary, which she's. No matter how you feel about this case, Casey lies a lot in that documentary. Like, we. You can look at the facts of the case and know that she's just saying a lot of stuff that doesn't add up. But in that documentary, she comes forward and says that she woke up from sleeping, which we know that's not true, but she. She woke up from taking a nap and saw her dad outside with Kaylee in his arms, and she was wet. Maybe she had drowned, but she got the sense that George had killed her. And she didn't know if Kaylee was alive or not. And so George took her and said, everything's gonna be fine. And the last thing she remembered from the situation was George leaving with Kaylee saying everything was going to be fine. And that's why Casey didn't feel empowered to go search, because she always thought that Kaylee would come back and her dad would make it all better, though she doesn't really know what that means.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah.

[Kayla Moore]

So. And then what you looked into a little bit more, what George said happened.

[Morgan Absher]

Yeah, I mean, he just basically said, you know, he went to work. I think. I think that's what's so hard to kind of wrap my head around in this case is it's. There's so much pathological lying.

[Kayla Moore]

Yes.

[Morgan Absher]

And when you get to a point, you know, it's clear if you look at Casey's story, a lot of it doesn't add up, but it seems like she believes it. And I'm not a psychologist, but if you get into pathological lying, you will oftentimes see that pathological liars do start to believe their own lies. It becomes the new reality. Their brain rewrites it that way. And so I don't think we'll ever know what happened. We have what Casey says happened, what George says happened, and then there's the truth. And I don't. I don't know if we're. We're ever gonna get there. And there was this lack of anxiety, remorse. I mean, to go dance on tabletops and get a tattoo. I think what I think of this case is probably clearly coming out at this point.

[Kayla Moore]

Well, I will say one thing that threw me off, too. You know, there was security footage from police when they. When Kaylee's body was found. They hid it from Casey. They didn't tell her right away. And the police put a camera in a room and they played a news. News coverage of Kaylee's body being discovered because they wanted to catch her being cold and being unremorseful. And instead what they got on camera, she was by herself. She had no reason to perform for anyone. She doubled over sobbing. And police hid that footage from people as well because that was not the image of Keith. That's not what they wanted out. And that one really threw me off too, because I agree with you a lot of this. She comes off so cold and calculated and unremorseful. But watching that, you do kind of catch a glimpse of humanity that I found really complicated.

[Morgan Absher]

I know. Whether it's guilt or true sadness.

[Kayla Moore]

Yeah, right, right.

[Morgan Absher]

I'm curious to see where all of you fall on this case. You know, I think given all of this evidence, knowing how much we know now, what would you have done if you were on the jury?

[Kayla Moore]

Since her death, various states have enacted versions of Kaylee's law, which makes it a crime if a parent doesn't report their child missing or dead within 24 to 48 hours. Hugely beneficial to children. We know that the first 48 hours in a missing case is the most important and that is huge advocacy.

[Morgan Absher]

It's so critical.

[Kayla Moore]

Florida also enacted a similar law in April of 2012, which made it a misdemeanor to knowingly give false information. To mislead a police officer about a missing child. And if the missing child suffered great bodily harm or death, this crime becomes a felony. After her death, Cindy and George briefly ran a non profit in Kaylee's memory called the Kayle's Fund Foundation. But it was dissolved in May of 2012 after less than a year. And one note that we found was that Dr. Phil apparently gave $600,000 to it. In recent years, Casey has become estranged from her family, it seems. Reportedly her parents think that she's maybe struggling with mental health and her father wants no contact with her. I mean, she accused him of abuse and she says that he did it. So they just don't want to talk to each other.

[Morgan Absher]

I know. I have seen that mom still talks periodically. And when asked what she thinks about the verdict, she feels that justice was enacted how it should have been, which is wild.

[Kayla Moore]

And that's actually one of the most heart wrenching details from the case that I read about that even though Casey wasn't allowed to attend Kaylee's memorial, Cindy addressed Casey anyways, saying, quote, she's got your beauty and your compassion. She had your spirit and she will always love you. She knows that she was loved by her family and that's all that's important, which I mean, if you really thought that your daughter did it, I don't think you would be saying that. So, no, maybe she does think that what happened was right.

[Morgan Absher]

With that, it is time to close this case file. In the end, no matter what anyone believes happened, one fact remains, Kaylee Anthony is gone. If she was alive today, she'd be turning 20 years old on August 9, 2025. She'd probably be in college thinking about the next chapter of her life, what careers she wanted to pursue, who she was dating, who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Instead, no one will ever know where Kaylee's life might have taken her.

[Kayla Moore]

It was a horrible tragedy. But a lot of good advocacy has come from this. Like, Kaylee's life was definitely not in vain. She's even in death has been able to help so many children, which is just so beautiful. And I want to end on that button.

[Morgan Absher]

I appreciate that.

[Kayla Moore]

Positive. And that's it for today's episode of Clues. I'm curious to hear if you guys have as many questions as we do about this case. If your opinion has changed at all, please, please, like I said at the beginning, let us know in the comments. Yeah, as always, we do want to hear from you. Your thoughts, your theories, your feedback. That is what makes this community so special.

[Morgan Absher]

It really does. The whole reason we dove into this case is because of you guys commenting. So please leave comments about any other cases you want us to cover, some lesser known ones that might need some eyes and ears on it to bring awareness at Crime House. We really do value your support. So share your thoughts on social media. Remember to rate, review and follow clues to help others discover the show. And if you're hungry for even more content, we have you covered for more exclusive content, monthly bonus episodes, early access ad free listening. Join our Crime House plus community on Apple Podcasts.

[Kayla Moore]

All right, we will be back next week as we dive into another case and until then, keep searching and we'll see you next time on Clues.

[Morgan Absher]

Bye Bye.