Mommy's Little Girl (30 page)

Lee went to the jail visitation site to talk with his sister that day. Casey, however, refused to see him. At a vigil that night, candles were lit; the crowd joined hands and sang “Happy Birthday” to Caylee. Balloons soared from hands into the sky, and tears glistened on every face. George apologized for his outburst that morning and asked everyone to remember the family in their prayers.

Sorrow descended with the sharpness of a scythe on
August 9—the day Caylee should have been celebrating her third birthday.

 

On August 10, Rick Cuza sent an email addressed to his sister Cindy, nephew Lee and brother-in-law George:

This is the hardest letter that I ever had to write. My heart is breaking with the passing of Caylee's birthday and she is not home with you guys. You have to be going through hell. I love you guys and my heart is saddened with all that has transpired. I know you guys are right in the middle of it and it has to be a nightmare that is never ending. I have been watching this since it has happened and can see it in its entire perspective. I have a pretty good idea of what really happened. Please don't get angry with me, but listen to what I have to say with an open mind . . . You guys are so close to it, you may not be able to see it the way I see it.

Here goes. You mentioned that the steps of the pool were back after you took them down on the fifteenth of June. The neighbors said that they heard someone in the pool on the afternoon of the sixteenth of June. The cell phone Records point out that Casey made a bunch of calls to you and George that you guys did not answer on the sixteenth of June. I think Caylee drowned in the pool and Casey was trying to call you guys. Since she couldn't reach you, she panicked and put Caylee's body in the backyard to hide her.

Then on the eighteenth of June, she returned to either bury her . . . or move the body . . . She put Caylee's body in the trunk and drove away. That is why the dogs hit on your backyard and the car, Cindy . . . She made up the baby sitter a long time ago to cover up for when she said she was going to work. She figured since you “bought in” to that lie a long time ago, she could use the sitter as an alibi.
Not one person has ever seen this sitter. Not one, Cindy. Is this making sense yet?

Casey knows she has to lie to cover everything up. The longer it goes, it will be harder to prove that the cause of death was accidental drowning as the body decomposes. Casey will be charged with murder instead of it being an accident. You must run this scenario past Casey before it is too late. I know you want to believe otherwise, Cindy, but it just don't add up. This is your last chance to get through to Casey. That forensic evidence is due in at anytime now. God bless all of you.

Cindy replied:

Where did you hear that the neighbors heard someone in the pool on the 16
^th
? I have not heard this. The only flaw with that theory is Casey would not cover up an accident and go to prison for it. Sorry. George and I have run through the scenarios. There's a lot you guys don't know and we cannot say. I can assure you I am not mad at you but the facts cannot be released for many reasons. . . . It's tough but we're confident we will have Caylee back with us.

Rick wrote back, explaining the swimming pool story:

Cindy, Greta
[Greta Van Susteren, Fox News]
ran the time line on Friday. No one knows the “ghost sitter.” This is a person that Casey made up to fool you about her having a job for two years. She pretended to go to work and said she used this fake sitter to scam you. Can't you see this? There is no sitter.

. . . Nothing Casey has said is true. I know you want to believe her, but from the pregnancy on, she has lied. I would even bet that the boy that died in the car accident is not the father. 100% guarantee it.

. . . I am sorry, Cindy, but if you are pinning
your hopes on Casey telling you anything true, you have a big letdown coming . . . She stole from mom and dad, stole THOUSANDS from you and George and stole from her friends. I know she wouldn't purposely hurt Caylee, but she thinks that if they can't find Caylee's body, she won't go to prison. She can and will go just on what they have now . . . Those dogs are highly trained and are not fooled.

. . . I know what is coming next and I hope I am wrong. The forensic evidence will tell the story. Then it will be too late to change her story because no one will believe her. God bless you guys. I am sorry if my candid comments upset you in any way but I had to say what I feel in my heart is true. I hope I am wrong for Caylee's sake but I think she is in Heaven now. My thoughts and prayers are with you guys every day.

In her response, Cindy told Rick that he got the story on Greta wrong, cadaver dogs were unreliable and Brian Burner, the neighbor with the shovel, kept changing his story. Again, she came to her daughter's defense:

Lying does not make someone a murderer. I am not in denial.

. . . The Sheriff's Office thought Casey would crack being in jail this long. She hasn't because she is protecting Caylee. We have a lot of people working to prove Casey's innocence. We cannot come out with evidence until Caylee is safe. You need to keep an open mind. If you don't you are just as bad as the media. Why don't you spend your energy helping us find Caylee. What have you done to put the word out?

. . . I could go on all night, but I refuse to waste my energy justifying any of this to anyone, especially to my own family. I am not mad. I am disappointed. It's bad enough you have little faith in
Casey, but George, Lee and I are busting our asses out here every day to find Caylee. I do not see any support for her from my own family. We get more support from complete strangers. Thank God for all of them.

Frustrated with Cindy's stubborn defense of Casey's lies, Rick gave rein to his anger:

I have seen enough of Casey's actions after the fact to know she is full of crap! . . . You can believe her all you want, but I don't buy it for one second. She lied to you in front of me about being pregnant. She was seven months! It was so obvious, it was ridiculous.

Her own friends said she is a liar and a good, decent person does not steal from their parents and grandparents. If it was you that was in trouble, I would believe YOU. I do not believe anything that Casey says . . . Casey is the only person that really knows where Caylee is and what really happened to her. She is playing you, George and Lee like a bass fiddle and has for years. You need to wake up.

Rick challenged Cindy to prove the sitter existed and question why anyone would not step forward to claim the reward if Caylee was still alive:

This is a made up story by Casey to get the police to take the heat off of her. You have enabled Casey to lie and steal for years. As long as you support her, you won't find out what happened to Caylee.

The “word” is already out. The “word” is Casey is a pathological liar and only she knows what happened to Caylee. No parent would be at a night club every Friday after their daughter is kidnapped . . . She has no remorse or doesn't care about anyone except herself.

Get real, Cindy. This is hard for me but you have to face the facts here. You are so far out in left field on this you have lost touch with reality. There is nothing that anyone can do here or anywhere without Casey coming clean and telling the truth for once in her life . . . I know you want to believe that Caylee is still out there alive, but . . . the reality should have set in after Caylee wasn't home for her third birthday. I would want to choke the life out of Casey.

You have my deepest sympathy. I truly am sorry for you guys and want this to have a happy ending. I am praying for you all.

Cindy was angry now:

This is why I am no longer going to reply to you again. You did not read a word I wrote. I cannot tell you everything that is going on. I am getting real. I know who is in my corner and it is not my family. We do not want or need your sympathy, or even pity. Please do not reach out to me again. Use your contacts to get Caylee's face out there because she is alive. I believe that, as I believe there is a God. You need more faith. Please do not destroy our relationship. I forgive your ignorance at this point.

Rick was now enraged. He responded in all caps:

. . . YOUR IGNORANCE IS INTOLERABLE. I AM YOUR BROTHER AND I DEMAND TO KNOW IF ANYONE OTHER THAN CASEY HAS SEEN THIS STUPID SITTER. IF YOU CAN'T ANSWER THAT SIMPLE REQUEST, THEN YOU ARE ALL BY YOURSELF ON THIS. YOU NEED TO GET SOME PSYCHIATRIC HELP!

For five hours, Rick cooled down while waiting for an email from Cindy. When it didn't come, he wrote to his sister again:

No babysitter. No kidnapping. Case closed. Mom never heard Caylee on her phone. It was a wrong number. Don't bother Mom and Dad anymore. Bother Casey. Put the blame where it goes. It makes me sick to see you guys going through this because of Casey. I won't bother you anymore. You couldn't give me an answer if anyone other than Casey could verify a babysitter. Your silence is very loud and clear. There is nothing I can do for you if you can't see reality. All the faith in the universe won't bring Caylee back. It will take a long time for you to “heal” if you ever can. I know you are grieving, so I will let you have your peace.

All I wanted was a STRAIGHT answer which no one seems to be able to give. I have heard all the BS I can take. I would believe in the tooth fairy or ET or Santa before I trusted and believed in Casey. After I heard what she did to Mom and Dad and you guys, I wouldn't donate a nickel to bond her out if I won the lotto.

That is the disdain that I have for her . . . I know you hate me right now but that is the risk I have to take to get you back to reality. You can hate me, but some day, you will see I was trying to help you.

On August 11, the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Daytona Beach denied Casey Anthony's motion for a rehearing on the bond. The same day, Cindy and George were driving around town, towing a portable billboard with photos of Caylee.

By this point, the public had submitted more than 1,300 leads to the investigators. On this day a forensic unit responded to a site 4-and-a-half miles by road from 4937 Hopespring Drive. A tip alerted the sheriff's office to a square-shaped spot of dirt in a field next to a wooded area.

The unit found small pieces of bone and hair on its surface. An investigator probed the dirt, finding nothing. Carefully, one inch at a time, they removed the soil searching for bones or any additional evidence. They uncovered a wood beam, but in the surrounding dirt, roots were undisturbed. The hair and bones were not human. Another dead end.

That day, county meter reader David Dean helped new employee Roy Kronk with his route on Hopespring and Suburban. They stopped in a shady area by the swamp on Suburban to take a break. David thought about the close proximity to the Anthony home and said, “You know, Roy, I think that little girl is in the swamp back there.”

Roy agreed it was possible, and they talked about Casey's remark to her parents that Caylee was nearby.
Roy got out of the truck and went into the woods a little ways to relieve himself. When he returned to the truck, another meter reader, Chris Gibson, was with David. Roy said, “Hey, guys, I saw a bag down there.”

David thought Roy was kidding around because of his earlier comment, and didn't pay any attention. Roy walked away from the truck and along the swamp line. He shouted, “Hey, guys, I see a skull in here.”

David still didn't take him seriously, but walked back that way to see what he'd seen. Halfway there, he nearly stepped on the largest rattlesnake he'd ever seen. He let out an involuntary yelp. Then, he realized the snake was dead. They all marveled at it. David picked it up with his shovel, put it in the back of his truck and took it back to the office. The find was a big hit with the other meter readers. They all gathered around, snapping photos with their cell phones.

All but Roy forgot about what else had been seen in the swampy woods.

Roy made his first telephone call to the police. With some difficulty he described the location on Suburban Drive near Hidden Oaks Elementary School and the Anthony home. “There's, like, a big swamp area there, and we found a dead, four-foot eastern diamond rattle back, but that's not the real thing. There's, like, two little ‘in' areas you can go and there's a big, long tree laying down and there's a lot of swamp back in there. Well, back behind one of the trees down there was a gray bag and then a little bit further up than that, I saw something white. But after I saw that four-foot eastern diamond rattlesnake, I'm not going in that property.”

He called back the next day to report his discovery one more time. The third day, he called again to report that he was at the location waiting for them to dispatch an officer. Deputy Richard Cain responded first. Roy pointed out what he described as “a bag of bones”. Cain went into the mucky woods and poked around with his baton, flipping
a small piece of a plastic bag, but not seeing anything but leaves and sticks.

While Cain checked out the site, Deputy Keithlin Cutcher arrived on the scene. Roy spoke of his suspicion that he might have found Caylee's remains. “[Casey] said she was very close. She was really close.”