Casey Anthony

Caylee Marie Anthony (August9, 2005 – June2008) was an American toddler who lived in Orlando, Florida, with her mother, Casey Marie Anthony (born March19, 1986), and her maternal grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony.

On July15, 2008, Caylee was reported missing in a call made by Cindy, who said she had not seen the child for thirty-one days.

According to what Cindy told police dispatchers, Casey had given varied explanations as to Caylee's whereabouts before eventually saying she had not seen her daughter for weeks.

Casey later called police and falsely told a dispatcher that Caylee had been kidnapped by a nanny on June9.

Casey was charged with first-degree murder in October2008 and pleaded not guilty.

On December 11, 2008, Caylee's skeletal remains were found with a blanket inside a laundry bag in a wooded area near the Anthony family residence.

Investigative reports and trial testimony varied between duct tape being found near the front and mouth of the skull.

The medical examiner listed Caylee's cause of death as "homicide by undetermined means".

The State of Florida sought the death penalty in its case against Casey.

Relying largely on circumstantial (i.e. non-eyewitness) evidence, the prosecution alleged Casey wished to free herself from parental responsibilities and murdered her daughter by administering chloroform and applying duct tape to her nose and mouth.

Casey's defense team, led by Jose Baez, chiefly focused on challenging the prosecution's evidence, calling much of it "fantasy forensics".

The defense stated that Caylee had drowned accidentally in the family's swimming pool and that George had disposed of the body.

On June 16, 2008, Casey Anthony departed from her parents' home in Orlando, Florida, where she and Caylee resided.

Her father, George Anthony, later testified that he saw his granddaughter Caylee leaving with Casey.

Casey told her mother, Cindy, that she was taking Caylee to her nanny, whom Casey identified as Zenaida "Zanny" Fernandez-Gonzalez, and, the next day, she further informed Cindy that the three were headed to Tampa on a work trip.

Thirty days after Casey's departure, her car was found abandoned in Orlando and towed away.

George and Cindy were notified that the car had been impounded.

When George went to recover the car, he and the tow-yard manager noted a strong smell coming from the trunk, which both later stated they believed to be that of human decomposition.

When the trunk was opened, it contained only a bag of trash.

That day, Cindy reported Caylee missing, telling 9-1-1 dispatchers that Casey's car smelled of dead bodies and that she had not seen Caylee for thirty-one days.

Cindy later retracted her statement regarding the car's odor.

Casey told investigators that she had left Caylee at the apartment of her nanny, Fernandez-Gonzalez, and that Fernandez-Gonzalez had kidnapped the toddler.

But when police investigated the apartment, they found it had been abandoned for more than 140 days.

Casey also told police that she was working at Universal Studios.

However, when investigators took her to Universal Studios on July 16 and asked her to show them her office, Casey led detectives into the building before admitting that she no longer worked there; as it turned out, she had not worked there since she had taken maternity leave almost three years earlier.

Casey was subsequently arrested.

On July 29, Casey was offered a limited-immunity deal—in exchange for help finding Caylee, prosecutors said they would not use Casey's statements to police against her.

The offer expired September 2, 2008.

Casey's parents appeared on NBC's Today on October 22, 2008, maintaining their belief that Caylee was alive and would be found.

Larry Garrison, president of SilverCreek Entertainment, acted as the Anthony family's spokesman until November 2008, when he resigned citing the family's "erratic behavior".

On August 11, 12 and 13, 2008, meter reader Roy Kronk called police about a suspicious object found in a forested area near the Anthony residence.

In the first instance, he was directed by the sheriff's office to call a tip line, which he did, receiving no return call.

In the second instance, he again called the sheriff's office, and eventually was met by two police officers.

He reported to them that he had seen what appeared to be a skull near a gray bag.

On July 5, 2011, a jury found Casey not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated manslaughter of a child, but guilty of four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer.

With credit for time served, Casey was released on July 17, 2011.

A Florida appellate court overturned two of the misdemeanor convictions on January 25, 2013.

The case attracted substantial attention from the public —Time magazine described it as "the social media trial of the century".

Television personality Nancy Grace, who referred to Casey as "tot mom", was notable for the attention and corresponding publicity she gave the case.

Casey's acquittal on the murder charges was met with public outrage, with hundreds of thousands posting to social media accounts in response.