Casey Anthony was first yesterday, July 16, 2008, and was charged the today with giving false statements, child neglect, and obstruction of a criminal investigation. The judge denied bail, saying Casey had shown "woeful disregard for the welfare of her child".
Meanwhile, Caylee is still missing and has been missing for about a month according to Casey Anthony when she told police that her daughter was kidnapped by her nanny.
The following was copied from the official arrest affidavit dated July 16, 2008.
On July 15th, 2008 at 0045 hrs. I was notified by Sgt. Reggie Hose about a report of a missing child, later identified as Caylee Anthony (2 yoa).
The initial report indicated the child was last seen at 2863 S. Conway Road around apartment #210 on June 9th, 2008 between 0900 and 1300 hrs. According to the child’s mother, the child was last left with the babysitter (Zenaida Gonzalez at the above S. Conway Road address. Since June 9th, the defendant has not been able to locate Zenaida or her child and she never reported the incident to law enforcement until tonight. The reason she was reporting it tonight was because her mother, Cynthia Anthony, insisted on calling the police after the defendant told her she hadn’t seen the child for over a month. Cynthia found the defendant and brought her home after the car the defendant was driving (a white 98 Pontiac bearing Florida tag G63XV) was found abandoned and towed several days ago. Deputies had gone to the S. Conway Road address and met with management who told them the apartment the defendant showd them had been vacant for 142 days (since February 29th).
I briefed my supervisor (Sgt. John Allen) and responded to 4937 Hopespring Drive to begin my investigation. I first met with the defendant inside the residence and spoke with her alone and away from other family members. Before asking for the recorded statement, I reviewed her original four page wirtten sworn statement and asked if this was her version of what happened. She said it was. I told her that the incident was very suspicious and her version suspect. I gave her the opportunity to tell me something different, but she claimed her written version was true and accurate. I then conducted a recorded interview of the defendant in her presence and with her knowledge.
The defendant lived at this address on Hopespring Drive until June 9th, 2008. On June 9th, she left with her daughter Caylee to go to work at Universal Studios. This was between 0900 and 1300 hrs. En route, she says she stopped by 2863 S Conway Roard and met with Zenaida Gonzalez who babsits Caylee. She left Caylee with Zenaida at that building at the stairwell that leads to apartment 210. She says she’s known Zenaida’s for four years and Zenaida has babysat Caylee for the past one and a half years. When the defendant left work around 1700 hrs. and came back to pick up Caylee, she says she got no answer at the door. She tried calling Zenaida’s cell phone (number unknown) and got no answer. She started going to places that Zenaida was known to frequent but didn’t locate her child.
The defendant said she was “pacing and worrying” and went to her boyfriends house where she felt “safe”. Her boyfriend is Anthony Lazzaro. Since June 9th, the defendant says sh’s done her “own investigation” in trying to find her daughter. She claims she’s gone to clubs Zenaida’s Known to frequent in hopes of seeing her or her daughter. She never called the police to report her child’s disappearance. The defendant said she’d seen “movies and reports” of missing people getting hurt if the police got involved. She only called tonight after her mother confronted her with the whereabouts of the child and the defendant’s version of events.
The defendant agreed to show me the three last known locations for Zenaida in hopes of identifying her. The defendant rode with me in my unmarked car to meet with a market unit and other Deputy Sheriff to attempt contact at one of these locations. We first went to the corner of Glenwood and Robinson where she pointed out a building on the northwest corner. She pointed at the second floor window and said Zenaida had lived in that apartment in early 2006 to mid 2006 when she mored into another house owned by Zenaida’s mother (Gloria). The building she pointed out was later identified as 301 N Hillside Drive, a seniors only facility. The defendant said the apartments were three stories and the window above Zenaida’s belonged to Zenaida’s roommate. As a note, the initial responding deputies had found a handwritten note with the address of 232 Glenwood in the defendant’s car prior to my arrival. This address was directly across from the building she just pointed out to me.
We then went to 2863 S Conway Road #210 to confirm this was the same apartment she showed deputies earlier that night and where she had left the child on June 9th. She confirmed that was the apartment.
We then went to the Crossings at Conway town home community near Michigan Avenue and S. Conway Road. This is where Zenaida’s mother allegedly owned a condo and where she claims she’d dropped her child ff several times between mid 2006 to early2007. We rode through the complex, down every street and the defendant said she couldn’t remember twhat the address was. We knocked at three different addresses (4729,4283, and 4273) making contact with three different tenants, all of which did not know Zenaida or her mother Gloria. The defendant said she didn’t remember the house because she stopped paying attention to it since she came so many times.
I dropped the defendant back off at her residence on Hopespring, telling her I would call her if I needed anything, Prior to leaving, I was approached by her father George who stressed his concern that his daughter is holding information back information. He and his wife (the defendant’s mother) fear something may have happened to Caylee.
I met with Sgt. John Allen and briefed him on what had transpired this far. From there, I went to 2863 S Conway Road (The Sawgrass Apartments( and met with Dave Turner (maintenance man) and Amanda Macklin (manager). Neither claims to know a Zenaida. They were shown a photo of the missing child Caylee and no one recognized her. They confirmed that the apartment the defendant mentioned had been vacant for 142 days Dave Turner let me into the apartment and I confirmed it was vacant. They ran several names in their system and found a Zenaida Gonzalez who had come to look at an apartment on April 17th. She was never a tenant. They gave me a “guest card” completed by Zenaida Gonzalez which contained her cell phone number.
I then went to Universal Studios and met with Investigator Leonard Turtora. After briefing him on what I was there fo, he checked several names in their database and came up with the following results. The defendant was fired from Universal on 4/24/06 and she was NOT currently employed there. Jeffrey Hopkins (an alleged outcry witness) did not work for Universal Studios but he was fired in 5/13/02. Juliette Lewis (another alleged outcry witness) was not found as a current or former employee of Universal Studios. Zenaida Gonzalez (who the defendant claimed was the seasonal employee) was also not found as a current or former employee of Universal Studios.
While with Leonard, I called the defendant on my cell phone and put my phone’s speaker on so all could hear. The defendant confirmed that she did currently work for Universal as an event coordinator. She said her office extension was 407-224-1000 x104. Leonard said this was not a valid extension and even tried calling it. She said her direct supervisor was Tom (Manley). They have no Tom Manley employed there. The head of the events department is Tom Mattson. Leonard called him and confirmed they did not have the defendant listed as an employee, either past or present. I asked the defendant where her office was (she claimed to have her own office) and she couldn’t give me the building number or location. When asked if she had her current work ID she said she didn’t know where it was.
I asked Sgt. Allen to see if he could arrange to have someone go back to the Hopespring address and meet with the defendant to see if she’d agree to come to Universal Studios. At 1230 hrs. Sgt. Allen and Detective Appie Wells went to the Hopespring address and met with defendant who agreed to accompany them to Universal Studios. Investigator Turtora agreed to assist us with this.
Once at Universal Studios, I met with the three at the employees entrance. Investigator Turtora was present. The defendant, who didn’t have her ID, explained to the security officer at the entrance she was a current employee and lost her ID. When the security guard (Steve)asked who her supervisor was, she told him it was Tom Manley. When told no Tom Manley worked there , she had no answer. Investigator Turtora agreed to escort the defendant to where she said she worked. We followed her into a building nearby and down the building’s inner hall. She walked with pupose and acted like she knew where she was going. Halfway down this hall, she stopped, turned, and told us she hadn’t told us the truth and she was not a current employee.
At this time, we found a small conference room in which to talk to the defendant. This conversation was also recorded. Prior to beginning this interview, we stressed that the door was unlocked and were in the room fro privacy only. She understood and agreed to speak with us on tape. In short, the defendant was confronted with all the inconsistencies in her story and the fact that I had proven she lied on almost every thing she had told me. She admitted she lied to me about the apartment at 301 N Hillside being one of Zenaida’s. She admitted her ex-boyfriend Ricardo Morales lived across from this residence, and though she had stayed there since the child went missing, she never mentioned this address or name to us. She admitted she lied about being employed with Universal, claiming she thought that the may happen to find out if her child Caylee or Zenaida had visited Universal Studios since June 9th. She admitted that she should have called the police the day the child went missing and in not doing so, she failed to provide the victim with care, supervision and services necessary to maintain the child’s physical or mental health. The defendant still maintained that she last saw her daughter with a Zenaida on June 9th, 2008 at the S. Conway address.
It should be noted that at no time during any of the above interviews did the defendant show an obvious emotion as to the loss of her child. She did not cry or give any indication that she was legitimately worried about her child’s safety. She remained stoic and monotone during a majority of our contacts.
While the defendant was with Detective Wells, I called the Zenaida Gonzalez I idntified from the Sawgrass Apartments. She was open and responsive, and when asked, denied knowing Casey, Calee, or babysitting for anyone at all. She agreed to meet with an investigator to give a sworn statement. This was later done by OCCSO Missing Persons Investigator Awilda McBryde and investigator Kari Roderick where she was shown photos of the defendant and Caylee and denied knowing either.
Once back in the Universal parking lot, Sgt. Allen pulled up all the Zenaida Gonzalez’s in our DAVID system. The defendant couldn’t identify any of them based on this. I had him pull up the photo of the Zenaida I just spoke with, and the defendant said she didn’t recognize her.
In the course of this investigation, I received calls from several persons who know the defendant. All claim she is a habitual liar and she has been known to steal from friends in the past. Below is a synopsis of what each individual told me and later gave sworn statements about.
Amy Huizenga was the person who told the defendant’s mother where the defendant could be found on the evening of the 15th. She claims that the defendant picked her up at the airport around 1430 hrs. on July 15th in her (Amy’s) car. Amy had loaned the defendant her car for the week she was gone. Amy claims the defendant stole some checks and approximately $700(arrested for this on 7/229/08). Amy lives with Ricardo Morales at 232 Glenwood Drive. She can’t recall the last time she saw Caylee.
Anthony Lazzaro called claiming he first learned of Caylee’s disappearance by deputies coming to his house early this morning and inquiring about it. He claims he met the defendant in May and had been dating her since June. He claims he last saw Caylee on or about June 2nd while at the pool at his complex. he had not seen Caylee since. He has never met Zenaida nor knows where she lives. It was he that contacted Amy Huizenga and had her call me regarding this case Anthony said while the defendant lived with her since June 9th, she mentioned several times that Caylee was with the “nanny” at Disney, Universal Studios, or the beach. She never gave him any indication that the child was endangered or missing. Detective Gerald White later obtained a sworn statement from Anthony regarding this.
Jessie Grund is a friend of the defendants. The defendant’s mother mentioned him as one who took the defendant to a hospital earlier in the year for a seizure. He called me before I could call him. He mentioned that the defendant is a habitual liar. He told me that on June 25th, he received a call from the defendant who was trying to cheer him up over a recent job loss. She told him she was free this weekend if he wanted to get together. They used to date. She said that Caylee was with the “nanny” and they had gone to the beach for the weekend. After learning of this incident, he immediately called me to let me know this and how it contradicted with what the defendant had been telling everyone. Missing Persons’ Investigator Awilda McBryde later obtained a sworn written statement from Jessie regarding this.
Christine Chester, a friend of the defendant, called after seeing the missing persons story on Caylee on the news. She claims to be the defendant’s best friend. She also said the defendant and Caylee had been to her house and all had gone for a walk on either June 12th, 13th or 14th. She’s sure of the date. She said she was surprised to hear of the child missing. Investigator Kelly Deguzman later obtained a sworn written statement from Jessie regarding this.
Once at our central operation center, and after I started receiving the above phone calls reference the defendant and her child, the defendant was given one more opportunity to change her story. She did not. She was then placed under arrest for child neglect, and providing false information to us regarding this investigation.
INVESTIGATORS NOTE: As of this writing, we do not know the condition of the missing child Caylee Anthony. We do not know where the child is. Based on the repetitive lies that the defendant has told, we do not know with who the child is or even if the child is alive. As I received information, and relayed it to the defendant after her arrest, she continued to claim ignorance and at times, laughed about the situation. She still failed to show any outward signs of remorse or concern for her missing two year old daughter. I request that she be held on a NO BOND status until the child is located.
