Child's Remains Removed From Area Near Anthony Home

www.wftv.com

Thursday, December 11, 2008 – updated: 5:51 pm EST December 11, 2008

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Investigators removed the remains of a young child from a site near the home of Casey Anthony's parents' east Orange County home. Meantime, investigators were trying to get a search warrant to look in the home for more evidence.

The remains were discovered Thursday morning, less than a half-mile from the house. After several hours of combing over the scene, detectives loaded the remains in a white medical examiner's van and took them away.

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About 9:30am, an Orange County water meter reader, who had gone into the woods to relieve himself, discovered a bag about 20 to 30 feet off the sidewalk in the area of Chickasaw Trail and Suburban Drive (see map), around three-tenths of a mile from the Anthonys' home (map from location to Anthonys' home).

According to information obtained by Eyewitness News, when the meter reader kicked or picked up the bag, a skull fell out. The Orange County Sheriff's Office has confirmed the remains are from a young child. Investigative sources told Eyewitness News there may have been more in the bag than just a skull but they wouldn't elaborate.

"We are assuming they are the remains of a victim," said Orange County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jim Solomons.

It is not known whether the remains are those of Caylee Anthony.

Deputies set up a perimeter near a small retention pond. Heavy rain pounded the scene, making the investigation more difficult. FBI agents and agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement were also on the scene.

Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary said the area had been underwater during previous searches, so it was not surprising the remains hadn't been found before (watch Beary press conference). Equusearch founder Tim Miller, who heads up a group that searches for bodies, said his volunteers had searched the area before but that it was full of water and an ATV had stirred up mud and muck and made visibility poor.

When asked if the remains could be those of any other child, Beary responded, "Not that we know of."

Eyewitness News reporter Kathi Belich said sources told her they were taking this very seriously and would expedite DNA tests to determine if the remains were indeed Caylee's. Investigators told her they were "very optimistic" they had found the missing girl. Beary said the FBI had told him experts at its lab in Quantico, Va. would work through the weekend on the case if necessary.

Caylee's mother, Casey Anthony, has been charged with murder in connection with the case. She is currently in the Orange County jail.

"She met with a corrections officer psychologist, and was reviewed and placed on psychological observation. However, that is not suicide watch," said jail spokesman Allen Moore.
Casey has been visited by her attorney, Jose Baez, but he would not comment on whether she knew about the day's discovery. (Baez At Jail: Raw Video See Images).

Baez has filed an emergency motion (read motion) for a court hearing at 11:30am Friday morning. He wants to be present for any forensic testing on the remains.

ANTHONYS RETURN TO ORLANDO

George and Cindy Anthony, Casey's parents and Caylee's grandparents, flew back to Orlando from California after appearing on Larry King Live, Wednesday night. On the program they continued to defend their daughter.

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Passengers who were on the flight said the Anthonys were calm and wore their "Find Caylee" t-shirts. They were met by deputies at the gate and whisked away.

The couple did not immediately return to their home. An attorney representing the family said the pair was too upset. However, the attorney planned to go to the house to handle a search warrant obtained by the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Orange County deputies moved to secure the Anthony home after the discovery, Thursday. The home had been the site of many protests and on-looker gatherings throughout the course of investigation into Caylee's disappearance.

Neighbors and others began showing up at the house around 11:00am.

CHAOS OUTSIDE HOUSE: Raw Video See Images

"It's unbelievable," said neighbor Nephtali Rivera. "I'm just looking at the distance from the house and the distance where they found the remains. So close."

EXPERTS REACT

Dr. Michael Baden, a forensics expert, said DNA tests would likely confirm what other evidence at the scene would tell investigators (watch Baden interview). For example, detectives said there was duct tape on the bag and the skull that were found. Baden said detectives would be able to match that tape and bag to other tape and bags they had previously gathered from the trunk of Casey Anthony's car.

"They can tell the age and height of the child. They'll have a good sense of if it's Caylee. The DNA will just confirm the evidence," Baden said.

Tim Miller, founder of the Texas-based search group Equusearch, said he had been called by law enforcement officials and told they believed they had found Caylee Anthony (watch Miller interview).

"The words were, 'Tim, it looks like we got her,'" said Miller. "I'm surprised. It was one of them cases I thought would have never been found ... I thought the best thing that would ever happen is that one day we could go to a funeral and say good-bye to this little girl ... and it looks like that will happen."

"I'm just overcome with emotion and grief right now," bounty hunter Leonard Padilla, who has been a major part of search efforts to find Caylee's remains, told Eyewitness News shortly after the discovery was made (watch Padilla interview).