DNA tests confirm remains are Caylee Anthony

Skeletal remains found in the woods are the Florida 3-year-old who has been missing since June, but they don't reveal any clues about how she was killed, a county medical examiner said Friday. A utility worker stumbled upon the remains last week, less than a half-mile from where the girl lived. DNA tests confirm that the remains match Caylee Anthony's genetic profile, said the medical examiner, Dr. Jan Garavaglia.

Caylee's mother, 22-year-old Casey Anthony, was indicted in October on first-degree murder and other charges, even though no body was found. She has insisted that she left the girl with a baby sitter in June, but she didn't report her missing until July.

It took authorities several days to analyze the remains, and some tests are still being completed. Some of the bones were as small as a pebble and had been scattered, and the fragments were hard to find by excavators who searched on their hands and knees, authorities said. The bone fragments did not reveal any trauma before death, Garavaglia said, but exactly what happened to the girl remains a mystery.

"Bottom line is, folks, no child should have to go through this," said Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary.

A search team said they did not check the wooded area sooner because it was submerged in water. Beary said his department was investigating reports that the utility worker who called in the tip leading to the discovery of the remains had tried several times in August to call in his suspicion about a bag in the area.

"If we missed a window of opportunity we don't know," he said. "I'm not throwing anybody under the bus because we don't know. That's why we conduct an administrative review."

Casey Anthony's attorney, Jose Baez, was with her at the Orange County Jail shortly after she found out the news from a jail chaplain, said Todd Black, a spokesman for the attorney. She was notified about 15 minutes before the news conference about the positive identification. Black said he wouldn't comment on her reaction.

A message left for the attorney representing George and Cindy Anthony, Casey's parents, was not immediately returned.

The case captivated the community where the little girl's family lived, and Caylee has been a staple on national news as her mother and grandparents pleaded for tips, promising that the girl was still alive.

Caylee's grandmother first called authorities in July to say she hadn't seen the girl for a month and her daughter's car smelled like death.

Police immediately interviewed Anthony and soon said everything she told them about her daughter's whereabouts was false. The baby sitter was nonexistent and the apartment where Anthony said she had last seen Caylee had been empty for months. Anthony also lied about where she worked, they said.

Other troubling details emerged: Photos surfaced of Anthony partying after her daughter went missing. Friends said she was a habitual liar, but also a good mother.

Last month, the Orange County State Attorney turned over almost 800 pages of documents showing someone used the Anthonys' home computer to do Internet searches for terms like "neck breaking" and "household weapons."

In mid-March, someone searched Google and Wikipedia for peroxide, shovels, acetone, alcohol and chloroform. Traces of chloroform, which is used to induce unconsciousness and a component of human decomposition, were found in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car during forensic testing, the documents say.

Man who found skull in Caylee case sent police tips months ago

The meter reader who led authorities last week to remains believed to be those of Caylee Anthony called police four months ago, directing them three times to same site, authorities said Thursday.

At a news conference, Capt. Angelo Nieves, an Orange County Sheriff's Department commander, said investigators are looking into whether the tips, called in August 11, 12 and 13, were properly followed up.

In one of those phone calls, the meter reader reported seeing a gray bag on the side of the road, Nieves said. On August 13, a deputy responded to the site and did a "cursory search" but found nothing, Nieves said.

Casey Anthony, 22, faces charges including first-degree murder in the June disappearance of her daughter, Caylee, who was 2 at the time. Remains described as being those of a small child were found last week a half-mile from Casey Anthony's parents' home, in the area where the meter reader first directed police.

Nieves said police were getting more information from the tipster and the deputy who responded to the tips. He said the department was investigating the "thoroughness" of the deputy's response but would not identify the deputy.

The meter reader "is not a suspect," Nieves said. "He is a credible witness."

Nieves' latest announcement is raising questions about whether police missed several chances to find remains believed to be Caylee's.

The meter reader is not the only one, or the first, to have pointed police toward the site containing the remains.

KioMarie Cruz, Casey Anthony's childhood friend, also told police to investigate the same wooded area near Hidden Oaks Elementary School a month before the meter reader, according to CNN affiliate WFTV.

In an interview with detectives, according to WFTV, Cruz said that she and Anthony "pretty much used to hang out there most of our time," would "snack on food for hours" and went there to "get away from our parents."

The sheriff's office followed up on that tip, but the wooded area was covered in floodwaters, preventing a search. Nieves said the water may have been present at the time of the meter reader's tips as well.

Nieves also said Thursday that searchers combing the site after the skull's discovery had found "significant skeletal remains" consistent with those of a small child on the outer perimeter of the search area.

The area will be enlarged, and processing and searching of the site will continue, probably into the weekend, he said.

Some of the remains have been sent to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, in an effort to identify them. Authorities have said the remains are believed to be Caylee's, but an identification is pending.

Sheriff's spokesman Carlos Padilla said last week that authorities believe the remains are Caylee's for three reasons: No other children have been reported missing in the area; the remains are consistent with those of a child of Caylee's age; and the remains were found near the home of the grandparents, where the 2-year-old and her mother were living just before Caylee disappeared.

FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said Monday that he did not know when tests would be complete, but an attorney for Anthony's parents said the FBI is likely to have results "within the next week."

Casey Anthony could face a sentence of life in prison if convicted. Prosecutors said this month that they would not seek the death penalty.

Warrant sought to search Fla. toddler's home

Authorities say they are seeking a search warrant for the Orlando home of a missing 3-year-old girl after a small child's remains were found nearby.



Orange County sheriff's spokesman Carlos Padilla said Thursday that investigators cordoned off the home belonging to the grandparents of Caylee Anthony, who often stayed at the home with her mother.

Caylee's mother, 22-year-old Casey Anthony, insists that she left the girl with a baby sitter in June, but she didn't report her missing until July. The mother has been charged with first-degree murder.

On Thursday, a utility worker stumbled upon remains of a small child less than a half-mile from where the girl lived. Investigators were trying to identify the remains. The medical examiner left with the remains about 3 p.m.