I never felt that she was alive, unfortunately.
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Remains identified as missing toddler Caylee Anthony
Two-year-old Caylee Anthony had been missing for five months.
Amy L. Edwards, Sarah Lundy and Walter Pacheco | Sentinel Staff Writers
9:33 PM EST, December 19, 2008
We may never know exactly how Caylee Marie Anthony was killed. But Orange County's medical examiner is confident that the brown-haired toddler was a victim of a homicide.
On Friday, Dr. Jan Garavaglia confirmed "with regret" that the skeletal remains found Dec. 11 in woods just blocks away from the home Caylee shared with her family belong to the 2-year-old who disappeared in June.
Garavaglia said the FBI forensic lab in Virginia matched DNA from the bones to Caylee's known DNA, but none of the skeleton showed any sign of injury that might indicate what killed her.
Toxicology testing still needs to be completed on bone and hair, but Garavaglia held out little hope that the chemical analysis would prove to be helpful. She saw no reason to delay a death certificate.
"The manner of death in this case is homicide," she said. "The cause of death will be listed as homicide by undetermined means. Should other pertinent information become available, the cause of death may be revisited."
Crime-scene investigators continued their work Friday at the scene on Suburban Drive, a few miles north of Orlando International Airport.
Garavaglia lauded the technicians, who have worked on their hands and knees to recover bones as small as a pebble from the soil and vegetation.
She gave few details about the skeleton beyond saying that, against the odds, a large portion of it had been recovered.
Other than the identification, little new information emerged from the afternoon news conference, which featured more than a dozen local, state and federal law-enforcement officials who have worked on the case.
Sheriff Kevin Beary called the case "a police chief's or a sheriff's nightmare" but said putting a name to the remains was a step forward.
"I think there has been an open wound in the community, and I believe we can start putting some closure to those open wounds," he said.
The sheriff began to choke up when asked how Caylee's case has affected him.
"I've raised two girls, goodness gracious," he said. "The bottom line is, folks, no child should have to go through this."
Caylee's mother, 22-year-old Casey Anthony, learned about the identification at the Orange County Jail, where she is awaiting trial on a first-degree murder charge in her daughter's death. A jail chaplain informed her about 15 minutes before the official announcement. Her reaction was not released.
Jail officials said she turned down a visit with her pastor, Shane Stutzman, who arrived while she was meeting with attorney José García.
Her lead attorney, José Baez, told television crews outside the jail that he would not disclose how his client reacted to the news.
"This is her private moment," he said. "This is what she is going through."
Anthony and her family have insisted that Caylee was kidnapped by a baby sitter. Detectives say the sitter does not exist.
Baez said his client still maintains she is innocent.
"You really do not know half of this story. You don't," Baez said. "And you will find out in court."
The toddler's grandparents -- George and Cindy Anthony -- received the news at their home on Hopespring Drive. Their son, Lee Anthony, arrived at the house to be with them.
Several hours later, the Anthonys' attorney, Brad Conway, read a statement asking people to pray for Caylee and for other families that have missing children.
"The Anthony family did not give up hope that Caylee was still alive until we were notified by the Orange County Sheriff's Office at approximately 1:30 today," Conway said. "They now know that their precious granddaughter is safe and hope that she will serve as the angel that protects thousands of missing children and their families."
He said the family wants the same answers as law enforcement and pledged to make themselves available to investigators.
Caylee's disappearance touched people around the world, becoming an Internet and television sensation. Hundreds helped search for her across Orange County, thousands provided tips to law enforcement and hundreds of thousands followed daily developments.
Ian Simmonds of Palm Beach Gardens took Friday off from work when he heard a "major announcement" was going to be made in the case.
He had followed the case closely since the beginning and wanted to witness things first-hand. The 46-year-old pest-control salesman drove nearly three hours to see the news conference at the Sheriff's Office, take pictures near the crime scene and stop by the Anthony family home.
"The body being found so close to the home is shocking," Simmonds said. "She was just around the corner the whole time."
He left before 6 p.m. so he could be home in time to hear commentary about the case on the Nancy Grace show on CNN Headline News.
Dozens of spectators and news crews kept vigil outside the Anthony home Friday evening, as they have for months.
Ann Ferrante, an Orlando accountant who had spent days searching for the toddler, said she returned to the neighborhood because she wanted to hear from the family.
Ferrante, 51, watched the news conference live while at work and cried when she heard that the remains were Caylee's.
"It was like we lost one of our own children," she said. "She was the community's child."
Some of the spectators wore T-shirts that said "JUSTICE FOR CAYLEE."
One of the shirts said, "My Mommy did it."
Suspicion fell quickly on Caylee's mother in mid-July after the toddler was reported missing. Caylee was last seen in mid-June.
Investigators found traces of chloroform in Anthony's Pontiac Sunfire, which was abandoned next to a dumpster at a check-cashing store. The car also had a pungent odor when Anthony's parents retrieved it from a wrecker yard.
Recently released court documents showed that months before Caylee disappeared, someone searched on Google the phrases "neck breaking," "household weapons," and "shovel" on the family computer. Someone also searched online for "death," "chloroform" and "inhalation."
Investigators disclosed that they found dirt, a hair and a mysterious stain in the trunk of the Sunfire.
But until an Orange County utilities worker found a skull in the woods Dec. 11, detectives did not have a body.
Texas EquuSearch founder Tim Miller, who led several volunteer searches for Caylee through east Orange County, said he was convinced "there was no chance of Caylee being found alive."
When Miller called off the most recent search in November, he thought her body might never be found.
"I felt as though Caylee was really going to be one of these who would remain missing from now on. I'm so glad I was wrong with that," he said.
Now, Miller said he hopes Caylee will receive a public funeral.
"I said early on the most that we could ever hope for is to one day go to a funeral for little Caylee," he said. "And now it looks like we're there."