Casey Anthony’s mother reflects on tragic moment remains of granddaughter Caylee were found more than a decade later
The Anthony family remains haunted by their tragic past and in the shadows of years-old headlines about the gruesome death of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony.
Cindy Anthony reflected on the tragic moment her granddaughter was discovered dead more than 13 years ago during an appearance in a new Investigation Discovery series, “Crime Scene Confidential.” The opening episode, which premiered on Tuesday, sees Cindy reconnecting with crime scene investigator Alina Burroughs — who worked on the Anthony case and will serve as host for the six-show series.
“I didn’t know how Cindy was going to react to me,” Burroughs told People of the unlikely reunion.
“It’s hard for her to speak out about this case,” she continued. “She really went through hell and back, and she’s never been the same.”
Cindy Anthony reported her granddaughter, Caylee, missing the morning of July 15, 2008, telling 911 dispatchers that she had not seen the toddler for 31 days. She also alleged a car belonging to Casey Anthony, her own daughter and Caylee’s mother, wreaked of dead bodies.
After the emergency call, Casey provided several varying explanations regarding her daughter’s whereabouts, but eventually admitted to not having seen Caylee for weeks. She was arrested on charges of child neglect and told police that her babysitter had vanished with her 2-year-old. She added that she was too afraid to alert authorities about the disappearance.
In October 2008, Casey was charged with first-degree murder and went on to plead not guilty. Just months later, authorities discovered Caylee’s skeletal remains in a wooded area not far from the Anthony home.
“I know you guys didn’t want to leave until you found every single [bone],” Cindy told Burroughs during the interview. “It means a lot.”
“We had an obligation to her and to you and your family to bring her home,” Burroughs responded.
Following a high-profile, six-week trial, Casey was found not guilty in 2011 of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child. She was however found guilty on four counts of providing false information to police and sentenced to one year in jail as well as $1,000 in fines per count.
The not-guilty verdict was met with widespread criticism, with many still believing Casey used duct tape and chloroform to kill her young daughter.
Cindy has since had a distant and somewhat contentious relationship with Casey. They didn’t speak for many years, but have recently started communicating on an infrequent basis.
