Small Child's Skeletal Remains Found Near Home of C. Anthony

[JP]

Small Child's Skeletal Remains Found Near Home of Caylee Anthony's Family

Thursday , December 11, 2008

The skeletal remains of a small child were found Thursday near the home of missing Orlando toddler Caylee Anthony's family.

Orange County sheriffs and forensics teams were at the location where the remains were discovered near the Anthony home.

"All we know is that remains of a child have been found," a police spokeswoman told FOXNews.com.

Orange County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jim Solomons told The Associated Press that a utility worker found the body at 9:32 a.m. Thursday.

There was nothing immediately indicating that the bones belong to 3-year-old Caylee and no word on whether the body is that of a male or female child.

The bones, wrapped in a plastic bag and bound with duct tape, were discovered near the intersection of South Chickasaw Trail and Suburban Drive.

Police said the Anthony family has been notified of the discovery.

Caylee has been missing since June. Her mother Casey Anthony, 22, is behind bars on first-degree murder charges. Prosecutors said last week they won't seek the death penalty.

Earlier Thursday, the judge in the case postponed Anthony's murder trial, which was scheduled to begin Jan. 5.

Ninth Circuit Judge Stan Strickland complied Thursday with a request by defense lawyer Jose Baez to put off the start date of her trial until March. He set another hearing for Jan. 15.

Baez also asked for a change of venue.

Also this week, Baez said he was seeking a court order for surveillance video from a local mall taken the day of a reported sighting of the girl.

He is asking the Florida Mall be ordered to turn over the footage captured in November in a play area of the Orlando shopping center, where an employee says she snapped a photo of a Caylee look-alike.

The photo was taken Nov. 16 by mall employee Halima Solomita, according to MyFOXOrlando.com.

"I took my last cell phone picture as the woman [accompanying the little girl] tried to cover her head with her arm to hide from me taking her picture," Solomita said.

Caylee's family did not report her missing until July, about a month after she was last seen. She is presumed dead by authorities, who believe she was killed by her mother.

Anthony has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, child abuse, aggravated manslaughter and four counts of lying to investigators about the disappearance of her daughter. She faces life in prison if convicted.

[live2ride]

This whole deal is just a sad thing!

[JP]

It sure the heck is. They already have charged her with murder, minus the body. This find, if it is Caylee, will only help the prosecution. But there are too many similarities for it not to be her. I sure hope it is and put some closure to the families involved.