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Local 6 Locates, Talks To Zenaida Gonzalez In Missing Girl Mystery

Woman: No One Wants To Hire 'Suspected Kidnapper'

POSTED: Thursday, August 7, 2008
UPDATED: 8:23 am EDT August 8, 2008

A woman at the center of a search for a missing Orlando girl said she has never seen or met Caylee Anthony or the girl's mother and that her life has been horrible since being associated with the case.


IMAGES: Missing Caylee Anthony Photos
IMAGES: Photos Of Casey Anthony Surface

Casey Anthony, the mother of missing Caylee, 2, allegedly told police that she left her daughter with a baby sitter named Zenaida Gonzalez at Orange County's Sawgrass Apartments in June.

Thursday, Local 6 talked with the only Zenaida Gonzalez confirmed to have been associated with the Sawgrass Apartments.

Gonzalez said she went to the apartments on June 17 to inquire about renting an apartment and filled out a guest card and gave information.

The woman said she has repeatedly talked with detectives about the case and said she has never seen nor met Casey Anthony or Caylee.

Gonzalez said she has no idea how she was dragged into this whole situation, Local 6's Louis Bolden reported.

Woman: Life Has Been Horrible

Meanwhile, Gonzalez said her life has been horrible since Caylee's disappearance, claiming she cannot get a job because people don't want to hire a "suspected kidnapper."

"It has been horrible," Gonzalez said after being asked about her life. "It is not so much because they know my face; it is more or less because they know my name. And since they know my name, everywhere I go, they are insinuating that I did something wrong because my name is so much in the news. I haven't been able to get a job and haven't been able to do much of anything because everybody is judging me by my name."

Gonzalez said she was interviewed by detectives three weeks ago.

"They found me and called me and said they need to see me," Gonzalez said. "They showed me some pictures and asked a couple of questions."

Gonzalez said she has spoken with detectives three times about the mystery.

"They just (asked) if I had any information or know these people involved in this case," Gonzalez said. "No I don't (know Casey or Caylee). I wish I did and I would help them as much as I could, but I really don't. I have children of my own, and I wouldn't want that happening to my kids, let alone somebody elses."

Bolden asked if she knew how she was dragged into the investigation.

"I have no idea," Gonzalez said. "I've sat there and that is what is taunting my head -- is how does she know me if I don't know her. I've never spoken to her and never seen her. The first time is when a detective, even before it came out in the news, the detective showed me the picture. I've never seen her or her child. I would know if I had seen or spoken to her."

Gonzalez said she stopped at the Sawgrass Apartments because they looked nice and checked a specific apartment.

She was then questioned about her apartment search.

"I was very, very shocked because I've never expected anything (like this)," Gonzalez said. "I'm not somebody to hurt anyone or cause harm to anyone. It kind of shocked me, and I was like, 'How do you know me and where do you know me from because I'm not too popular?'"

Gonzalez said investigators knew everything about her when they questioned her.

"I'm the only one who went to Sawgrass," Gonzalez said. "They explained that to me."

She said once her name appeared on news, "there goes my life."

Gonzalez said everyone continues to look at her like a suspect after national coverage.

Grandmother: Wrong Woman Found

Also, Cindy Anthony said the wrong Zenaida Gonzalez was found.

"This Zenaida is not the Zenaida," Cindy Anthony said. "It was ruled out by the authorities. It was in the police report."

Anthony said there are nine other people named Zenaida Gonzalez in the area.

"There is a lot of stuff you guys don't understand," Cindy Anthony said. "And if you guys would just leave it alone and let the authorities release the information that needs to be out there and let us release the information that needs to be out and quit speculating. The only facts you are going to get are from the authorities or from us. And you guys are spinning everything else and you are listening to a lot of people who don't have the facts."

Cindy Anthony said she will take a polygraph test because she swears that the first time she heard the name Zenaida Gonzalez from her daughter was two years ago, Local 6's Erik von Ancken reported. However, she said she never met Zenaida Gonzalez.

Attorney: Zenaida Find Not Significant

Casey Anthony's attorney Jose Baez said that he doesn't believe Thursday's discovery of Zenaida Gonzalez is significant.

"I think the police had spoken with her prior to Casey getting arrested and Casey confirmed with them that this was not the same Zenaida Gonzalez," Baez said. "The fact that she was found by the press, specifically (the Local 6) station, it is 22 days later of the same thing."

Baez said he wants more people searching for Caylee.

"What it is going to take (to find Caylee) is for more people to be looking and we don't feel that is happening," Baez said. "We feel that people have already written Casey off as having done something terrible and that is not the case. There is no evidence of that. There hasn't been any evidence presented of that. It is quite disturbing. But until you find this missing child, she is missing. We are getting very frustrated that no one is out there looking for her."

Baez said there is a different Zenaida Gonzalez in the case.

Police: Gonzalez Not Involved

Meanwhile, investigators said Gonzalez has no involvement in the case.

"We don't know how exactly how it is her (name came up)," Orange County Deputy Carlos Padilla said. "Was it a coincidence? We don't think she is involved at all."

Padilla said Casey Anthony was shown a photo of Gonzalez and she did not recognize her.

"My understanding is that this person has come forward and she said she doesn't want to be bothered anymore," Padilla said. "She is sick and tired of people mentioning her name."

Search Warrant Released

A released warrant to search the Anthony's home revealed that detectives collected materials that could contain Caylee's DNA from her toothbrush and comb and got hair and DNA samples from Casey Anthony as well.

Local 6 requested and received the affidavit used to support the search warrant and it revealed what was inside bags taken from the Anthony house this week -- three pairs of pants, six shirts and two skirts. The items were taken from a closet in Casey Anthony's room.

Detectives were apparently looking for blood and other bodily fluids that may be on the clothes Casey Anthony wore on June 16 -- the last day her father saw Casey and Caylee together.

Before the family called law enforcement to report they had retrieved a car that was towed after Casey abandoned it, the affidavit said Cindy Anthony removed her daughter's discarded clothes from the car and washed them.

Cindy Anthony said that they smelled like the car. The car smelled like human composition, detectives and Cindy Anthony said earlier.

The warrant also revealed more information about what happened when detectives tried to verify information.

It showed that pretty much everything she told them did not check out, including cell phone calls she said she had with Zenaida Gonzalez, Local 6's Tony Pipitone reported.

Deputies Back At Apartments

Also Thursday, investigators said they have received more than 1,000 tips in connection with the case.

Deputies were back at the Sawgrass Apartments Wednesday over a discrepancy a Local 6 investigation found on an original arrest report.

Detectives followed up on the lead and requested the original guest card with Zenaida Gonzalez's name on it on Wednesday, sources revealed to Local 6.

A leasing manager who filed out the card confirmed to deputies that Gonzalez visited on June 17 and not April 17, which was written on the arrest reports.

Sources told Local 6 that when apartment managers tried to follow up with the woman after June 25, the phone number she gave was no longer valid.

June 17 is significant because two days before that video was shot of Caylee, it was the last day anyone saw the missing child.

Caylee Reported Missing

Casey Anthony's brother, Lee, said his sister left town with Caylee on June 16 for work and vacation. Almost five weeks later, on July 24, Cindy Anthony dialed 911.

"I found out my granddaughter has been taken. She has been missing for a month; we're talking about a 3-year-old little girl…I need to find her," Cindy Anthony said. "I found my daughter's car today, and it smells like there's a dead body in the damn car."

Cindy Anthony said she hadn't seen the girl since mid-June.

Detectives Called To House

Also on Thursday, Cindy Anthony invited detectives to her home, and crime scene investigators were seen leaving with a bag of evidence.

It was the second time in two days that investigators visited the home of Caylee's grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony.

"There's some things that Cindy thought were important to us, so we came out and picked them up," Orange County sheriff's Sgt. John Allen said.

A national search for Caylee continues.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this developing story.

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