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Grandparents Hold Vigil For Caylee

Girl's Mother Charged With 1st-Degree Murder

POSTED: Sunday, November 30, 2008
UPDATED: 7:46 am EST November 30, 2008

The grandparents of a 3-year old Orlando girl who has been missing since June will hold a candlelight vigil.


VIDEO: Text Messages
VIDEO: Local 6 News Report
PHOTOS: New Pics From Possible Caylee Sighting
PHOTOS: Possible Caylee Sighting
PHOTOS: Inside Anthony Home
PHOTOS: CSI Checks Casey's Car
PHOTOS: Casey Baby Photos

The Kid Finders Network and George and Cindy Anthony, the grandparents of Caylee Anthony, are hosting the event at the Eastside Baptist Church in Orlando Sunday evening.

The couple's daughter, Casey Anthony, 22, has been charged with first-degree murder and faces life in prison if convicted of killing Caylee. She has pleaded not guilty.

Caylee was last seen on June 16, but her mother did not report her missing until mid-July.

The toddler's body has not been recovered.

'Neck Breaking' Internet Search

Internet searches conducted on the computer seized from the home of Casey Anthony's parents included "how to make chloroform" and "neck breaking," according to documents released on Wednesday.

Forensic tests allegedly show that chloroform was present in Anthony's car, leading to a search of the computer at her parents' home, where Casey and Caylee Anthony lived.

Searches conducted March 17 included "how to make chloroform," "neck breaking," and "shovel," according to the documents. There were also searches for "alcohol," "acetone," "peroxide," "hydrogen peroxide," and "death," the documents said.

It is not known who made the searches, but Cindy Anthony was at work at the time the searches were entered, according to a timesheet, which was among the released documents.

A search of "weapons out of household products" was also listed in the documents.

Also among the documents was a text-message conversation between Casey Anthony and her boyfriend at the time of Caylee's disappearance, Tony Lazzaro. Casey Anthony called herself a liar during the exchange, which occurred July 16 at about 7 a.m., hours before she was first arrested.

"Where is Caylee?" Tony asked.

"I honestly don't know," Casey Anthony said.

"Why wouldn't you tell me, of all people? I was your boyfriend that cares about you and your daughter. (It) doesn't make sense to me. Why would you lie to me?" Lazzaro said.

"I lied to everyone. What was I supposed to say? I trust my daughter to some psycho? How does that look?" said Casey Anthony, referring to the baby sitter she claims she left Caylee with. "I am the dumbest person and the worst mother. I honestly hate myself."

Another page of the documents showed a sheet of paper taken from Casey Anthony's car after it was found abandoned at an Orange County Amscot June 27 showed Casey Anthony's name written repeatedly in different variations with the last name Lazzaro being used with it. Lazzaro said that he told Casey Anthony that if he ever did start a family, he wanted to have sons, not daughters because he had two younger sisters and knew what was involved in raising girls, according to the documents.

Also among the documents was the fact that the University of Central Florida conducted a test on gases found in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car and found no signs of human decomposition. A lab in Tennessee allegedly found signs of decomposition believed to be human.

The documents said that neighbors heard a loud fight between Cindy and Casey Anthony some time in mid-June. Casey Anthony's brother, Lee Anthony, told her ex-fiance, Jesse Grund, that Cindy Anthony grabbed Casey Anthony by the neck on June 15 -- the day before Caylee was last seen -- and shook her, the documents said.

Casey Anthony told authorities she had left her daughter with a baby sitter in June and the two were gone when she returned from work. She said she spent the next month trying to find her daughter and didn't call authorities because she was scared. Investigators say they have poked several holes in her story.

Gag Order Denied

Meanwhile, a judge on Wednesday denied the state's request for a gag order in the case.

A state attorney had requested that Circuit Judge Stan Strickland limit statements by prosecutors, defense attorneys, Orange County investigators and the family of Anthony, although lawyers for both sides had agreed that any gag order should be more narrowly tailored.

Orange County Assistant State's attorney Jeff Ashton said at Tuesday's hearing that the girl's grandparents, Cindy and George Anthony, should be able to discuss their belief that Caylee is alive and their efforts to find her.

Defense attorney Jose Baez said the state has leaked much more information. But Ashton detailed several national television appearances Baez made that he said were designed to influence jurors.

Ashton said that to let it continue would "make it virtually impossible for us to find an impartial jury in the state of Florida, much less Orlando."

"There's a lot of hot air, but not a whole lot of law," Baez said of Ashton's presentation.

Baez said the First Amendment prohibits the government from ordering people what to say except in the case of "clear and present danger."

In his rebuttal, Ashton cited a Florida Supreme Court ruling that says a judge could impose the order for good cause, not just danger.

"If I go out in front of the cameras right now and say Caylee Anthony is dead, that would be grievous," Ashton said. "That's not my job."

An attorney for a local television station said a gag order now would be moot because there has been so much media coverage giving both guilty and not guilty views.

Strickland also quashed defense subpoenas for several television reporters.

Prosecution and defense attorneys' arguments sometimes grew heated, causing Strickland to admonish both benches.

"This in enough," Strickland said, exasperated. "Someone's facing life imprisonment. Let's act like we're supposed to."

Caylee Sighting Revisited

Cindy Anthony implored investigators to look into a recent possible sighting of the missing girl.

Cindy Anthony spoke at a press conference on Tuesday, saying that she doesn't know if a photo taken of a girl resembling 3-year-old Caylee is her granddaughter, but wants it investigated.

"We're working to bring Caylee Marie back home. I made that statement early on. The last breath that I take, I'm going to continue to look for her, and I feel very confident every day that we are getting closer and closer to finding her," Cindy Anthony said.

A detective hired by the family who appeared at the press conference said the photo was taken at the Florida Mall in November and that investigators aren't willing to study the statement of the woman who took the picture.

Another picture of the girl at the mall in the possible Caylee sighting was released but offered few new details. It showed the same girl in question from a further distance than the other pictures.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.

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