ORLANDO, Fla. -- Skeletal remains found in the woods are that of Caylee Anthony who has been missing since mid-June, and her death is considered a homicide, a county medical examiner said Friday.

---

PHOTOS: Authorities' Pics Of Search Site | Part II

---

A utility worker stumbled upon the remains last week, less than a half-mile from where the girl lived. DNA tests confirm that the remains match Caylee Anthony's genetic profile, said the medical examiner, Dr. Jan Garavaglia.

Caylee's mother, Casey Anthony, 22, remains jailed on first-degree murder and other charges. She has insisted that she left the girl with a baby sitter in June, but she didn't report her missing until July.

It took authorities several days to analyze the remains, and some tests are still being completed. Some of the bones were as small as a pebble and had been scattered, and the fragments were hard to find by excavators who searched on their hands and knees, authorities said. The bone fragments did not reveal any trauma before death, Garavaglia said, but exactly what happened to the girl remains a mystery.

"Bottom line is, folks, no child should have to go through this," said Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary.

A search team said they did not check the wooded area sooner because it was submerged in water. Beary said his department was investigating reports that the utility worker who called in the tip leading to the discovery of the remains had tried several times in August to call in his suspicion about a bag in the area.

"If we missed a window of opportunity we don't know," he said. "I'm not throwing anybody under the bus because we don't know. That's why we conduct an administrative review."

Casey Anthony's attorney, Jose Baez, was with her at the Orange County Jail shortly after she found out the news from a jail chaplain, said Todd Black, a spokesman for the attorney. She was notified about 15 minutes before the news conference about the positive identification. Black said he wouldn't comment on her reaction.

A message left for the attorney representing George and Cindy Anthony, Casey's parents, was not immediately returned.

The Orange County utility worker, Roy Kronk, identified himself at a brief afternoon news conference. He said that he had contacted the Orange County Sheriff's office in August to report that he had seen "something suspicious, a bag, in the same area."

Reading from a statement, he said he was cooperating with the sheriff's office and FBI and would not discuss details with the media.

David Evans, his lawyer, said Kronk is not involved in the girl's disappearance.

"His participation in this matter is strictly as a concerned citizen with a sharp eye, good instincts," Evans said. "Those who have speculated to the contrary could not be more wrong."

Evans asked that the media give his client and other utility workers their privacy.

The case captivated the community where the little girl's family lived, and Caylee has been a staple on national news as her grandparents pleaded for tips, promising that the girl was still alive.

Caylee's grandmother first called authorities in July to say she hadn't seen the girl for a month and her daughter's car smelled like death.

Police immediately interviewed Anthony and soon said everything she told them about her daughter's whereabouts was false. The baby sitter was nonexistent and the apartment where Anthony said she had last seen Caylee had been empty for months. Anthony also lied about where she worked, they said.

Other troubling details emerged: Photos surfaced of Anthony partying after her daughter went missing. Friends said she was a habitual liar, but also a good mother.

Last month, the Orange County State Attorney turned over almost 800 pages of documents showing someone used the Anthonys' home computer to do Internet searches for terms like "neck breaking" and "household weapons."

In mid-March, someone searched Google and Wikipedia for peroxide, shovels, acetone, alcohol and chloroform. Traces of chloroform, which is used to induce unconsciousness and a component of human decomposition, were found in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car during forensic testing, the documents say.

Snake Scared Deputy, Co-Worker Says

Meanwhile, a co-worker of the man who made the bone discovery said the deputy who checked on the man's first tips -- made in August -- was scared off by a large snake.

The utility worker who made the discovery -- and has not yet been identified -- first called in a tip to Crimeline on Aug. 11, saying he spotted a suspicious bag partially submerged on the side of Suburban Drive, near the area where he later found the skull and human bones.

"The deputy responds out to the scene, takes a look at the area, monitors the area, surveils the area to see what's available here for them to find. (The deputy) does not find anything, and then cleared the call," Orange County sheriff's Capt. Angelo Nieves said.

The same utility worker then called in the same tip on Aug. 12. A detective received the information but did not respond to the area, Local 6 News reported.

"They had information at that time that a detective was handling it, that the area had been searched -- which the area had been searched previously by cadaver dogs we understand -- but exactly what area we are still trying to determine," Nieves said.

The meter reader called in the same tip for a third time on Aug. 13, and an Orange County sheriff's deputy went to the wooded area to search for the bag but encountered a large snake and turned back, clearing the scene a short time later, according to the co-worker.

"That's where we're trying to determine the thoroughness of the follow-up," Nieves said.

The worker then returned to the woods on Dec. 11 -- four months after placing his first tip -- and discovered the bag. He picked it up, and a child's skull rolled out. The worker called the dispatcher who he works with, and his boss placed a 911 call about the finding.

The following is text of part of the conversation the worker had with dispatch:

Meter reader: I'm in the wooded area down by the school. I need you, like, now. I just found a human skull.

Dispatch: OK. I talked to the sheriff's department. They got somebody coming down there. Do not do anything that could cause any attention whatsoever. Just stay right there and they'll meet with you.

Meter reader: Understood. 10-4.

The meter reader, who has been pulled from his job so he can avoid publicity, is not considered a suspect in the case, Nieves said.

Nieves also said more skeletal remains found on Thursday appeared to be those of a small child.

Nieves said accusations made by Casey Anthony's defense team that the search site is being held by authorities longer than necessary are not true. He cited the fact that more remains have been found as proof.

"This is a perfect example of why the public and media should not be prejudging the case," Black said. "I would imagine the meter reader should get an attorney before the sheriff's office accuses him of a crime."

CNN show host Nancy Grace, a former attorney who has been following the Caylee case closely, said the new information could lead to doubt in the minds of jurors if the case goes to trial.

"The remains were not there earlier when the area was cleared apparently by police and cadaver dogs, and therefore, the remains were put there while tot mom, Casey Anthony, was behind bars, ruling her out. That is an obvious argument," Grace told Local 6 News.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.