Casey was living in Orlando with her parents, George and Cindy Anthony, when her daughter, Caylee, was reported missing on July 15, 2008.
She initially left the family home on June 16, 2008, with Caylee and did not return for 31 days. After her car was impounded, George went to retrieve the vehicle but discovered a strong odor coming from the car’s trunk. Cindy also told authorities the vehicle smelled as though a dead body had been inside, though she later revised her account.
Meanwhile, Casey claimed she had not seen Caylee in a month and alleged that a babysitter named Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez may have abducted her daughter.
However, Casey was named a person of interest in Caylee’s disappearance on July 22, 2008, and was arrested and charged with first-degree murder that October.
During the investigation, Caylee’s remains were found wrapped in a blanket inside a laundry bag in a wooded area near the Anthony family residence.
The case led to a high-profile murder trial that commenced on May 24, 2011. The jury later found Casey not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child. She was, however, convicted of four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer and was sentenced to four years in prison, along with a $4,000 fine.
Casey was released from jail on July 17, 2011, after being credited with time served and good behavior.
Years after Casey’s 2011 acquittal, Judge Belvin Perry Jr., who presided over the case, said he is convinced the matriarch “knows” what happened to Caylee.
“She’s trying to cast herself as a seeker of the truth. Nothing can be further from the truth,” he told Nancy Grace during a June 29 interview.
The judge added they know the babysitter “didn’t take” Caylee and that Casey “knows the answers.”