Imperfect Justice: Prosecuting Casey Anthony Read Online Free PDF Page B

Raquel Flora and Jennifer Rosa, shared Apartment 210.
    After dropping her daughter off at Zanny’s that Monday, Casey said, she had gone to her job at Universal Studios, where, she claimed, she was an event planner. At the end of the day, around 5 P.M ., Casey drove straight back to the Sawgrass Apartments to pick up her daughter, but no one was home. She tried Zanny’s cell phone number and was surprised to learn that the line was out of service, since it had been working earlier in the day. Casey said that she spent two hours on the steps to the second floor of the building waiting for Caylee and Zanny to return, thinking they were either having car trouble or were just running late. It seemed odd to me that Casey’s story now failed to mention the two roommates she had earlier created for Zanny, who should have been home or come home sometime that evening.
    As time passed, Casey said, she became increasingly worried, so she spent the next few hours going to familiar places in the area looking for Zanny and Caylee. She started at Jay Blanchard Park, one of Caylee’s favorite spots, and moved to other places where she thought Zanny might be. After she gave up, she spent the rest of that evening at Tony’s, pacing and worrying. His apartment was, in her words, “one of the few places she felt at home.” To me, saying that reconfirmed that things weren’t great at her parents’ house, and spite and retaliation might be at work.
    As Casey recalled her version of the events of the last thirty-one days, she stated that she had lied and stolen from her family and friends during that time, claiming, however, that her actions had been justifiable, desperate as she was to find Caylee. Every day since the toddler’s disappearance, she had gone to malls, parks, even banks, any place that she could remember Zenaida taking Caylee. When asked why she had not alerted authorities, she claimed that it was out of fear for her daughter. She had seen movies and reports on TV in which bad outcomes came about when the police were called, and she was hoping to handle it on her own. I wondered why she didn’t mention a ransom note, that inevitable terror-laced prop in kidnapping movies.
    Her tone contradicted her words of concern. During the ten-minute conversation, the young mother was completely unemotional, her answers flat and unembellished. In many instances, the officer had to prod and pry responses from her. Her presentation didn’t even hint at the hysteria one would expect of a young mother who had not seen her daughter in a month. Even if she were just hiding Caylee, some emotional tone should have been present. Her demeanor just didn’t make sense.
    Her composure was not the only suspicious thing; the story itself grew increasingly more preposterous. By this point, Officer Eberlin had taken over for Fletcher, and Casey informed him that Zanny had made contact once during the last four weeks. She was unable to provide the deputy with the exact date or time of the call and said it had been disconnected before anything was said, so the report was not very valuable. Even more shocking, that very morning, Casey said, she had gotten a call from her daughter. Caylee had started to tell her what she had been doing, but Casey had interrupted her and asked her to put an adult on the phone. The child had hung up without telling her how or where she was, and there was no way to call her back. The number was blocked.
    As odd as this story sounded, members of law enforcement know that it does no good to call your only witness a liar when you are trying to find a missing little girl. By treating Casey like a victim until the investigation proved otherwise, Eberlin was doing his duty as a police officer and following a procedure that’s been proven to uncover the truth. Implausible as Casey’s version of events sounded, there was value for the officers in going along with it. Sooner or later, they hoped, Casey would crack and the little