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Grandma Of Missing Orlando Tot Says Mom Knows Whereabouts

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The Associated Press

Published: July 21, 2008

ORLANDO - The grandmother of a 2-year-old Central Florida girl missing since early June said Monday that the mother, whom police say was jailed for not reporting the disappearance for more than a month, knows who has the toddler.

An attorney for the girl's mother, Casey Anthony, said his client wants to help investigators and urged authorities to release her.

Anthony, 22, was arrested last week after telling authorities that her daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony, had been missing since June 9. Casey Anthony was charged with child neglect and criminal obstruction.

Her mother, Cindy Anthony, said Monday on NBC's "Today" that her daughter should be released so she can help detectives.

"I know Casey knows who has her," she said. "I know Casey doesn't know where they're at right at the moment. But I don't know anything else right now because I can't speak to my daughter. And we're trying to get that changed very quickly."

Casey Anthony's attorney, Jose Baez, said his client wants to cooperate with authorities. "She is a good mother and has no history of being a bad mother," Baez said at a news conference today. "She wants to find her daughter."

Sheriff's officials say Anthony repeatedly has lied to them and showed little emotion or concern over her missing daughter in interviews just before her arrest.

Orange County Sheriff's Office Deputy Carlos Padilla said Baez has not returned detectives' calls seeking to set up a meeting.

"The key lies in the mother, and we would hope the lawyer would allow the detectives to speak to her in his presence to find out exactly where this child is," Padilla said. "This lawyer has taken the time to take this to the media, but he's not yet returned the phone calls to discuss this."

Anthony is being held without bail and is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday.

Last week, investigators used cadaver-sniffing dogs and dug through Cindy Anthony's backyard looking for the toddler. Detectives say Casey Anthony asked a neighbor to borrow a shovel about the time her daughter went missing.

They said she contacted police last week because the girl's grandmother was concerned.

Anthony told detectives she didn't call authorities immediately because she was conducting her own investigation, according to the charging affidavit. The apartment where she said she dropped off the girl had not been occupied in months, and Casey Anthony gave detectives a bogus employer name, manager's name and work telephone number, according to the affidavit.

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