From WFTV newsroom:

Maybe we can finally get some peace and Casey can get what’s coming to her. My heart hurts for the rest of the family.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Skeletal remains found in the woods are the Florida 3-year-old who has been missing since June, and her death is considered a homicide, a county medical examiner said Friday.

DNA tests confirm that the remains match Caylee Anthony’s genetic profile, said the medical examiner, Dr. Jan Garavaglia.

A utility worker stumbled upon the remains last week, less than a half-mile from where the girl lived. Garavaglia said some of the remains discovered were as small as pebbles, and authorities weren’t certain how the girl was killed.

Caylee’s mother, 22-year-old Casey Anthony, was indicted in October on first-degree murder and other charges, even though no body was found. She has insisted that she left the girl with a baby sitter in June, but she didn’t report her missing until July.

A search team said they did not check the wooded area sooner because it was submerged in water.

Casey Anthony’s attorney, Jose Baez, was with her at the Orange County Jail when she found out the news, said Todd Black, a spokesman for the attorney. She was notified a short time before the news conference about the positive identification. Black said he wouldn’t comment on her reaction.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Divers searching for a sign of missing toddler Caylee Anthony on Thursday found a plastic bag with toys and small bones weighted down by bricks, bounty hunter Leonard Padilla said.

Inside the bag were two toys and bones the size of fingers and toes, diver David Badalai told WESH 2 News. There also was a shamrock, which Padilla said was a favorite symbol of mother Casey Anthony.

The bag, Balalai said, was held underwater by two bricks.

While law enforcement, including the FBI and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office headed to the scene, divers continued to pull items out of the water. The Sheriff’s Office plans a media briefing later this afternoon, but told WESH 2 News reporter Bob Kealing that the bag is of no value as evidence, and its lead investigator in the case left the scene.

From the air, Chopper 2 pilot Dan McCarthy said divers could be seen going down into drains and handing bags and other items up.

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From WFTV newsroom:

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – New documents were released Thursday in the case against Casey Anthony that reveal what George and Cindy Anthony told investigators in the hours and days after Caylee Anthony was reported missing.

The State Attorney’s Office released 500 pages of new documents in the case Thursday and they show that George Anthony told investigators he felt something was wrong from the very beginning. The documents focus a lot on interviews George and Cindy Anthony did with sheriff’s deputies.

When sheriff’s investigators questioned Casey’s father George nine days after Caylee was reported missing, George told them he had “bad vibes” the very first day he got his car back and smelled the smell in the trunk, a smell, he said as a former law enforcement officer, he knows and would never forget.

Casey’s father George told investigators, “I don’t want to believe that I have, have raised someone and brought someone in this world that could do something to another person. I don’t want to believe that.” 

George also told them, “I, I, I believe that there’s someone dead back there and I hate to say the word human. Um, I hate to say that.” 

George told them, when he opened the trunk of the car, he said to himself, “Please don’t let this be my Caylee.”

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Volunteer search crews tried again Tuesday morning, to find any sign of Caylee Anthony. Monday’s search was the first since investigators admitted publicly to reporters that they believe she is dead. Their belief is based on forensic evidence suggesting decomposition from Caylee’s body was in Casey Anthony’s car.

More than 100 people signed up and were split into teams to search areas where sheriff’s investigators believe the body could be. The search was organized by a Texas group called EquuSearch.

Casey Anthony reported Caylee missing in June. She is in jail on charges related to her daughter’s disappearance and on check fraud charges.

“It’s going to take days, literally days,” said Commander Matt Irwin of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

Monday’s search brought out about half the volunteers of a similar search Sunday. Detectives said the volunteers found nothing more than animal bones. If they do find something suspicious, deputies will come in and finish looking.

“I’ve never been a homicide investigator, but obviously we need more than what we have at this point,” Irwin said. Read the rest of this entry »

 Orange County detectives were expected to meet with the State Attorney’s office to discuss new evidence in the Caylee Anthony case. A source close to the investigation confirmed for Eyewitness News, that FBI test results show hair and a stain in the trunk of Casey Anthony’s car belong to her daughter, 3-year-old Caylee Anthony. Eyewitness News was also told the evidence found proves that she is dead.

The State Attorney’s Office also confirmed on Wednesday that Casey Anthony was invited to their office to shed light on the disappearance of Caylee. The State Attorney’s Office is not revealing details about the offer of limited immunity. Eyewitness News has learned there is a time limit on that offer, however.

Eyewitness news spoke to a forensic expert to find out how investigators are able to use DNA to determine that a dead body was in Casey’s trunk.

“Just putting the hair under the microscope one can tell the difference between a normal hair root and one that’s been infected with bacteria after death.” stated forensic expert Michael Baden.

Baden is a forensic pathologist who worked extensively on the OJ Simpson case. He also said the inside linings of the mouth and nose release fluid when they begin to decompose and that fluid can also be identified by DNA.

Casey Anthony’s brother Lee said nothing when he left his parents home early Thursday morning. Attorney Jose Baez met with the family for several hours alone.

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