Exclusive: Meter Reader Roy Kronk Denies Tip to Caylee's Body

Jan. 13, 2009 — -- Roy Kronk, the utility worker who found Caylee Anthony's remains, dismissed suggestions that he was somehow involved in the Florida toddler's disappearance in an exclusive interview with "Good Morning America" today.

"No good deed goes unpunished," he said. "There's all the speculation that there were tips. Nobody tipped me off. I figured this out by myself. I've never even met those people [the Anthony family]."

Casey Anthony, Caylee's mother, reported the 2-year-old missing in July, a month after she disappeared. Anthony was charged with the toddler's murder in October.

Kronk discovered Caylee's remains in December, but had suspicions about the location months before. He alerted police to his suspicions in August and met cops at the site. But he also warned the police that the area was infested with rattlesnakes and even showed police photos of the rattlers.

Kronk complained to "GMA," however, that investigators made a very quick search of the area and left.

Kronk, a former bail bondsman who was aware of the search for the missing toddler, said that in mid-August he was taking a break from work in the Orlando suburb less than a mile from the Anthony home when he realized that the road he was on did not normally see heavy foot traffic.

"It made sense to me," he said. "If you were going to get rid of something like that -- the decay of the swamp on either side of the road -- it would be a good place to hide it."

After a little exploring, Kronk said he saw a suspicious bag in a wooded, watery area just off the road. Kronk made a total of three calls to authorities but when a detective met Kronk to investigate further, Kronk said the effort was frustratingly cursory.

"He went to the water's edge. I pointed to where it was at. He just swept his head back and forth and said, 'I don't see anything.' And pretty much, that was it. I guess the deputy didn't want to go in the water to look at the bag," Kronk said. "The cop was, I would say, he was kind of rude to me."

Kronk conceded that his warning that the area was infested with snakes could have hindered the investigator's search.

In December, police confirmed they had searched the area in August, but the search was hindered because the area was under water at the time.

Kronk said that he returned to the area in December because he had to relieve himself and that is when he found the bag that had Caylee's remains inside. By then, much of the water had dried up, he said.

Since the discovery, Kronk said he's been the target of harsh, unfair accusations.

"They've been really hard on me," he said. "You try to do the right thing, you try to be the nice guy and you just get vilified. I mean, the sad thing is people believe some of the things that are being said. And I have nothing to do with this at all. ... I tried to help put a little closure to that poor child."

"And she got a decent burial at the end of all this. That's what I tried to do," Kronk said.