Sticker, Clothes Found With Toddler's Remains
A heart sticker and children's clothes were found near Caylee Anthony's body.
Jan. 21, 2009 — -- The adhesive residue from a heart-shaped sticker was found on the duct tape on Caylee Marie Anthony's body in December, according to new reports released today by the Orange County, Fla., State Attorney's office.
Investigators noticed the "perfect shape of a heart" that appeared to be "consistent with the adhesive side of a heart-shaped sticker" on a piece of duct tape that covered the toddler's mouth, according to the affidavit, written by Detective Yuri Melich.
The sticker appeared to have been "intentionally" placed on the duct tape, Melich wrote.
While the sheet from which the sticker came from was not found at the scene, according to the affidavit, investigators did locate a small heart-shaped sticker similar in size to the residue found on the duct tape in the area where the body was found.
Also found at the scene was a small shirt, size "3T," a small pair of white shorts with vertical stripes, size 24 months, and a "Winnie the Pooh" blanket.
Melich wrote that when authorities arrived at the scene it looked as though the remains had been put in a cloth laundry bag prior to being placed inside a plastic bag.
The remains were found Dec. 11, 2008, less than a quarter mile from the home she shared with her mother and grandparents, by utility worker Roy Kronk.
The discovery of the child's body brought closure to a mystery that had dragged on for nearly five months, when the girl's mother, 22-year-old Casey Anthony, told police on July 15 that her daughter had disappeared a month earlier.
The day after she reported the child missing, Anthony was arrested on charges including child neglect. During a bond hearing July 22, authorities named Anthony a "person of interest" in Caylee's disappearance and said they were treating the case as a potential homicide after they discovered "evidence of decomposition" in the trunk of a car that Anthony had driven.
On Oct. 14, with Caylee's body still missing, Anthony was officially charged with first degree murder.
By the time Kronk found a child's remains less than half a mile from the Anthony home Dec. 11, the massive search effort had attracted thousands of volunteers. Authorities including the FBI had tracked down hundreds of leads both in the United States and abroad.
Eight days later, authorities confirmed through DNA testing that the remains belonged to the missing toddler.
It has been the defense's position throughout the search that Anthony "handed [Caylee] up to a third party" in June and that a body could be found, Todd Black, spokesman for Anthony's attorney, Jose Baez, told ABC News after the remains were found in December. "From the beginning he [Baez] started preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best," Black said.
Anthony claimed a woman named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez who was Caylee's nanny was the last person to see Caylee alive after Anthony dropped Caylee off at her apartment. After an extensive search for Fernandez-Gonzalez, one woman came forward to deny any involvement in the case or any connection with the family at all.
Police cleared Fernandez-Gonzalez, 37, and the woman filed a defamation lawsuit against Anthony in September, claiming she lost her job and cannot find an apartment because of her inclusion in the investigation.
Casey Anthony is currently in jail and charged with murder in the case.