Mom suspect in missing Florida tot case

ORLANDO And another strange twist: The child's mother waited a month before reporting the little girl missing. A lawyer for the Orlando girl's mother says his client wants to help investigators and urged authorities to release her.

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She vanished more than a month ago. Now, 2-year-old Caylee Anthony's grandmother says the toddler's mother knows where she is.

Florida police arrested 22-year-old Casey Anthony last week on charges of child neglect, for failing to report her daughter missing; and criminal obstruction, for lying to detectives, after they learned the apartment that she claimed she left Caylee in hasn't been inhabited for months, and that Anthony has never been employed at Universal Studios.

"We want to find Caylee," said Jose Baez, Casey Anthony's attorney. Anthony's attorney said his client should be released from jail in order to help find Caylee, saying she might have information related to the toddler's disappearance.

"While I cannot compel or advise my client to make any statements that could possibly incriminate her, we are willing to cooperate fully with law enforcement," said Jose Baez.

While Anthony sits in jail, the girl's grandparents hold out hope their beloved Caylee will come home, a hope now shared by an entire community.

"I will walk every inch of this earth and open every door and knock on every door, and I will look in every nook and cranny, until I find her," said Cynthia Anthony, Caylee's grandmother.

Investigators say the search for Caylee, although exhaustive, has not turned up any significant leads. They're now following up on a report that the little girl may have called home.

 

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