I have not been nearly as involved with the sad case of the missing, presumed dead, Florida toddler Caylee Anthony as my wife Jan. A little girl, just 2 years old goes missing, and her obviously caring mother Casey Anthony does not bother to report the fact for a month! This makes no sense!

Now that ‘supposedly’, at least in the Anthony families mind, innocent Casey is in the slammer, they feel that a huge miscarriage of justice has occurred.

Personally, I would not entertain any of the Anthony family in a wood shed!

The Anthony family come across with the reliability of a 1960 Skoda that has never had an oil change. In other words, if their lips are flapping, I don’t believe them. They have the credibility of a three day old donut. Lets look at Grandfather George, I am sure the smell of a decaying body is awful. I am not, have never been, and will never be a police officer. But I am sure that a seasoned cop or EMT is acquainted with the smell of decomposing human remains. So when George Anthony says that the smell in the car was of death, I have a tendency to believe him.

So, who are the good, the bad, and the downright ugly in this case?

In the ugly category are without doubt the family, and Casey herself. None of them have lifted a finger to assist in finding this little girl. Sure, they strut around in T-Shirts with ‘Find Me’ logos on them, but what do they really do? The answer is “not much”. Considering that George and Cindy Anthony were crying foul just a few weeks ago, and whining that they had no money, suddenly they seem to have lots. I know it was denied, but my bet is still on that ‘exclusive’ TV interview. How come they suddenly have cash for a home security system? Did someone donate the cameras and recorders? I also hear that they have leased some office space to create a ‘Find Caylee Headquarters’, who is paying for that?

Then there is the illustrious attorney Jose Baez, I actually don’t believe he belongs in the ugly column, he has a column all of his own, the ‘stupid column’.

In the bad column has to go Nancy Grace. Early on the quest to find Caylee I talked to a couple of ex FBI wheels that I happen to know. One is likely the best ‘profiler’ the agency has ever had, the other is a lead investigator who has spearheaded several cases that everyone has heard about, he is like a ‘dog with a bone’, he doesn’t let go till he has the whole story. Both declined to comment ‘on the record’. But they did say this ‘We know as much as you do, what you are watching on CNN is what we know, we don’t want to be Talking Heads like you see on the TV’.

I was devastated! I wanted these folks in my court. Time prevailed, and time is a great leveler of thoughts. They were right. Nancy Grace and her gang of whipping blocks have no real news to offer. They often rehash old news, news that has been ‘in the wild’ for days, but suddenly, this is hot stuff?

Ms Grace is doing little to further the investigation, she merely adds inflammatory statements from people with with zero credibility. I guess the prime example of a Ms Grace expert has to be Leonard Padilla. Long on speculation and conjecture, short on action, well at least of the useful kind.

The ‘good’ column in my opinion is depressingly short, there is only one name in it, Tim Miller. Equusearch have tried their absolute best to locate Caylee Anthony, organizing an army of volunteer searchers and without help, but much hindrance from the Anthony family. Tim is an unassuming man, he has had his own share of despair and started his organization as a result of his own personal tragedy.

What I found illuminating was an interview he gave with Investigation Discovery. While Padilla was mouthing off about sending divers into the Little Econ River in Blanchard Park and making headlines in the process. Miller had this to say:

I had my people use side-scan sonar to examine that water yesterday and then I went back myself and checked it again, I told Leonard that it only takes an hour to scan it and that we had put four or five hours into it just so there would be no question as to whether she was there. I can tell you where every tire is at, I can show you where there is a bucket, where there is an old wheelbarrow and fender from a car. I can show you how deep the water is in every place and what the water temperature is. There is not a body in there.

Tim’s frustration with Padilla has been building for some time. Padilla has been waxing lyrically about how he and his merry band of bounty hunters were going to assist in the search, acting as team leaders for the Equusearch effort. Yet Tim had this rather pointed comment about that “We are associated in no way with the actions of Leonard Padilla.”

Tim’s ire is not limited to Padilla, on the subject of Nancy (Talking Head) Grace he had this to say.

Nancy Grace wanted me to come do her show tonight and I said absolutely not. I told her producer that this is the “Leonard Padilla Show” and that I did not want anything to do with it. I said this is not Leonard’s fault, this is Nancy Grace’s fault. She puts the clown on TV every night to entertain the public and as a result that has distracted everyone from everything we have been trying to do out here. It is the Leonard Padilla show now and Nancy Grace gave him the power to do it. Leonard has a fan club out there and it has totally turned this into a circus.

It is not surprising that Tim has decided to move on to another missing child, maybe a case without the media hoopla, and one that the family actually wants to find their missing child.

Simon Barrett

http://zzsimonb.blogspot.com

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