ORLANDO, Fla. — Lab tests have confirmed that a decomposing body was in the trunk of a car driven by a missing girl’s mother, and investigators think the 3-year-old is dead, the sheriff’s office said Monday.
Investigators have called Casey Anthony, 22, a “person of interest” in Caylee Anthony’s disappearance. She faces charges of child neglect, obstruction and making false statements.
“(FBI) laboratory evidence, along with additional evidence that has not been made public, leads investigators to the belief there is a strong probability that Caylee is deceased,” said a statement from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. “If any evidence to the contrary is provided, it will be vigorously pursued.”
The statement said the forensics tests confirmed there had been a body in the car. Detectives said at a hearing in July that the trunk contained hair samples appearing to belong to Caylee, a strong odor and a stain that glowed under black light.
A spokeswoman for Anthony’s attorney, Jose Baez, did not return a telephone message Monday. He has repeatedly said his client doesn’t know what happened to Caylee.
Caylee was reported missing in mid-July, about a month after she was last seen. Anthony told investigators she left the girl with a babysitter and went to work. Sheriff’s detectives have said those details, and just about everything else Anthony has told them, were lies.
Anthony was released on bail Aug. 21 but was returned to custody Friday after new theft charges unrelated to Caylee.
Prosecutors have offered her limited immunity in exchange for cooperation, but that was set to expire today.
