Casey Anthony murder trial investigator speaks 15 years after discovery of Caylee's body
ORLANDO, Fla. - Monday marked 15 years to the day since two-year-old Caylee Anthony’s body was found in a wooded area near her mother and grandparents’ home in Orlando. Her mother, Casey Anthony, was acquitted of her murder in 2011.
People across the country have created a memorial near the spot where her remains were discovered. Teddy bears, flowers, and toys are scattered across the ground, among the weeds.
It’s on private property; Orange County says it isn’t responsible for maintaining it.
Today, the memorial is overgrown and ragged. But the lead investigator in the little girl’s murder said his memory of that day is still vivid.
That investigator, Gerardo Bloise, says he still remembers getting called out to the scene 15 years ago to confirm whether a small skull found in the woods might belong to Caylee Anthony. He says he hasn’t returned to the scene since then.
"I said to myself, I have to do this," Bloise told FOX 35 News, "In order to honor her."
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Bloise says memories came flooding back the moment he came back to the wooded area where the little girl’s body was left.
"The area that I found, the skull that was right there, about 30ft away," he said, pointing to a spot in the woods near where the memorial is set up. "A small human skull with hair in both size and tape around the mouth and the nose."
Bloise says the investigators cleared the woods and divided it up into sections, so they could keep track of each area they’d excavated as they searched for the rest of the little girl’s body.
"All the bones we found in different places in this area."
Orange County detectives are working to track down dozens of tips in their search for missing 2-year-old Caylee Marie Anthony. Crimeline has been fielding calls since news broke of the toddler's disappearance earlier this week. Family members haven't
Since the search for Anthony’s body took six full months, investigators weren’t able to determine her cause of death by the time the medical examiner was able to look at her.
"It's a shame," said Bloise.
Despite having spent decades in crime scene investigations, Caylee Anthony’s case stuck with Bloise, and the nation.
People still stop by the memorial. A couple visiting from Vermont came to pay their respects Monday, unaware of the anniversary.
Bloise just came out with a book dedicated to the investigation, called "CSI: The Casey Anthony Child Murder Case." A portion of the proceeds from its sale go to the Missing Child Project.
Bloise says he wants the memorial repaired. He also still wants a different outcome in the case against Caylee Anthony’s mother, Casey Anthony.
Casey Anthony sits at the defense table after the jury left to begin deliberations in her murder trial at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Florida, Monday, July 4, 2011. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
"Someday, Caylee will receive justice from the judge - or judges," he said, gesturing upward toward the sky.
FOX 35 News spoke briefly off-camera with George Anthony, Caylee’s grandfather. Casey Anthony’s defense team accused him of murdering Caylee during the homicide trial.
FOX 35 News asked George Anthony whether there was anything he would want to say on the 15th anniversary of his granddaughter’s body being found near his home.
He teared up and said he wasn’t able to talk about it.