Mommy's Little Girl

by Diane Fanning

  Her manager, Mike Kozak, thought highly of her and her performance at work. She went into the manager trainee program where Mike “taught her the ropes.” He said that she had a pleasant personality and got along with the crew. She did have limitations because of her youth, immaturity and experience: Mike had to explain to her more than once that she couldn’t manage people during the day and then go out and party with them at night.

  To Kiomarie’s surprise, she and Casey were reunited. Kiomarie was employed by Universal Studios in attractions and entertainment, and their work brought them together on Halloween Horror Nights at the park in October 2004.

  Something about her high school friend had changed—and not for the better, in Kiomarie’s opinion. Casey seemed a bit off, as if the pieces of her life’s puzzle no longer fit together. Kiomarie suggested that she needed to get professional help.

  Old friend Melina Calabrese also got a job at Universal after high school. But no red flags about Casey popped up in her mind. After Melina left her job, she and Casey maintained a casual connection through telephone calls and text messages.

  Soon after New Year’s Day in 2005, Casey met 19-year-old Jesse Grund at Universal. Jesse worked in loss prevention. Casey and Jesse began dating by the end of the month. He appreciated her sarcastic sense of humor and her energy. She was a lot of fun to be around, but, to his dismay, Casey got serious right away.

  Two weeks into the relationship, Casey said, “I’m in love with you.” That level of commitment, that soon, was intimidating to the young man. Even though Jesse felt the stirrings of love in his heart for Casey, he stopped dating her.

  But Casey didn’t step out of his life. She helped Jesse’s brother get a job at Kodak and kept coming by the Grund house to see Jesse. In June 2005, Jesse’s father, the Reverend Richard Grund, an ordained Pentecostal Holiness Church minister, now a practicing non-denominationalist, caught sight of Casey for the first time. When Richard noticed her in his home, he asked Jesse, “Who is that girl?”

  “That’s Casey, the girl I dated for a while earlier this year.”

  “Well, son, she’s pregnant.”

  “Oh, no. No. She’s only got female problems. I asked her about that,” Jess explained. “That’s what she’s told everybody, including her family.”

  Richard shook his head. “No, I know a woman who’s pregnant, and she’s pregnant.”

  Jesse blew off his father’s observation and maintained his friendship with Casey. But about a month later, when he was sitting in a training seminar, he received a phone call from Casey. “I need to talk to you,” she said.

  “I can’t talk right now, send me a text message.”

  Soon the words came over the screen: “I’m pregnant and you’re the father. That’s it.”

  With dread and embarrassment, Jesse called his dad. He knew his father would not approve of his premarital sexual relationship, but he had to let him know. “I’m going to take responsibility for my actions,” he promised.

  Then, he met with Casey. After going over the facts with her, Jesse realized that there was a major flaw in the timeline. He patiently explained how the math didn’t add up, but dropped his protestations in the face of Casey’s insistence. He adopted another tactic: “Look, both of us are too young to be parents. Let’s put this baby up for adoption to somebody who wants a baby, but can’t have one.”

  “That’s not an option. That’s not going to happen.”

  Between that time and the day of Caylee’s birth on August 9, Jesse’s doubts about his responsibility for Caylee grew stronger. His family urged him not to have his name placed on the birth certificate unless he took a DNA test first.

  Richard Grund was not the only person to take note of Casey’s pregnancy that June. When she stopped by Gentiva Health, where her mother had been employed as the supervisor of visiting nurses since 2001, Casey was wearing a long black coat that covered her mid-section—but not quite enough. She rushed past the front desk without stopping to chat with Charles Crittenden as she usually did. To Charles, she looked as if she was pregnant—but that was odd, because Cindy had never mentioned that she was expecting a grandchild. He shared his suspicions with a co-worker, who went into the back to check out Casey. She, too, thought Casey was pregnant. Cindy, it seemed, didn’t have a clue, even though it was there for all to see.

  Other observers were Casey’s brother Lee and Cindy’s youngest brother Rick. Both Rick and his brother Daniel had remained in Ohio working for Packard Electric, making wiring for General Motors cars. The company had become Delphi when it spun off from GM in 1999. Both brothers retired—Daniel moved to Florida and Rick to coastal South Carolina.

  Rick planned his second marriage for June 4, 2005, the day of his 51st birthday. Rick and his fiancée Robin wanted a small, quiet ceremony on the beach, with just their parents and children and a few close friends in attendance. Rick didn’t plan on inviting any of his siblings.

  His mother, though, wanted her daughter to come with her husband. Rick relented and extended an invitation to Cindy and George. The Anthony couple drove up to South Carolina with Alex and Shirley. Unbeknownst to Rick, Casey had planned to fly up for the wedding. When Lee dropped her off at the airport in Orlando, he said, “Listen, if you are pregnant, or something’s going on, tell me. Be honest with me.”

  “No, Lee,” she said. “I’m just bloated.”

  When Lee later learned the truth, he felt betrayed by his little sister.

  The other travelers met Casey at the airport in South Carolina before driving to Rick’s house. When Rick answered the door the day before his wedding, he welcomed Cindy and George, but was surprised when he saw his niece standing behind them. “Oh, Casey, I didn’t know you were coming.”

  He took a closer look at the 19-year-old. She was wearing a tight-fitting, stretchy, powder blue top that left her lower stomach exposed and protruding. Her belly button poked out about a half-inch. After inviting their guests inside and getting them comfortable, Robin whispered, “You told me you thought Casey was too skinny when you saw her last year.”

  “She was,” Rick said. “I think she’s pregnant.”

  As soon as he could, he pulled his sister and brother-in-law off to the side. “Cindy, George, what’s up with Casey? You got something to tell me? What’s going on here?”

  The couple looked at him with puzzled expressions. “What?” they both asked.

  “She’s expecting?”

  They looked at him like he was crazy. Rick turned to Robin, who shrugged her shoulders and rolled her eyes.

  “Cindy, she looks like she’s pregnant. Come on.”

  “Oh, no. She’s not,” Cindy said. “She’s just putting on weight.”

  “Cindy, I’ve seen a lot of pregnant girls. I’m not an expert, but, man, she looks pregnant,” Rick said.

  “Rick, my daughter has female problems. She has a tumor on her ovaries,” she hissed.

  Rick didn’t believe her, but he said, “That tumor is as big as a baby. You’d better get her to a doctor right now, ’cause she’s going to die,” and then he just walked away.

  All day, though, the other guests kept asking, “Who’s the pregnant girl?”

  Rick believed his mom might know what was happening, so he said, “Mom, I think Casey’s pregnant.”

  “That’s what Dad and I thought. Cindy swears she’s not pregnant,” Shirley said.

  “Mom, she’s a nurse, for crying out loud. She can’t see it?”

  Shirley shrugged and shook her head. Rick went back to his sister. “Cindy, come on. You’re kidding me, right? Now tell me: Is Casey pregnant?”

  “Casey told me that she’d have to have sex first in order to have a baby, and she did not have sex with anyone,” Cindy said.

  Rick knew Casey was either lying or dying, and he suspected she was not being honest with her parents. He dropped the subject and focused his mind on his wedding vows the next day.

  Only Cindy and Casey showed up for the cere
mony. When Rick asked about George, Cindy blamed the new puppy they’d brought along with them on the trip. “He barks whenever we leave him in the room, and we’ve gotten complaints. George is staying with him, but he’ll be over later.”

  Rick said, “I told you bringing that puppy was a bad idea.” He wondered if there was another reason for George’s absence. He had noticed tension between his sister and her husband. Maybe that was the real cause of his absence.

  George did eventually show up at the house, with puppy in tow, and enjoyed the barbecue in the backyard with the rest of the celebrants.

  After they arrived home from the wedding, Cindy confronted Casey about the pregnancy and finally, Casey admitted it. They went together to tell George. Cindy first made him sit down on the sofa. Then, she said, “George, you’re going to be a grandfather.”

  George cried at the bittersweet news. He recovered and asked a series of questions: “How far along are you? How are you? Who is the father?”

  To the last question, Casey answered, “I think it’s Jesse.” She didn’t offer a last name.

  Her parents wanted to meet him. Casey said she’d make that happen, but never followed through on her promise. Her parents accompanied her to all her doctors’ visits and were excited about being present at the birth.

  Cindy told her daughter, “When I was carrying you, I played classical music to my belly every day.” Casey wanted to do the same for her unborn child. Cindy helped her find the same selections that she had played to Casey in the womb.

  Casey’s middle school friend, Kiomarie, learned the news of Casey’s pregnancy in July. Kiomarie asked, “What are you gonna do about it?”

  “I really want to give it up for adoption,” Casey said.

  To Kiomarie, this was good news. She’d recently learned from her doctor that she could never have children of her own. Casey was a cute girl and bound to make a cute baby, and Kiomarie was married and in a position where she could afford a child. “If you are going to give your baby up for adoption, I would strongly consider adopting the baby from you.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Casey said. “I really don’t want to have a baby right now.”

  A couple of days later, a disappointed Casey called Kiomarie. “I talked to my mom, and she told me no. I need to keep the baby, and I’m not putting it up for adoption.”

  Casey walked into Mike Kozak’s office at Kodak and said, “Well, you know, I’m pregnant.”

  “You gotta bring in a doctor’s note,” Mike told her.

  When she did, Mike treated her as he did all his expecting employees: He moved her into the Kodak office so that she wouldn’t spend all day standing on her feet. Casey did light duty work there, filing, application processing and other miscellaneous clerical chores.

  Cindy and George were with Casey when she went into the delivery room at Florida Hospital in Winter Park. After cleaning up the baby’s airway, the nurse placed little Caylee into Cindy’s arms, because the doctor had not yet finished caring for Casey after the difficult birth. Casey objected loudly, “Oh my gosh. You get a chance to hold her before I do.”

  That small act was in some ways a foundation for the bond between grandmother and granddaughter. It also planted a seed of resentment that thrived in the dark side of Casey’s mind.

  The moment Casey was out of the delivery room, she called Jesse. He rushed to her side and held the newborn in his arms. He told them that he would do everything he could for the baby, and acknowledged that he was the father.

  It was the first time Casey’s parents had met him. George was cold to him. He disliked the young man and it showed. On first sight, George disapproved of the sloppiness of Jesse’s attire in the hospital. Any father might find it difficult to embrace the man responsible for his out-of-wedlock grandchild, and George was no exception.

  When Jesse and Casey were alone, she said, “I want to put your name on the birth certificate.”

  “No, let’s wait and do a paternity test first,” Jesse said.

  Casey recoiled in anger and refused to allow the test to be conducted. Jesse petitioned the courts and was granted legal authorization. He paid $550 and waited for the results. It would take eight weeks for them to return, but Jesse still spent as much time as he could with the little girl. Just in case he was wrong and Caylee was his baby, he didn’t want to miss any part of her life.

  The results confirmed Jesse’s doubts—there was a zero percent probability that he was the child’s father. Yet, by that time, his connection to the little girl was as solid as kiln-dried timber. He was emotionally devastated by the results, and remained ready and willing to raise Caylee as his own. When he gave a copy of the test results to George and Cindy, his disappointment was clear. Jesse proposed and Casey accepted.

  George asked them, “What are you guys planning for the future?”

  “We’re getting married,” they said.

  “Just ’cause you’re engaged, that doesn’t mean you don’t need a plan.”

  “I’m going to take care of her,” Jesse said.

  “Yes, but what are you going to do with her? What are you going to do with my granddaughter? That’s a very relevant question. Just saying you’re going to take care of them doesn’t tell me what you’re going to do to take care of them.”

  George did not get a satisfactory response, but since Jesse came by the house every day, he had to give the young man some credit. “He loved that little girl—I know it. You could see the compassion when he was holding her. I think he loved that little girl more than he loved my daughter.”

  Maybe that’s why Casey tried so hard with the Grunds. She began participating in the religious Friday night family fellowship at the home. She was there for Bible readings and for the nightly family prayer before bedtime—anything to fit in with them.

  She didn’t stop there in her attempt to mold herself in their image. When she and Jesse had dated the first time around, he’d learned that she hated the Yankees—the team Jesse loved. Now, she professed to be an ardent Yankee fan.

  In early September, Melina Calabrese, Casey’s close friend from seventh grade through her high school years, stopped by to meet Caylee for the first time. Casey told her that Jesse Grund was the father. Melina and her fiancé Josh hung out with Casey and Jesse throughout the fall—Jesse and Josh even started rooming together.

  Once the DNA tests were back denying the possibility of Jesse’s paternity, Casey told a few people that the father was guy named Jesús.

  Casey never mentioned Jesús to her parents. When they asked about the father, Casey refused to give her parents a name.

  CHAPTER 15

  A new baby in the house wasn’t the only upheaval in the Anthony household in 2005. George finally received a check for $60,000 in his workman’s compensation settlement. Cindy thought they had a cash windfall—maybe they should use it to refinance their home at a more reasonable percentage rate.

  She talked to George about how to spend the money. George confessed that it was already gone—he told her that he’d used it to pay some of his debts from on-line gambling. The worst part was that he still owed a substantial amount.

  The pain of past wounds surfaced. To Cindy, it was yet another betrayal. She threw George out of the house. He moved in with his parents in Fort Myers.

  She got an equity loan on the house, making the budget even tighter, while she made two large house payments. She wiped out her 401K to catch up on car insurance and other past due bills she’d thought George had been paying. She had to pay a penalty to the IRS because George had cashed out his retirement account and not reported the income. Then, she was unable to add any funds to her retirement account—a difficult position for a woman in her fifties.

  Cindy consulted a divorce attorney, who told her that even though she’d made all the house payments, George would still get half of the house, and she’d probably have to pay alimony to him because she had been the main financial support for the family since they’d moved t
o Florida. She told her mother, Shirley Cuza, “Ain’t no way he’s getting the house I paid for. Even if I sold the house and got an apartment, half the money would go to George. I can’t afford a divorce—between George and Casey, I’m living paycheck to paycheck.”

  In the fall, after Caylee’s birth, Casey stopped into the Kodak office once to show off her new baby. Then, suddenly, she disappeared. Mike had expected her to come back to work, but it never happened. Corporate filed paperwork terminating her for “job abandonment.” Her lack of employment added to a fragile economic situation in the Anthony home.

  Casey spent a lot of time in the Grund household, where she put pressure on Jesse. Casey wanted out of her parents’ home. She told her prospective father-in-law, “I don’t want to turn out like my mother. I don’t want to be around my mother. I want out of that house.” She added that she hated her father for the financial problems he’d created with his gambling.

  Casey wanted Jesse to move into a place of their own immediately. Richard Grund frowned on that scenario. He told his son, “If you want me to perform your [wedding] ceremony, you can’t live together beforehand.”

  But Jesse wanted to move in with Casey, driven in part by what he perceived as Cindy’s negative attitude toward her. One day when Jesse and Casey were lying together on the couch in the Anthony living room, Casey and Cindy began arguing. Jesse interrupted, telling Cindy, “Please don’t do this while I’m here. Don’t talk to her like that. You know I love your daughter.”

  “Why do you want to be with somebody who’s got no future?” Cindy snapped back. “She didn’t even go back to get her high school education. You know she’s got a job at a place where she really doesn’t even make enough money to support Caylee. I’m doing that—I’m the one supporting Caylee.”

  Jesse hated to hear these words in front of Casey. He knew they made Casey feel as if she must be a failure in his eyes.

  In the spring of 2006, reconciliation was in the air. George and Cindy made a few tentative dates to test getting back together. One night, after a pleasant evening of dinner and conversation, Jesse’s pick-up truck was in the driveway when they arrived back on Hopespring Drive at 11:30.