Chloroform traces found in Casey Anthony’s car, FBI lab reports; What do you think of this latest development?

Question

By Amy L. Edwards and Bianca Prieto / The Orlando Sentinel

Thursday, September 4, 2008

All along I thought this was an accident. This story just gets worse and worse.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Chloroform traces were found in the trunk of the car driven by Casey Anthony, the jailed mother of missing 3-year-old Caylee Marie.

Sources told the Orlando Sentinel that the chemical — which can be used to knock people out — was detected by preliminary tests conducted by an FBI laboratory. It was detected in the same trunk that an official last week said air-sample tests show once held a decomposing human body.

Anthony, 22, will go before a judge this morning on additional check-fraud and theft charges that were filed against her Wednesday. The charges stem from more than $700 in checks that Anthony is accused of stealing from a friend in July and then used at Target stores, Winn-Dixie and cash to herself.

She already faces charges of child neglect and filing a false statement to law enforcement stemming from the investigation into daughter Caylee’s disappearance. The child was reported missing more than six weeks ago.

The role of the chloroform in Caylee’s disappearance was not clear Wednesday. However, there is evidence showing that Casey Anthony may have been researching the chemical on the Internet, sources said.

Chloroform has been depicted in movies and on television when a person uses a rag soaked in the liquid to cover the mouth and nose of another, making the victim lose consciousness. A person can die if too much of the chemical is inhaled. Chloroform also is the byproduct of contact between chorine used in swimming pools and skin, sweat or urine. Commercially, it is used in refrigeration.

Anthony was charged Wednesday with two counts of uttering a forged check, two counts of petty theft and two counts of fraudulent use of personal identification.

Investigators accuse Anthony of writing one check July 10 at an Orlando Target store for $155.47 and another check the same day at a Winter Park Target for $137.77.

Last week, Anthony was arrested at her family’s Lee Vista-area home and charged with uttering a forged check, fraudulent use of personal identification information and petty theft related to one of the alleged stolen checks she wrote at an Orlando Target for $111.01.

EquuSearch persists

On Wednesday, about 65 volunteers with Texas EquuSearch continued to look for Caylee, and Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary pleaded with the public to help.

"We need to try to find some closure on this case," he said. "That’s why EquuSearch is here."

The sheriff pledged to give EquuSearch $5,000 to assist in the search, as well as use of the agency’s airboats. Beary said EquuSearch is a reputable operation with expert volunteers.

"Regardless, whether she’s alive or passed away, we need to find Caylee," Beary said.

Answer 1

im sorry the BBC still refuse to air that story in the uk & there for we know nothing about casey anthoney in the uk. we still hear endless stories of sightings and new evidence about madalin mccans misterious dissapearence. none of which ever hold water to any degree. so my advice is to take what you hear from the media with a pinch of salt to make it more palitable to swollow

Answer 2

any evidence that law enforcement has right now, it making it look like Caylee could be dead. With no cooperation with Casey, that continue to do everything possible to find the child and more and more evidence is coming forth..not looking good for Casey

Answer 3

I think she either used the chloroform to silence her while she partied or as a cleanser to clean out the stench of Caylee's decomposing body in the trunk of the car.  The fact that Casey once had an interest in photography could be a clue to how she obtained the chloroform.