Casey Anthony Latest News: Search Company Wants $110,000 For Child Hunt
Texas EquuSearch (TES), the company that searched for Casey Anthony’s missing child Caylee in 2008, is suing Anthony for $110,000 in reimbursement for multiple efforts they conducted to find her daughter.
On Wednesday, Florida Judge Lisa Munyon refused a motion filed by Anthony’s lawyers to dismiss the case. Anthony’s lawyers pointed to the fact that TES is a charitable organization and doesn’t charge law enforcement and families for their services. Anthony’s defense attorney Charles Green has accused the Texas search company of attempting to capitalize on media hype to procure the funds.
But a lawyer representing the search-and-rescue group claims that Anthony led them on. At the time of the search, Anthony claimed she did not know where her daughter was, but believed she was still alive.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"Resources were allocated here instead of to other families who had a missing person," Texas EquuSearch lawyer Marc Wites told the court Wednesday.
Anthony was not present at the civil court hearing.
TES then conducted the second biggest search in company history on the grounds that Caylee was “missing,” but likely still alive.
TES is basing their argument on a statement Casey Anthony’s attorney made during her criminal trial in the death of Caylee. Anthony’s attorney had said, "On behalf of Ms. Anthony, that Caylee had, in fact, 'never been missing,' but that she actually drowned in the family pool on June 16, 2008."
Along with the $110,000, TES would like Anthony to answer questions about what happened to her daughter, and why she misled the rescue effort.
So far, Anthony has been able to dodge questions about Caylee by way of the Fifth Amendment.
Although Casey Anthony was found not guilty in July of murdering Caylee, she was found guilty of misleading authorities and lying to police about the whereabouts of her daughter. Two-year-old Caylee was discovered in December 2008 just miles from the Anthony family home.
