Caylee Anthony Remembered on Her 6th Birthday
Caylee Anthony’s grandparents marked her birthday on Tuesday by gathering with 100 members of the public to commemorate the day she would have turned six.
The crowd was joined by her grandparents George and Cindy Anthony on Tuesday in their Orlando-area neighborhood, near a wooded area where their granddaughter’s remains were found in December 2008.
“This is the first time I’ve been here in so long,” said George Anthony to reporters a few feet away from where his granddaughter’s body was found. “It’s hard to come here.”
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The crowd released dozens of purple balloons in the air in memory of Caylee as they wished her happy birthday.
George and Cindy Anthony surprised the crowd by showing up. They both wore shirts with a photo of Caylee on them which also had text reading “You will always be in our hearts.”
The Anthony’s led a walk and accepted greetings from well-wishers.
“I am glad because it seems like they’re getting a little bit of closure with the crying and different things and I think that’s really, really good for them,” said Lori Richards of Daytona Beach to the Orlando Sentinel.
Some in the crowd still found it hard to hide their disgust at the verdict in the murder trial where Caylee’s mother Casey Anthony was found not guilty of murdering her child. Some held signs criticizing the jury that made the decision.
Others held more appropriate signs for the occasion, with one saying: “May Caylee’s memory always live in our hearts.”
Bring Kids Home, a nonprofit group that helps missing and abused children, wants to build a memorial for Caylee at the site where her remains were found.
They hope to raise $200,000 in donations in order to complete the project. The gathering also included a moment of silence and a prayer for missing children.
