1,400 refuse to give up on finding Caylee Anthony

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-caylee0908nov09,0,3828880.story

1,400 refuse to give up on finding Caylee Anthony

Eloisa Ruano Gonzalez | Sentinel Staff Writer
November 9, 2008
ORLANDO - More than 1,400 volunteers searched Saturday for Caylee Marie Anthony, the Orange County child who captured hearts nationwide after her June disappearance, making it one of the largest searches in U.S. history.

"Caylee has touched and broken the hearts of everybody across the country," said Tim Miller, founder of Texas EquuSearch, which operated a command center near Orlando International Airport. "It shows how everybody fell in love with this little girl they never knew."

People from about 28 states, including Arizona, Iowa, New York and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, joined EquuSearch to sweep through hundreds of wooded acres in Orange County, organizers said.

Among them was Dale Buster, 49, of St. Cloud, who tagged his T-shirt with "Caylee we are coming for you sweetheart."

Buster said he prays to find Caylee alive and safely in another state, although he acknowledges it is unlikely. After losing his daughter and, most recently, his mother, Buster said the Anthonys and families nationwide need closure.

"If we find the remains, that would hurt so bad," Buster said. "But at the same time, we'll know and we can say, 'She's in heaven.' "

Volunteers disagree on whether Caylee is alive. But volunteer Debra Lopez, a grandmother from Winter Park, is convinced the child is dead. She said Caylee needs to be returned home for a proper funeral. Lopez, 48, joined an afternoon search team with her friend, Freddy Collazo, 48, of Tampa.

"The truth needs to come out," Lopez said before boarding a search truck. "People are in agony."

Leonard Padilla, the bounty hunter who helped post bail for Casey Anthony in August, also joined the search. Padilla said he did it out of spite, after Casey Anthony wouldn't help find the girl.

Caylee's mother, Casey Anthony, 22, was charged with first-degree murder last month in her daughter's disappearance. She also faces charges of aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and four counts of providing false information to law enforcement.

EquuSearch resumed its hunt for Caylee early Saturday, but only animal bones were found by nightfall, officials with the group said.

Volunteers will continue their search today at 8 a.m. and into Monday. They need donations for food and water, though, said Mandy Albritton, EquuSearch's deputy director for its search for Caylee.

Miller plans to stick around until Caylee is found or "we feel we've exhausted every resource we have."

"The best thing we can hope for is to bring her in for her final homecoming and allow her to have that funeral that she certainly deserves," Miller said.

Eloisa Ruano Gonzalez can be reached at egonzalez@orlandosentinel.com or 407-931-5940.