The Caylee Anthony Case and How it Affects America
Child abductions are not an uncommon thing in the world today, especially in America. Inconveniently, there are no official exact national statistics concerning the amount of child abductions per year, and kidnapping is not included in the FBI’s yearly national crime report. However, a report issued in October 2002 by the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, and Runaway Children estimated that 58,200 children are victims of non family abductions per year (10). Though non family abductions are undoubtedly a horrendous thing, most would agree that being abducted and possibly murdered by a family member is even more horrifying and surprising, and many people ponder how someone could do such a thing.
Three year old Caylee Anthony from Florida was reported missing in mid July of 2008 by her mother Casey Anthony, about a month after she actually went missing. Casey’s parents were persistently asking where Caylee was, so Casey finally stated that she did not know. She told police that the last person that was with Caylee was a babysitter named Zenaida Gonzalez. When the woman was confronted by police, she claimed she did not know who Casey Anthony was. Police proceeded to search Casey’s home and vehicle, and found evidence that there may have been human composition in it. She was soon charged with child neglect, not cooperating and fabricating information to investigators, and interfering with a criminal investigation. At first she was denied bond because she showed a total disregard for Caylee. However, later on her bail was posted at $500,000 and a bounty hunter bailed her out. She was released from jail and has since then been put back in jail, and new information is consistently being released about her being a pathological liar, a thief, and using forged checks.
Finally, on October 18th, 2008, Casey was indicted with many things, including 1st degree murder, child abuse, and providing false information. All the evidence seems to point against Casey, and facts like that she was out partying at bars and clubs just days after Caylee went missing, do not help her. Her mother even admitted that Casey originally wanted to put Caylee up for adoption.
It is a frightening thing to imagine that a mother could possibly neglect, let alone murder her own child. Many people are drawn to this case simply because they do not understand it. People want to know what possibly may have gone on in Casey Anthony’s head, because obviously, a sane mother would never do such a thing. According to a doctor named Deborah Schurman, who specializes in these kinds of cases, mothers who kill their children a usually have a narcissistic personality and are obsessed with drama.
Most of the information we learn through the media about Casey Anthony seem to point to the idea that she is narcissistic and obsessed with drama, just as mothers who kill are. She has an amazing ability to lie and deceive, and shows no panic or concern about her daughter, which is shocking and disturbing.
People with narcissistic personalities only care about their own desires and seem to be emotionally cut off from the world. Casey may have committed this murder simply because Caylee got in the way of her own life and desires. Casey’s party life seems to be her first priority, and has admitted that her daughter significantly got in the way of that. Her friends have come forward and stated that she often complained about Caylee and called her a “snot head”. Casey was still a teenager when she had Caylee, so that also may have contributed to her resentment.
Although being a pathological liar and having a narcissistic personality are not excuses for killing anyone, that is most likely what led Casey Anthony to murder Caylee. Although she was probably not kidnapped by a stranger, cases like this one have a great affect on America. They bring up the issue of distrust and make you wonder what people could be capable of. It also reminds us how child abuse and neglect is something that must be taken seriously. It is a shame that an innocent little girl had to suffer because of her own mother’s actions, and that no one interfered if or when they noticed that Caylee was not being taken care of properly.
Works Cited
Crary, David. “Solid Data Scarce for Child Abductions”. Boston.com National News.
19 January 2007. 18 November 2008. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/article
s/2007/01/19/solid_data_scarce_for_child_abductions/
Flores, Robert. “National Estimates of Missing Children”. NISMART. October 2007.
18 November 2008. http://missingkids.com/en_US/documents/nismart2_overview
.pdf
“Casey Anthony-A Criminal Mind?” Momlogic. 14 November 2008. 20 November 2008.
http://www.momlogic.com/2008/11/casey_anthonya_criminal_mind.php
Mitchell, Juliann. “Casey Anthony: Profile of a Sociopath”. Blogcritics Magazine. 19
October 2008. 21 November 2008. http://blogcritics.org/archives/2008/10/19/222
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1 comment:
They found a grave near her home recently, and there are new developments, but it's just so sad...if you're going to have kids, and go through with the pregnancy, why not put them up for adoption? Many couples long for children and can't have them, and other people abuse their own. The fact that she was a teenager when she had her, and maybe less mature, may mean she was still a child herself and shouldn't have been raising one to begin with.
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