Caylee Anthony

[goddessoflubbock]

I'm sure that like most folks all along we mostly believed that poor baby was long gone somewhere. But now it is official, which makes it so much sadder.

It seemed the grandparents would have raised her (grandma a nurse, grandpa a retired sheriff), but recently they have asked for full immunity to speak to law enforcement so now I wonder.

What really bothers me is this case got so much attention because Caylee Anthony was a simply adorable little white girl. Casey Anthony's game playing kept the story alive as well, but as much as I can appreciate what Nancy Grace does, I doubt she'd have committed almost every show for 6 months to some little inner-city kid. Because there are plenty of them out there, missing, tonight.

Casey Anthony strikes me as a spoiled, narcissistic brat. As Caylee got older, maybe talked more about what she'd seen and done to grandparents, she became a liability.

I feel for Caylee. I feel for all those lost children out there, no one knows if they are dead or alive. It is a tragedy. I could not imagine raising myself from bed if my child were missing - except to pound every inch of pavement on the planet searching.....

[Charlie]

Of course we have not had this story over here, so I just had to google it to get some basic info. It does seem a desperate case.

We also have high profile incidents of missing children and abuses to children, and two of the most shocking cases in recent years have happened in the past few weeks and months (and somewhat similar to the Caylee Anthony case by the sounds of it) . First, there was the case of Shannon Matthews a nine year-old girl who went missing for about a month in February-March. It was hugely high profile in the news, top story for most nights until she was eventually found (alive) in a drawer of a bed in a flat not far from her home. In this month her mother had appeared regularly on TV making emotional appeals for her daughters return. However all was not as it seemed, and at the beginning of this month the mother along with the person who had Shannon were both convicted of false imprisonment, kidnap and perverting the course of justice. The full timeline of a remarkable case can be found here.

The other recent case was not a disappearance, but a case of parental abuse and failings of social services, where a baby, known only to the public as "Baby P" was regularly beaten, and two days before he died was seen at a hospital where they even failed to spot he had a broken back. This was on top of broken ribs and other various cuts and bruises sustained over time. What angered the public was that he was known to be at risk by the social services, yet they failed to act and take him into care, enhanced by this being the same local social services that also failed to act about 8 years earlier and a similar case happened which was vowed "never to be able to happen again". And of course it did. Again the timeline is available, but more details (some a little graphic) are here. Only one of the 3 implicated in the case were tried for murder (the other 2 had no case to answer due to lack of evidence - after all what had actually caused the death), and he was subsequently found not guilty. However all three were convicted (the mother had pleaded guilty) of the slightly lesser offence of "causing or allowing the death", which whilst it means that they did not "murder" they were responsible and the baby died due to their negligence and abuse.

[ruth]

Cases of child abuse and neglect like these are so revolting to me that I cannot even bear to read them. In my life long attempt to truly believe and trust in an all powerful and ever present loving God, I am held back by this one thing more than any other - the atrocities committed on and suffered by innocent children from time immemorial. The chances of my ever understanding why these things happen are very slim if not null and I can only sum up my lack and longing of and for a true belief in a divine presence by quoting scripture, "I believe Lord, heal thou my unbelief." It's little consolation for a very great despair. If I had to choose between the two, the existence of God or an end to the suffering of children, I would gladly sacrifice God to save the children. I suppose that kind of thinking is the motivation behind most of our greatest scientists. "Let's save the children, humanity, the world first, and then worry about the existence of God. God can wait."

[goddessoflubbock]

I suppose such a fuss was made of this case in the US I was sure it had been broadcast in the UK as well. I remember many years back two schoolboys lured away a very young boy from his mother at a store and did terrible things to him (ending in the small child's death which at that point may have been a mercy) and I guess assumed it went both ways....

It is always the innocents who are preyed upon by society. Whether they be children, the mentally or the physically impaired. In any case I find it desperately sad, and it speaks volumes about the doer...and society in general and what we will allow to happen. How many children walk public streets bruised and no one says anything? The same people who will call the police on a howling dog at midnight "don't want to get involved" when a neighbor drags their 2 year old across the lawn by the hair...

[Charlie]

I suppose such a fuss was made of this case in the US I was sure it had been broadcast in the UK as well. I remember many years back two schoolboys lured away a very young boy from his mother at a store and did terrible things to him (ending in the small child's death which at that point may have been a mercy) and I guess assumed it went both ways....

It is always the innocents who are preyed upon by society. Whether they be children, the mentally or the physically impaired. In any case I find it desperately sad, and it speaks volumes about the doer...and society in general and what we will allow to happen. How many children walk public streets bruised and no one says anything? The same people who will call the police on a howling dog at midnight "don't want to get involved" when a neighbor drags their 2 year old across the lawn by the hair...

I don't recall anything, although the name did sound somewhat familiar so there may have been an article or two on various news streams. As for the story you mentioned, the child was James Bulger and the two children who did it (aged 10 at the time - Venables and Thompson if I recall got something like low like 8 years each for the murder due to their ages at the time.

As for society in general, I agree. It is mixed up and depressing. People now live in the same areas as each other but not together. Community spirit, especially in city centres is very lacking.

[SomethingElse]

On top of the above mentioned stories, Maddie Mccan is still missing... Not sure if anyone in the US is familiar with that case. She went missing before Shannon Matthews, and I'm not sure if it's fact or not but that's thought to be the reason why her mother/whoever was involved staged her disappearence - for the donations they'd get to a fund to help find her.

I haven't yet searched to find out about the Caylee Anthony case, but will do later when I have more time.

[Sophist]

In some ways, I almost envy my mother. Since she was a therapist, she is now permanently what's called a "Mandated Reporter," in that if she thinks she sees any sort of abuse (although this also holds to stuff relating to other types of violence and suicides) she has to report it.

Which in some way is almost easier for her. She doesn't have to stand there and battle with herself, "Should I do something, step in?" She just does it.

[goddessoflubbock]

I watch a lot of CNN, but I think Maddie McCann's story was also on shows like 20/20, prime time news type shows. Funny, now that I think of it, she looks a lot like Caylee Anthony.

I can't imagine Maddie's parents leaving those children so far from them while they are drinking and dining. Time slips away from you easily in those situations.

I am a pain in the a**. I will report what I see. I think it is better to be safe then sorry. I've had the police called on us because DS was screaming I was killing him (it was a haircut - a similar experience to death for him...). I think that parents should have the right to reprimand their child, and I've smacked a hand that reached for a hot stove, smacked a hiney on a child who ran out in traffic - but both were followed with hugs - and the smacks never were of the leave a mark kind.

[Charlie]

I watch a lot of CNN, but I think Maddie McCann's story was also on shows like 20/20, prime time news type shows. Funny, now that I think of it, she looks a lot like Caylee Anthony.

I can't imagine Maddie's parents leaving those children so far from them while they are drinking and dining. Time slips away from you easily in those situations.

The thing that puts the McCann story into perspective for me a little is that there is a reasonable chance I could have served them before they flew on that ill-fated holiday, as that was their local airport, and the one they used, plus a family will youngish children also suggests a possibility of that type of food. Of course they may not have bought anything, or may have used one of our other units, but the thought is there - I could have served/made the last piece of food she had on English soil.

[Noctivagus]

I also was completely unaware of Caylee Anthony. I do not think much if anything was reported in the UK.

[SomethingElse]

I've only just got around to reading about it (if I put something off I'm likely to forget about it completely).