It was time for the next sideshow in the Casey Anthony drama. Deputy Anthony Rusciano, who’d had a lengthy text flirtation and a few hasty sexual encounters with Casey in the spring, sat down with Detective Yuri Melich and Sergeant John Allen. Allen asked him about his relationship with Casey. “During our initial conversation, where you indicated you’d met her only once at a party, you have since told us that wasn’t true, and you lied to us because you were just afraid, right?”
“Yes, sir,” Anthony said.
“Okay, you come in here today and you told us another version of those events.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And that wasn’t entirely true either, right?”
“There’s a little more to it, yes, sir.”
“. . . But you are in no way trying to impede our investigation?”
“Absolutely not.”
“You don’t have some information about this and you’re trying to misdirect us in some other direction, right?”
“Absolutely not.”
“You’re just simply . . . don’t want to be associated with this,” Allen pressed.
“Yes, sir.”
“. . . You didn’t help in any crime.”
“No, sir.”
“You didn’t help cover up a crime?”
“No, sir.”
He may have been innocent in the disappearance of Caylee Anthony, but it did not save Anthony Rusciano’s job. He’d lied to fellow law enforcement officers about the breadth of his relationship with Casey. His career with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office was over.
On the same day that Fay hit Orlando, Allen and Melich, along with Special Agent Scott Bolin, traveled to the home of Cindy’s mother, Shirley Cuza, to question her again about the case. When they arrived, Shirley had no electricity due to the storm.
Detective Melich asked her, “How was Cindy’s relationship with Caylee when Casey was around? Was there some jealousy between Cindy and Casey about Caylee, like who was the better mother, or who took better care?”
“Cindy tried not to overstep her, but she was happy, I think, when Casey was gone and she was taking care of her. I think there was. Sometimes in my heart, I says to myself . . . I don’t want to think that . . . Caylee isn’t alive, but I wondered if she [Casey] hated her mom more than she loved Caylee.”
A while later in the interview, Melich asked, “What do you think it’s going to take for Casey to tell anyone what happened?”
“She probably needs somebody to threaten her, personally. You know, I hate to think of her being put in a jail with them women that’s going to beat the hell out of her, but it might do her some good.”
“Do you think she would open up to you?”
“No. I don’t think she would open up to me, because she knows I’m mad at her . . . I mean, our last words weren’t loving words. I did say, I said, ‘Casey, I love you, but I don’t like you.’ I don’t like the stuff she’s doing.”
Melich also interviewed Cindy’s brother Rick that day over speakerphone. Three FBI agents were present during the conversation. When Rick was asked about the relationship between Cindy and Casey, he said, “Casey resented Cindy. She resented Cindy to the point where she could see that Caylee likes Cindy way better than she likes her. And to me, that was normal for a baby to like the grandma, because grandmas always spoil kids.”
Cindy received an email informing her that her brother Rick was posting on an on-line forum about the case. Cindy forwarded the message to Rick with a question:
Is this true?
Her brother wrote back:
You are alive. You never responded to any of my last emails. Yes, I was on a blog . . . Yes, I MAY talk to Greta . . . I would not tell Greta anything bad. I would tell her that you are a good person [who] loves your daughter very much and absolutely adored Caylee. The people of this country think you and George are wackos. They think Casey is a monster.
. . . You and George are in such denial and no one can reach you anymore. I love you and hate like hell to see you go through this. This is very hard on Mom, too. It is slowly killing her . . . Those people on that blog were ripping you guys apart. I tried to set them straight. I couldn’t stand seeing you guys get bashed so bad. Some people were really nice though. They really feel for you and George and Lee. I am not trying to hurt you in any way.
Cindy lashed back at him, criticizing him for spreading lies and pleading with him not to go on Greta Van Susteren’s show. Rick agreed to the latter, but objected to her characterization of what he said:
I am trying to reason with you . . . It’s not you against the world. We are trying to help you. Have you asked or received any counseling yet? I am real serious about this. Families that go through bad things need to get it . . . I used to be able to talk to you, but you are so involved in this you are lost. We are all hoping for the best. Casey has ALL the answers though.
I am here when you are ready to open up. Okay? I mean it. I am here.
She snapped back saying that the story of George pushing his father through a plate-glass window was a lie, her 401K was gone before Caylee was born and Casey did not steal a checkbook from their Mom’s house—all allegations he had made in the chat room.
Casey may be a liar about some things but she is a good kid and a great mother. I’ve told you, you do not know the facts. You are so fixated on the sitter. Get over the sitter. Just because I have no pictures of her, it doesn’t mean she doesn’t exist.
. . . You think you are going to open my eyes to something—you have. I have a brother who is only looking for someone to pay attention to him and he has no faith in me or family loyalty . . . My eyes have never been so open. I can certainly see through you. And thank you for saying that you will not waste your time for your niece. That statement proves to me that you have no soul either. I pray to God that you will be forgiven by him because I will never forgive you. You have crossed the line.
Three minutes later, she sent a postscript:
Oh yeah, Greta told me when she was in my house after she interviewed us that she cannot wait to hear me tell everyone “Fuck you” when this is all over and Caylee is home.
Rick was angered by his sister’s messages. He wrote:
George did wrestle with his dad and put him through the window. That is why George had to start his own business. Don’t lie to me about it. Mom filled me in on Casey so don’t lie to me about her.
He ranted that they were stupid for being manipulated by Casey and warned:
If the cops didn’t think you were stupid, they would bring charges against you and George for destroying evidence . . . Oh, by the way, everyone on Greta thinks Caylee is dead including Greta. Do you ever watch her show? What a moron you are. Mental Hospital here you come.
On Sunday, August 31, the sheriff’s office loaded EquuSearch infrared equipment in their helicopter and lifted off, looking for recently disturbed patches of earth and fresh tire tracks in suspicious places, and mapping out other search possibilities. On the ground, more than 200 volunteers covered an area north of the Orlando International Airport.
A couple of developments in the case eroded away the volunteer numbers. On Monday, the sheriff’s office issued a statement that read:
FBI Laboratory evidence, along with additional evidence that has not been made public, leads investigators to the belief there is strong probability that Caylee is deceased. If any evidence to the contrary is provided, it will be vigorously pursued.
On Tuesday, the public learned of the offer of limited immunity extended to Casey Anthony by the state attorney’s office. If accepted, prosecutors could not use any of Casey’s statements against her, but they could use any evidence obtained from the information she provided. The offer had an expiration date: Time was up at 9 A.M. But there was no response from Casey or her attorney.
Fewer than thirty-five volunteers showed up that morning. Search Director Mandy Albritton said, “We worry that the community has soured on the family and is not keeping Caylee first. It is sad that we’ve had such a low turnout.” She said that typically she expected one thousand volunteers. EquuSearch had already expended $30,000 since they’d begun the search on Friday.
Sheriff Kevin Beary pleaded for more help. “We need to try to find some closure on this case. That’s why EquuSearch is here.” He pledged a $5,000 contribution to the organization, as well as the use of the department’s airboats. “EquuSearch is a reputable operation with expert volunteers. Regardless whether she’s alive or passed away, we need to find Caylee.” On Wednesday, sixty-five people showed up to struggle through thick undergrowth, slog over swampy ground and avoid a legion of snakes as they looked for duffle bags, bones and rolled-up rugs. Still, nothing turned up.
In a display of ingratitude for the organization’s work, Cindy lashed out at EquuSearch for Tim Miller’s suggestions that Caylee might be dead. She said that Miller was brought here to look for a living child, not a dead one. In a written release, Cindy said, “It is evident his motives were to obtain publicity for his organization at the expense of exploiting my granddaughter’s disappearance.”
Tim Miller, who had devoted the past decade to helping others suffering from the pain of a missing loved one, responded simply: “We are holding on to that little bit of hope that Caylee is still alive. But if not, it’s important that her little body is found.”
Cindy had now alienated two former allies. That week, she said, “Right now, I think [Caylee’s] somewhere in Texas or even Puerto Rico.”
Leonard Padilla summed up a lot of people’s feeling on Nancy Grace: “She’s living in total denial.”