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Group Decides To Stay, Continue Search For Caylee Anthony

The organization EquuSearch, which has been leading the search for Caylee Anthony, was considering calling it quits. But Wednesday the group's leader said it will stay and the search will continue.


RAW INTERVIEW: Bounty Hunter Says New Details "Will Shock The World"
VIDEO REPORT: Organization Decides To Continue Looking For Caylee
911 CALLS ABOUT PROTESTORS: Call #1 | Call #2
ARCHIVE: Read Previous Reports On Anthony Case
MESSAGE BOARD: Talk About Anthony Case

The group told Eyewitness News they decided to stay because they got a call from Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary, who asked them to stay and pledged resources to assist them in their search.

Before noon Wednesday, just 30 volunteers had signed up to assist in the search. That's the lowest number since the search began.

The director of EquuSearch said he believes it's because people are losing faith in the Anthony family. In fact, he said he is also losing faith and that's why he was considering pulling up stakes and stopping the search.

Tim Miller said he's upset because Cindy Anthony keeps saying there is evidence Caylee is alive and was given to a friend. If that's the case, he wonders why she called and asked for his help and wonders why he should continue searching.

If it wasn't for the sheriff calling and offering to provide airboats and $5,000, he might have taken his search team somewhere else.

"If that is the truth, that she gave this child to a family to take care of Caylee, I'm upset because we have spent $28,000 for this case and we're getting calls from all over the country that want our service that has a legitimate missing child," Miller told Eyewitness News.

Eyewitness News also got a call Wednesday morning from a group of volunteers who said they are gathering a lot of people to help again on Saturday. They're hoping more people will join the effort. The EquuSearch director told Eyewitness News they'd keep searching now until they find Caylee.


PADILLA SAYS EVIDENCE WILL "SHOCK THE WORLD"

During an interview with CNN's Nancy Grace on Tuesday night, bounty hunter Leonard Padilla made some specific and serious statements (watch) regarding evidence in the case that might reveal new details.

"When the FBI, who has got some of the finest labs in the world, comes back with their DNA, it's going to shock the world over something that Lee, Casey and Cindy have known since Wednesday when they released their preliminary findings. And also, the dumpster a mile and quarter down from the boyfriend Tony's house is going to play a big part in this," Padilla told CNN's Nancy Grace during an interview on Tuesday night.

In an interview a week earlier with Grace, Padilla said he didn't think he would have bonded Casey Anthony out of jail if he had read the information contained in 400 pages of documents released related to the case.

"After reading it, I don't believe I would have talked my nephew Tony Padilla into posting the bond. And I don't think I would have come to Orlando after reading that. I mean, I'm still hoping that little girl's alive, but there's a lot of information in those 400 pages that would lead those people to believe something different," he said.

Since then, Padilla has said that he believes Caylee is dead and suggested it may be due to an accident. He also said the family is in denial about the missing girl. Padilla returned to California after the Clearwater-based bonding company revoked Casey's $500,000 bond following her second arrest.


CASEY REMAINS IN JAIL AFTER REJECTING OFFER

Casey Anthony is back in jail and declined an offer of limited immunity. Eyewitness News asked her attorney, Jose Baez, why she didn't take the offer and he mumbled the quiet "no comment" before shutting his office door Tuesday. It came shortly after the State Attorney's Office issued a statement saying it had not heard from Casey Anthony's attorney about its offer of limited immunity.

Under the deal, Casey could have spoken with investigators and anything she told them about her missing daughter's disappearance could not have been used against her. However, any evidence investigators found based on her statements could have been used to prosecute her.

The refusal to talk comes just days after sheriff's investigators announced for the first time that forensic evidence from Casey's car tells them Caylee is no longer alive.

"These things lead us to believe Caylee is deceased," explained Commander Matt Irwin, Orange County Sheriff's Office.


911 CALLS REPORT CONCERNS ABOUT PROTESTORS

Eyewitness News obtained newly released 911 calls from Cindy Anthony and family complaining about a heated protest in front of their home Friday night.


911 CALLS ABOUT PROTESTORS: Call #1 | Call #2

"Fifty plus protestors are outside my house. They're all on my property. I have no trespassing signs on. This is Cindy Anthony calling and they are all out there screaming murderer and stuff and I have people trying to come in my house and they're disrupting and I don't want a riot to start outside my home."

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