Posted: 5:10 pm EST November 17,
2008Updated: 6:22 pm EST November 17,
2008
ORLANDO, Fla. -- He's been arrested twice, once for assault and once for impersonating a police officer, and he's the man Caylee Anthony's grandparents are trusting to help find their granddaughter.Dennis Milstead runs the so-called Kid Finders Network, but Eyewitness News uncovered serious problems with his criminal past and his not-for profit group, including the fact Kid Finders has never found anybody.KID FINDERS CONFRONTATION:Images | Raw Video JOHN MORGAN:Plans To Interview Casey TEAM COVERAGE: Latest In Casey Anthony Case PADILLA TALKS:Has Theory On Caylee's Death MESSAGE BOARD:Case Against Casey Anthony ARCHIVE: Previous Reports On Anthony CaseStill, the organization is out every day, collecting donations using jars with Caylee's picture on them. Even the Palm Beach County sheriff's sergeant who helps run their Crime Stoppers operation says Orange County deputies have been warned about Milstead.When Eyewitness News confronted Milstead about his criminal past, he got very quiet and then he grabbed WFTV reporter Kathi Belich's microphone and pushed the camera while WFTV photographer Adam Liberatore was holding on to it (images | video).Milstead's pickup truck had a "Gotcha" emblem on the side of it instead of the Kid Finders emblem he has now. West Palm Beach police say he flashed phony blue lights and claimed he was a law enforcement officer. He pled his felony down to a misdemeanor and seven months later another arrest for assault.Eyewitness News has also learned that the president of Crime Stoppers in south Florida had a restraining order against Milstead after he allegedly tried to connive a 90-percent cut of any donations he solicited for the group. At the time, Milstead was operating a business called Gotcha Billboards, but he was reportedly representing himself as an employee of the non-profit Crime Stoppers.Milstead's Kid Finders Network mentions its intentions to raise funds a number of times, mainly so it says it can build more billboards to report on missing children. Its list of accomplishments does not include finding any missing children.Eyewitness News obtained Kid Finders Network's tax return for its first year in operation, 2006. It shows the organization borrowed $4,800 from someone to get started. It's listed as an asset and a debt. Kid Finders' 2007 return has not yet been submitted.Fifteen minutes after Eyewitness News confronted them, Kid Finders packed up their posters and their donation cup and they left. JOHN MORGAN TO QUESTION CASEY ANTHONY It seems everyone who gets their hands on the Casey Anthony case ends up either fired or disgraced. Last week, Hollywood spokesman Larry Garrison was fired for taking money from a TV network. Then, bounty hunter Leonard Padilla was asked to take a lie detector test after he set off a false alarm in the search for Caylee's body.Then there's mystery public relations man Todd Black. He slipped up on national TV and acknowledged Caylee is dead.Casey's lawyer, Jose Baez, has been criticized by other lawyers for making mistakes. High-profile Orlando attorney John Morgan told Eyewitness News on Monday he's dealing with one of those mistakes now (watch full interview).Eyewitness News broke the story last week when Casey's defense team filed a civil countersuit against a woman named Zenaida Gonzalez (read report | read lawsuit). Casey's attorney told Eyewitness News he wants money for attorney's fees.Legal experts say, if Casey files a countersuit, that means she will have to take the stand and that could be used against her in the criminal case. Morgan says he is surprised by the recent counterclaim Casey Anthony's attorney filed last week.Gonzalez filed a defamation lawsuit after Casey Anthony named her as the babysitter who took Caylee. Anthony is now seeking damages, a move that will put Anthony on the stand and could hurt her criminal case down the road."I think they are putting their client in a position they may be sorry later," Morgan told Eyewitness News.Anthony claims Gonzalez is not the Zenaida Gonzalez she was talking about and says the suit is frivolous."When you are fingered as someone who has murdered or kidnapped a child and we can connect the dots, I don't think anyone in America thinks that's frivolous," Morgan said.In the claim, Anthony's attorney asks for damages and legal fees. Morgan says there are deficiencies, because the motion does not state a reason why Anthony should get any money."Zenaida thinks this is more insult to injury," Morgan said.In fact, legal experts told Eyewitness News the motion that Anthony's attorney filed is not even a countersuit, but really a motion to dismiss."I don't think I ever read anything like it in my 25 years of practice," Morgan said.
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Man Who Runs Kid Finders Gets Physical During Interview
Posted: 5:10 pm EST November 17, 2008Updated: 6:22 pm EST November 17, 2008
KID FINDERS CONFRONTATION: Images | Raw Video
JOHN MORGAN: Plans To Interview Casey
TEAM COVERAGE: Latest In Casey Anthony Case
PADILLA TALKS: Has Theory On Caylee's Death
MESSAGE BOARD: Case Against Casey Anthony
ARCHIVE: Previous Reports On Anthony Case
Still, the organization is out every day, collecting donations using jars with Caylee's picture on them. Even the Palm Beach County sheriff's sergeant who helps run their Crime Stoppers operation says Orange County deputies have been warned about Milstead.When Eyewitness News confronted Milstead about his criminal past, he got very quiet and then he grabbed WFTV reporter Kathi Belich's microphone and pushed the camera while WFTV photographer Adam Liberatore was holding on to it (images | video).Milstead's pickup truck had a "Gotcha" emblem on the side of it instead of the Kid Finders emblem he has now. West Palm Beach police say he flashed phony blue lights and claimed he was a law enforcement officer. He pled his felony down to a misdemeanor and seven months later another arrest for assault.Eyewitness News has also learned that the president of Crime Stoppers in south Florida had a restraining order against Milstead after he allegedly tried to connive a 90-percent cut of any donations he solicited for the group. At the time, Milstead was operating a business called Gotcha Billboards, but he was reportedly representing himself as an employee of the non-profit Crime Stoppers.Milstead's Kid Finders Network mentions its intentions to raise funds a number of times, mainly so it says it can build more billboards to report on missing children. Its list of accomplishments does not include finding any missing children.Eyewitness News obtained Kid Finders Network's tax return for its first year in operation, 2006. It shows the organization borrowed $4,800 from someone to get started. It's listed as an asset and a debt. Kid Finders' 2007 return has not yet been submitted.Fifteen minutes after Eyewitness News confronted them, Kid Finders packed up their posters and their donation cup and they left.
JOHN MORGAN TO QUESTION CASEY ANTHONY
It seems everyone who gets their hands on the Casey Anthony case ends up either fired or disgraced. Last week, Hollywood spokesman Larry Garrison was fired for taking money from a TV network. Then, bounty hunter Leonard Padilla was asked to take a lie detector test after he set off a false alarm in the search for Caylee's body.Then there's mystery public relations man Todd Black. He slipped up on national TV and acknowledged Caylee is dead.Casey's lawyer, Jose Baez, has been criticized by other lawyers for making mistakes. High-profile Orlando attorney John Morgan told Eyewitness News on Monday he's dealing with one of those mistakes now (watch full interview).Eyewitness News broke the story last week when Casey's defense team filed a civil countersuit against a woman named Zenaida Gonzalez (read report | read lawsuit). Casey's attorney told Eyewitness News he wants money for attorney's fees.Legal experts say, if Casey files a countersuit, that means she will have to take the stand and that could be used against her in the criminal case. Morgan says he is surprised by the recent counterclaim Casey Anthony's attorney filed last week.Gonzalez filed a defamation lawsuit after Casey Anthony named her as the babysitter who took Caylee. Anthony is now seeking damages, a move that will put Anthony on the stand and could hurt her criminal case down the road."I think they are putting their client in a position they may be sorry later," Morgan told Eyewitness News.Anthony claims Gonzalez is not the Zenaida Gonzalez she was talking about and says the suit is frivolous."When you are fingered as someone who has murdered or kidnapped a child and we can connect the dots, I don't think anyone in America thinks that's frivolous," Morgan said.In the claim, Anthony's attorney asks for damages and legal fees. Morgan says there are deficiencies, because the motion does not state a reason why Anthony should get any money."Zenaida thinks this is more insult to injury," Morgan said.In fact, legal experts told Eyewitness News the motion that Anthony's attorney filed is not even a countersuit, but really a motion to dismiss."I don't think I ever read anything like it in my 25 years of practice," Morgan said.
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