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Attorney Reads Casey Anthony Statement On Caylee Memorial

Casey Anthony broke her silence Monday through her attorney, Jose Baez. She remains in jail, charged with her daughter Caylee's murder, but through her attorney Casey said she missed Caylee every minute, but wished her family wasn't holding such a public funeral Tuesday.


TRANSCRIPT: Casey Anthony's Statement
RAW VIDEO: Baez Reads Casey's Statement
TEAM COVERAGE: Casey Releases Statement Through Baez
OBITUARY: Read Full Obituary For Caylee Marie
WATCH LIVE: Tuesday's Memorial On WFTV.com

"I miss Caylee every day and every minute of every day. I can't be there for Caylee's funeral, but some day I want to go and visit her grave and tell her how much I miss her," Baez read for Casey's statement (read full statement | watch Baez read).

Casey was also pretty adamant that she didn't want Caylee's funeral to be public.

"I allowed my parents to be in charge for the funeral for Caylee. I told them I wanted her buried in a casket and I wanted there to be a gravestone so I could go and visit her. I asked them if there could only be a private funeral for just the family," Baez read.

Obviously, Casey's parents didn't follow her wishes, as the First Baptist Church of Orlando (see map) plans for thousands to attend the public service Tuesday at 10:00am. Casey made it clear, through her statement, that she wasn't happy about the decision.

"I know they cremated her. I still don't want a public event with cameras and everybody around for Caylee's service, but I can't stop my parents from doing what they want. I truly hope that it will help them," Baez read.

As of late Monday afternoon, the Orange County jail said, Casey has not requested permission to watch Caylee's funeral on TV Tuesday, but she can do so at any time. She would have to watch in the presence of a corrections officer. Eyewitness News has also learned she has a small radio that she may be able to use to listen to the memorial service.


CONTROVERSIAL ORGANIZATION COULD PROFIT FROM MEMORIAL

Hundreds are expected to attend Caylee's two-hour memorial Tuesday. Eyewitness News found out some of the groups the Anthonys are asking people to make donations to on behalf of Caylee have checkered pasts and questionable motives.

WFTV reporter Kathi Belich was the first reporter to break the story about how the founder of the Kid Finders Network has a criminal past and the group is still on the donation list for Tuesday.

Even though Kid Finders Network, out of Palm Beach County, has never found a missing child and even though Caylee has been found, they're still latched on to the Anthony family in Central Florida and the Anthony family has latched onto them.

Two months after Caylee Marie Anthony's remains were found by a meter reader, less than a mile from her house, Kid Finders Network founder Dennis Milsteand and his wife Sherri were still in town, comforting Cindy Anthony the night George apparently attempted suicide.

Kid Finders did not find Caylee, nor have they found any other missing child, possibly because their efforts largely consist of displaying a billboard bearing the photos of missing children.

Even after Eyewitness News exposed Milstead's arrests, Cindy is asking for donations to the Kid Finders Network rather than sending flowers for Caylee's memorial service Tuesday.

Milstead has been arrested for assault and for impersonating a police officer, claiming to be one and using a phony blue light. He uses a phony badge as Kid Finders' logo.

The president of Crime Stoppers in south Florida got a restraining order against Milstead for demanding a 90-percent cut of donations he fraudulently solicited for Crime Stoppers by claiming to be an employee.

After ending 2007 $37,000 in debt, Kid Finders is now asking for money for a home for six runaway teenagers. In every one of its goals, once again, is the interest in raising funds.

The Kid Finders Network's latest IRS filing shows that it took in $23,000 in 2007, but spent $60,000. The only documents to account for the $60,000 were two receipts, one from Wal-Mart and one from a gas station, and both receipts were from 2006.

Outrage over the Anthonys' support for the Kid Finders Network, and their decision to keep certain people from attending the service, has led to some boycotting the ceremony. California bounty hunter Leonard Padilla, who bonded Casey out of jail the first time, is holding his own memorial service at 10:00am at the scene where Caylee's remains were found and a push has started to send donations to EquuSearch rather than Kid Finders.

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