Police: George Anthony hinted he wanted to end life
by | January 23, 2009 in Uncategorized | No Comments
A despondent George Anthony was found alive this morning in a Daytona Beach motel with a what appeared to be a suicide note after his family reported him missing late Thursday.
Daytona Beach police took Anthony into custody under the Baker Act after finding him in a squalid motel on South Ridgewood Avenue. The Baker Act allows authorities to hold someone at a mental-health facility for up to 72 hours while they are evaluated by physicians.
Anthony, 57, was taken to the Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach where he is being evaluated.
A hospital spokeswoman said Anthony was in stable condition and would be receiving a physical evaluation before being admitted to the hospital.
Anthony, the grandfather of slain toddler Caylee Marie Anthony, left his home on Hopespring Drive in east Orange County Thursday morning and failed to show up for a 4 p.m. meeting with his wife, Cindy, and their attorney Brad Conway.
George Anthony sent several text messages to his family members suggesting that he wanted to end his life, Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood said this morning.
The Orange Country Sheriff’s Office was notified last night and the felony squad immediately began its search for George Anthony. Sgt. John Allen, the lead detective on the murder case involving Caylee Marie, drove to the Anthony home to meet with Cindy Anthony. He left after George Anthony was located.
Orange County detectives were able to use pings from George Anthony’s cell phone to track him to Daytona Beach near Bethune Point, according to Daytona Beach police. Officers began searching for George Anthony’s black vehicle and spotted it at the Hawaii Motel in the 1300 block of South Ridgewood Avenue.
Police Chief Mike Chitwood spoke with George Anthony and convinced him to seek medical attention.
In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel this morning, Chitwood said he and several officers had to knock on the motel room door several times before Anthony answered.
Anthony was well dressed, laid back and low-key. Chitwood introduced himself, shook Anthony’s hand and explained why he was there.
“(Anthony) basically said to us, you know, I just need to get away. I need to think things through. That’s why he was there,” Chitwood said.
Anthony was not agitated, but he did want the chief and other officers to leave.
“He just wanted to be alone,” Chitwood said.
But the chief explained to Anthony that because of the situation, they could not leave. Chitwood offered to drive Anthony in his unmarked car to the hospital. Anthony agreed.
On the way to the hospital, Chitwood said, Anthony commented to him, “You don’t understand, do you? You just don’t understand what this is like.”
Chitwood said the rest of the ride was small talk — nothing about the case or his daughter, Casey Anthony.
Anthony, 22, is accused of killing 2-year-old Caylee last summer. George and Cindy Anthony have been outspoken in their defense of the young mother.
Casey Anthony was notified this morning in the jail about her father by corrections health services staff. A jail spokesman couldn’t comment on how Anthony responded to the news.
Two members of Casey Anthony’s legal team, including attorney Jose Baez and Gabriel Adam, entered the jail around 11 a.m. this morning to meet with their client. It’s unknown whether the news about George Anthony prompted their visit.
Caylee Marie’s remains were found about a quarter-mile from the Anthony home in December. Investigators spent more than a week at the site of the remains to recover evidence. Orange County deputies executed a search warrant at the Anthony home shortly after the remains were found.
Earlier this week more information about the murder case was made public. Detectives reported that a heart shaped sticker was placed on the duct tape that was wrapped around the child’s mouth.
In the past George Anthony has had emotional and occasionally violent outbursts at the media and protesters.
George Anthony, a former Ohio sheriff’s deputy, once worked in car sales with his family. He moved to Orlando in the late 1980s with his wife and children to the home on Hopespring Drive. He has worked intermittently as a security guard, but injuries prevented him from working steadily, according to court records.
George Anthony was the last person, other than his daughter, to see Caylee Marie alive. On June 16, Casey Anthony and her 2-year-old daughter left the family home around noon. Caylee was never seen alive again.
In September, while Casey Anthony was out of jail on home confinement, Orange County deputies found a gun in the trunk of George Anthony’s vehicle. The weapon violated Casey Anthony’s terms of home confinement, but she was not rearrested because the judge ruled she had no knowledge of the weapon.
At the time of the incident several protestors stood outside of the Anthony home day and night, often heckling George and Cindy Anthony. George Anthony told authorities he had purchased the gun to protect his family. The gun was removed from the home. It’s unclear if it was ever returned.
News from http://www.newsday.com/iphone/orl-bk-caylee-anthony-012309,0,5767182.story
