$500,000 bail posted for mom of missing American girl

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-21 15:55

ORLANDO - A bondsman posted bail Wednesday for the Florida mother of a missing toddler and said he hoped her release would help lead investigators to the girl, officials said.

Bondsman Leonard Padilla, left, and bounty hunter Robert Dick show up at the Orange county Florida jail in Orlando, Fla., Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008 to post bond for Casey Anthony. Anthony faces charges of child neglect, making false statements and obstructing an investigation. Police say she lied to them and didn't report 3-year-old Caylee missing for more than a month. [Agencies]

Casey Anthony has been jailed on US$500,200 bail since mid-July. Police say Anthony lied to them and didn't report her 3-year-old daughter, Caylee, was missing for more than a month. She faces charges of child neglect, making false statements and obstructing an investigation.

The earliest Casey Anthony could be released from the Orange County Jail is Thursday morning, jail spokesman Allen Moore said in an e-mail.

"They're extremely pleased, this is what we anticipated," said Larry Garrison, a spokesman for the Anthony family. "We want what's the best for Caylee. We want Caylee found."

A group from a California bail bonds company flew to Florida on Sunday to help Clearwater-based bondsman Albert Estes, who shares the same surety group, post the bond. They said they believed the 22-year-old mother might be more likely to talk about her daughter's disappearance if she were released from jail.

"It's not about getting Casey out to make sure she feels better," bondsman Tony Padilla said. "It's all about the interest of finding Caylee. Hopefully, she will get us some information."

A hearing in the case is scheduled Thursday morning, but Anthony is not expected to appear.

"OK, folks, this is not O.J. Simpson," her attorney, Jose Baez, said. "I'm not going to parade her out there."

Still, a throng of reporters gathered outside the jail Wednesday evening as Baez spoke and thanked Padilla for posting the bond.

Anthony told detectives she didn't immediately call authorities to report her child missing because she was conducting her own investigation, according to the charging affidavit.

The apartment where she said she dropped off the girl hadn't been occupied in months, and Anthony gave detectives a bogus employer, manager's name and work telephone number, according to the affidavit.