Everyone thinks they know Casey Anthony’s story. But Where is the truth explores the possibility that the familiar case was mediated by a dysfunctional dynamic in his family.
In the documentary, Casey says her father, George Anthony, an underemployed former cop, sexually abused her from age 8 to 12. “He suffocated me several times,” she said. “I would wake up the next morning or even hours later knowing it had happened again.” (George and Casey’s mother, Cindy Anthony, issued a statement in 2017 denying Casey’s sexual abuse allegations: “George, who has kept trying to get out of this tragedy and has been vindicated many times, is once again forced to relive the hints, rumours, lies and allegations of Casey Anthony.β They both declined to speak to Dean for the documentary. BuzzFeed News has attempted to contact Anthony through a lawyer and public information, but has yet to hear back.)
His mother, Cindy, worked as a nurse. Casey says she was primarily invested in selling an image of the perfect family, clinging to that idea even if it meant getting her daughter to throw a graduation party even when she did not have enough credits to graduate.
When Casey was drugged and raped at a party at 19, she got pregnant and she says Cindy asked her to pretend she wasn’t. “I’ve spent my whole life protecting our beautiful, perfect little family,” Casey says sadly in the documentary.
By the time Caylee was born in 2005, Casey, who aspired to be a photographer and had worked as an entrepreneur at Universal Studios, was trying to save money so she could move into her home. Cindy had expelled George for alleged infidelity. But then he came back. “I didn’t leave when I should have,” Casey says in the documentary. “The moment I found out I was pregnant, I should have left.”
Instead, Casey would say she was leaving Caylee with her friend “Zanny” when she was actually taking her on outings with friends, so as not to leave her with George. And her boyfriends and friends featured in the docuseries all remember that she was a dedicated, devoted mother. She became a club promoter to save money but didn’t tell her mother for fear that Cindy would try to stop her.
Then, on June 18, 2008, George woke Casey up, saying 2-year-old Caylee was missing. They went to get her.
She explains that all she remembers is George standing with Caylee. “She was soaked,” she said. βHe handed it to me. I said it was my fault. That I caused it. But he didn’t rush to call 911 and he wasn’t trying to resuscitate her. I collapsed with her in my arms. She was heavy and she was cold.
Then she moves on to the present. “He takes it from me and he immediately softens his tone and says, ‘It’s going to be fine. I wanted to believe him. He took it from me and left. It was the last time she saw her daughter.
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