Jack Yan’s Neighborhood

Police: Mother's lies cloud disappearance of Fla. 2-year-old -- chicagotribune.comwww.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-071908-missing-girl-jul19,0,3232170.story
chicagotribune.com
Police: Mother's lies cloud disappearance of Fla. 2-year-old
By Walter Pacheco and Bianca Prieto
The Orlando Sentinel
3:25 PM CDT, July 18, 2008
ORLANDO
Cindy Anthony finds solace in her missing granddaughter's bedroom.

The small, tidy room, once filled with the laughter of 2-year-old Caylee Marie
Anthony, is now eerily silent. Pictures of Winnie-the-Pooh line the walls and
decorate the quilt on the toddler bed, and an empty chair at her tiny teatime
table awaits Caylee's return.

Now it's a place where Cindy Anthony goes to hold on to the girl's favorite
teddy bear and pray.

"I've found a lot of peace here the last few days," Cindy Anthony said. "There's
an emptiness in my heart because she's not here."

Late Thursday, teams from the Orange County Sheriff's Office brought digging
equipment to Cindy Anthony's home and scoured the backyard with cadaver-sniffing
dogs. Investigators moved a playhouse from its spot in the yard and were looking
at the ground beneath it.

Investigators are trying to unravel the web of lies that they say the girl's
mother, 22-year-old Casey Anthony, has told about her daughter's disappearance
nearly five weeks ago.

"As we continue to investigate this, we find more inconsistencies in the
mother's story, so we continue to look for witnesses," Orange County sheriff's
Sgt. John Allen said Thursday. But one investigator put it more bluntly in
Anthony's arrest affidavit:

"Based on the repetitive lies that the defendant has told, we do not know with
whom the child is or even if the child is alive," wrote Cpl. Yuri Melich of the
missing-persons unit. "It should be noted that at no time during any of the
above interviews did the defendant show any obvious emotion as to the loss of
her child."

Casey Anthony reported Caylee missing on Wednesday — after Cindy Anthony urged
her to contact authorities.

Casey Anthony told officials that she dropped her daughter off with a
baby-sitter she identified as Zenaida Gonzalez on June 9 but that the child was
gone when she returned to pick her up. Investigators have questioned one Zenaida
Gonzalez who said she had never met Anthony or Caylee. Detectives are looking
for other women with the same name.

The Sheriff's Office arrested Anthony late Wednesday on charges of child
neglect, providing false official statements and obstructing a criminal
investigation.

Detectives spent Thursday talking with possible witnesses and following up on
leads, including seizing electronic equipment from the Anthony home. Crime-scene
investigators carried a large item out of a house next door on Hopespring Drive.
Casey Anthony and her daughter had lived with her parents at their Lee Vista
home until June 9.

While deputies searched for Caylee, Casey Anthony remained locked up at the
Orange County Jail. Investigators did not question her further Thursday.

"We can't compel [Casey Anthony] to give us more information," Allen said. "She
has the right to not talk to about it. But certainly as the mother, I would hope
she would be willing to give us whatever information she had to help us find her
child."

Orange County Judge John Jordan denied Casey Anthony bail Thursday, chastising
her behavior.

"You left your 2-year-old child with a person who does not exist at an apartment
you cannot identify and you lied to your parents about your child's
whereabouts," Jordan said. "You cared so little about your child."

Casey Anthony, who has no criminal record, nodded as Jordan spoke. The judge
ordered a mental-health evaluation.

Casey Anthony, investigators say, wove a trail of lies that has left them with
little information and her own family puzzled.

"At this point, there is no indication that [Caylee] is deceased," Capt. Angelo
Nieves said. "We don't know where she is. Our concern is for the child and to
locate her."

Authorities have not issued an Amber Alert for the girl because the information
they have does not meet the criteria, Nieves said. Detectives say they are
challenged in the investigation because so much time has passed since she was
last seen.

"If we had been called the day she disappeared . . . it would have been much
easier to find the child," Allen said.

Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children,
said "time is the enemy in these cases. However, the greatest challenge faced by
law enforcement is the delay in starting the investigation."

Cindy Anthony can't explain the lies her daughter told family and the
authorities.

In early June, Casey Anthony told her mother she was being sent to Tampa for
work and would be back in a few days. Later, she said she was going on a
"mini-vacation" with friends and taking Caylee with her. Cindy Anthony never
thought much of it.

Casey Anthony told detectives she worked at Universal Studios and even named
people who could vouch for her — another lie. The apartment Casey Anthony
identified as the place she left her child with Gonzalez in June has been vacant
for five months.

"I had no reason to believe they weren't where they were supposed to be," Cindy
Anthony said. "I don't know why she fabricated this."

Here are some of the lies investigators say Casey Marie Anthony told about the
disappearance of her daughter Caylee:

Lie: She last saw 2-year-old Caylee on June 9 after leaving her with a
baby-sitter at an apartment on South Conway Road.

Truth: That apartment had been vacant since Feb. 29.

Lie: Caylee's baby-sitter, Zenaida Gonzalez, had been a family friend for four
years and cared for Caylee for 18 months.

Truth: Contacted by detectives, a woman named Zenaida Gonzalez told them she
never met Anthony or her missing child.

Lie: Anthony investigated Caylee's disappearance for a month instead of calling
911.

Truth: Two of Anthony's boyfriends told detectives she never acted upset or
mentioned her daughter's disappearance.

Lie: Anthony claimed she had been so concerned she told two co-workers at
Universal Studios her child had disappeared.

Truth: Neither person she named works at Universal.

Lie: She claimed she worked full-time at Universal Studios — the reason she
needed a baby-sitter.

Truth: Theme park officials said Thursday Anthony has never been an employee.

The sheriff's office arrested Anthony, 22, late Wednesday on charges of child
neglect, false official statements and obstructing a criminal investigation.

"As I received information, and relayed it to the defendant after her arrest,
she continued to claim ignorance and, at times, laughed about the situation,"
wrote Melich of the missing-persons unit. "She failed to show any outward signs
of remorse or concern for her missing two-year-old daughter."

(Sarah Lundy, Susan Jacobson and Amy L. Edwards of the Orlando Sentinel staff
contributed to this report.)
Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune

How do you travel to and from work - personal vehicle, bus, subway/train, pedal power? What does it cost you per week in gas or fares?
Submitted by Jan.

I travel by car, the 2.0 Litre Ferrar below, and do about 230 km/week for $43 gas to/from work. It's a 35-45 minute commute (each way) which would take OVER TWO HOURS, and cost more, on public transport...

Fiat Bravo HGT

This morning's devotional were led by Stephen Black.  (He's my boss, so I didn't take a picture of him.)

He spoke of the parable of the sower and the seed. (Luke )  I caught the picture.  I've been praying all day for the ground of our hearts and yours to be well prepared so that we can receive the seed (The Word of God) and bear fruit. 

Stephen pointed out that the interesting things about this story is that Jesus said if they didn't understand this story then would wouldn't understand others.  What was the deal? See was being planed everywhere!  The Sower was doing His job.  The SEED was doing its job.  It seemed that it was determined to do what seed should do.  Grow!

So what was the deal then?  It was the soil.  The soil represents the heart in this story.  The seed is the word of God. Sometimes is can't bear fruit because the ground is too hard.  Something it can't bear fruit because the soil is rocky (affliction and persecution) and while the seed springs up quickly it cannot plant deeply and, therefore, dies.  Some seed fell in soil that was good but other things came along to choke the life out of it--worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke it out. 

Wow!  Take the soil of our hearts and prepare it to receive well and to bear fruit! 

A wonderful time of musical worship.  Whew!

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We heard the story of Jaye Thomas.  He spoke inspirationally of the end of his old life.

The evening keynote was Anne Graham Lotz.  This woman does have an uncommon gift of God to preach salvation and grace.  Her opening thought was a quote from Zephaniah 3:19 when God said, "I will rescue the lame..."  I forgot what she said just after that because THAT made me cry.

088

She elected to speak about the Holy Spirit last night.  I'll try to avoid the doctrinal points over which people may disagree; however, she said a lot.

She gave a great illustration of a man who went to the hardware store to buy the best saw he could buy because he had some work to do.  He took their recommendation of an excellent chain saw and went home.  A few days later he returned to the store all disheveled, dirty and dog tired.  He said that he was having a hard time with the saw...and the work was very difficult.  The man at the counter said he was curious about that...and pulled the cord and the saw whirred to life.  The customer was shocked.  He hadn't known to activate the power!

She asked the question: "Have you been trying to do this without ever activating the power?"  John 16:5-15

From there she spoke of the character and personality of Holy Spirit...revealing again that He is the one who reveals and extols Jesus.  The Holy Spirit doesn't lie, doesn't deceive, doesn't betray.  He is just like Jesus.  He is not mean, not rude, not bitter, not sinful...He is the spirit of truth.  When he talked about Jesus' promise that when he left he would send another counselor....she elaborated.  She said that another means another one of the same kind.  Jesus comforted them with the promise that we would come to them another way.  Then, at Pentecost, he did.  He come in power and filled that room. The beauty of Pentecost was that they were NOT alone.

The response time developed slowly but some were saved and many come determined to take God's offering to help them.

I attended a special interest group targeted at women who are in leadership.  It was a good opportunity to hear the interests, callings and work of other women in ministry.  Melissa Ingraham decided to do it and I'm just so grateful. 

Of particular interest to me was a woman who is working with women who have been living on the streets!

We spent a good deal of the time talking about resources created for women coming out of sexual bondage (there are not that many) and we talked about the challenges of growth.

Thanks Melissa.

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Brenna Kate Simonds shared her story this morning.  I really enjoyed listening to this women to whom I've become acquainted through the virtual world.  She was engaging, enjoyable and full of the Lord.  She really shared the unashamed story of Jesus setting her free.

The worship team is great!  Lately, I haven't had many opportunities for corporate worship like this.  I'm loving it.  The worship leader is Marianne Adams (formerly of the group Sierra) and she very skilled.  So is her whole team.  That is one, very unified group of worshipers.  They shared a song that I'm going to find and learn.  The very sweet lyrics were, in part:

There is no one else for me
None but Jesus
Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise.
All my delight is in You, Lord
All of my hope
All of my strength
All my delight is in You, Lord
Forevermore.

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Another simple thought Mr. Evans offered was "If you can't say 'no' then you are in bondage."  Simple but true.  Shame in God-ordained sexuality is from the devil.  God isn't ashamed about sexuality because HE invented it.

That was good.  It was a refreshing invitation to see things how God seems them.  Sex is good.

I met Karen Keen and my first impressions were good.

Randy Thomas wrote a bit about the first night of the conference so I'll send you there for information.

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One of the opportunities at this conference is a formalized, morning devotional.  On Wednesday morning, Tony Moore shared from Mark 10.  Here is the story of Jesus bringing the little children to himself and making them an example to everyone else.  Tony spoke about becoming like a little child.  He emphasized especially the part when scripture records: Jesus took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.  Tony said that we usually stop at the challenge to become like these little children but this a description of HOW to do that.  We must allow Jesus to take us in his arms, to lay his hands on us and to bless us.  He said it is in the character of God and cited the story of the prodigal son...and the Father's response when he say the estranged son coming back home.  The Father ran to his son...and began to lavish love on his rebellious son.  Then, Tony said something on the side which I've been thinking about since the devotional time.  Tony said, "Compassion.  Come away passion."  Wow.