LadyGator, a good friend and long time WS member who hasn't had time to post, proffered an interesting theory. Here's a "
what if" scenario to chew on based upon her theory.
Casey has been lying to, and stealing from, family and friends for years. However, stealing from grandma's bank account was the straw that broke the camel's back. When Cindy found out about it early Sunday morning, she felt a range of emotions that ran the gamut from being furious to being frustrated to feeling completely violated. Children are very intuitive, hence...
Caylee sensed that something was wrong with grandma. But didn't know what or why. She just knew grandma seemed really mad. And this frightened her bc she had never seen grandma that mad. When they arrived to visit her great grandpa, Caylee ran up to him to give him a hug. Caylee felt safe with great grandpa, and she hugged him closer, looking over her shoulder towards grandma to see if she was still mad. After their visit with great grandpa, grandma & Caylee went to great grandma's for some yummy dinner. But grandma and great grandma got into a fight and there was lots of screaming. Grandma ended up crying. Caylee began crying too.
On the way home Cindy's thoughts were racing. Maybe it was time to try some 'tough love' on Caseywhat her mother and brother had been urging her to do for years. She tossed that idea about but balked at the idea of sending her daughter off with her only grandchild. She hatched a plan. Cindy & Caylee arrived at home. Since Cindy had all day to ruminate on the theft mess, she was predictably tense when Casey walked through the door.
Casey sensed rather than saw her mother's irritation and shrugged it off. She'd weathered their fights before, she'd do it again. Seeing Caylee standing in the hall, looking somewhat lost as she looked from mom to grandma back to mom, Casey swept her up in her arms, placed an air kiss on her forehead, and headed to her room. Cindy followed Casey down the hall, "We need to talk. Now."
"Oh mom," Casey rolls her eyes at her mother's dramatics.
"How could you do it?" Cindy can barely contain herself.
"Do what?" Casey stops and turns to confront her mother.
Cindy states more firmly that she feels, "You know what I'm talking about. How could you do that to your own grandma?" Cindy is in near hysterics at this point. "We've put up with your lying and stealing too long, Casey. This is it. You're moving. You're not welcome here."
Casey, used to her mother's outbursts, shrugs her shoulders, "Fine. I'll pack mine and Caylee's things. We don't need you."
As Casey moves towards Caylee's room, Cindy stops her, "You misunderstood me. You are not welcome here. Caylee will always be welcome. She is staying with us. If and when you get your life together you can come get her but not until you have proven you can be a real mother. Of all the things you've done, she's the best mistake you've ever made and we're not going to let you ruin her life too."
Casey turns back toward her mom, her eyes holding a hint of danger, "Sorry, mom. She's my kid, I can take her when and where I want. And guess what? You can't do a thing about it."
Turning, she walks into her room, slamming the door and locking it. Stopping suddenly, she groans as she remembers she and Amy had plans for the evening. Sending off a quick text message, she tells her she has "cramps" and is going to "crash at the boys" and "will call in the morning."
Packing their backpacks, Casey heads out to the car with Caylee in tow. "I'll show her," she silently mutters to herself. Casey stops, gazes at Caylee and a diabolical plan is formed.
Caylee has begun to fuss. It's been a long day and something is wrong with grandma and mommy but she doesn't know what. Caylee doesn't know what's wrong but when she sees the look in her mommy's eyes now she's real scared...
Casey never really gets why people are mad at her. Or for that matter, why they make such a big deal out of stupid things. Okay, so she took some money from grandma. So what? It wasn't like she needed it. And anyway, grandma seemed as critical of her mother as her mother was of her. Grandma deserved it for making her mother so annoying and miserable to live with. And now, her mother thinks she can just kick her out and keep Caylee? Fat chance. If Caylee is the only good mistake that she has ever made, then it's about time to show her mother how quickly and completely that mistake can be made to go poof.
That's when the plan was formed. Casey decided then and there to "dispose" of Caylee, knowing that doing so would hurt her mother more than anything she could say or do. To drive the knife deeper, she would bury Caylee in a location that her mother frequented, a constant reminder of what she made Casey do.
From Casey's pov, this would kill two birds with one stone: Get back at her annoying mom and get rid of the one thing that stood in the way of her good time: Caylee.
Long and short.
In this proposed scenario, Caylee's disappearance has everything to do with the fight on June 15th after Cindy and Caylee returned from their visit with Cindy's father. By the time Cindy arrived at the rest home, she had been ruminating about Casey's behavior, her anger increasing by leaps and bounds. Caylee would, of course, sense that, which could explain the
visit with great grandpa video.
Cindy isn't one to let things go, either. That, and her mother has not so kindly reminded her what a lying thief Casey has become. Which, from her mother's point of view, makes Cindy a horrible mother. So, by the time Cindy spent yet another hour ruminating as she drove home, she has worked herself into an emotional frenzy. Which Casey, of course, senses. And hence, the blow-up.
That said, I think they should ask Cindy for a list of her favorite "
haunts" so to speak. Where does she like to hang out? Where does she go to find peace? To get away from the every day hustle and bustle of family life and work? I think LadyGator is right on. This is where Casey would bury Caylee. For maximum effect...maximum damage.
And what might the "
grand finale" be? Casey turning to her mother, looking her directly in the eyes, and smugly saying, "
Remember your favorite tree?"
