I always thought it was left there on purpose, along with her purse or whatever it was in the front seat.
She would have then been able to say that she had left Caylee in the car for a minute because she was sleeping, and got out of the car to make a phone call, was "mugged" or something, and the car taken with Caylee in it.
If the car had really ended up being stolen, there would have been fingerprints, and those fingerprints would have been blamed for Caylee's disappearance and then death.
She had to have known that the car was towed though somehow, because otherwise, I really think that is the plan she was working on.
With her missing children google searches, etc.
She also had to have been keeping an eye on the car those few days so that she could have pulled off the rest of her story.
Maybe as luck would have it, she happened to be in the neighborhood when the car was actually being towed?
That would have put a big stop on her car-jacking and kidnapping story.
And, yes, the car was parked by the dumpster on purpose to cover the smell from the trunk.
I agree with what someone mentioned earlier was that she intended to dump the car. Once the car was towed even if she had the money she couldn't retreive the car because it wasn't registered in her name.
Once she killed Caylee she kept her body in the trunk of the car scouting a location to place the body. I think this is why there are times she has pings by the house but isn't always at the house. When she borrowed the shovel from the neighbor that's when she had the body in the backyard. I'm not saying she tried to bury it back there but she may have moved some things around.
The day she ran out of gas and Tony came to get her she was walking on Chickasaw (sp?) and I figure that was a day she scouted out a final place possibly walking into the wood where Caylee would later be found but she didn't bury her that day. A day or so after she when she ran into George at the house it was an accident and she couldn't let him in the trunk because Caylee was there and he would know what she'd done.
Casey finally buried Caylee in the woods in a few days later and claims to run out of gas and parks the car near the dumpster at the Amscot.
This is just my theory. When you look at everything it looks like she planned this murder and proceeded to coverup and halt any attempts to locate Caylee. I'm not sure what her defense will be but I don't think it can stand up against the mountain of evidence that points to the planning and execution on Casey's part and no one else.
I have a completely different theory. She was supposed to take TL to the airport, but she couldn't take him in her car because of the smell. So, she had to have an excuse for either not taking him to the airport in her car or for why it smelled so bad, if she did retrieve it. So, she conveniently "runs out of gas", parks the car by the dumpster as her alibi for why her car smells bad, tells TL there's something wrong with it and her Dad is coming to get it. Thereby, she got out of having to take TL to the airport in HER car and then had HIS car for the week he was gone. When the car was towed, her 'problem' (i.e. smelly car) was solved.
I have a completely different theory. She was supposed to take TL to the airport, but she couldn't take him in her car because of the smell. So, she had to have an excuse for either not taking him to the airport in her car or for why it smelled so bad, if she did retrieve it. So, she conveniently "runs out of gas", parks the car by the dumpster as her alibi for why her car smells bad, tells TL there's something wrong with it and her Dad is coming to get it. Thereby, she got out of having to take TL to the airport in HER car and then had HIS car for the week he was gone. When the car was towed, her 'problem' (i.e. smelly car) was solved.
I think she left it either to be stolen or to try and implicate somebody else(JG) with prints. She set up the story about the squirrels to Amy, so maybe she thought she could just pass that story off and if Amy noticed it, it wouldn;t be such a big deal. I think she was grasping for anything she could to throw suspicion off of her.
Thanks jcamille for your theory - this makes the most sense to me. However, the 'work purse' always made me think she wanted it stolen. Maybe a combo of them both. But then again, I've never understood why she asked Jesse and Amy for help with gas cans, as if she would go back to get the car. And how she got back in that area to realize it was gone (I may have missed that in the posts).
Another thing is her reaction to CA's question during the July 25th jail visit. I recently rewatched all of the original jail tapes, and noted things that stuck out to me.
Here's the link: http://www.wftv.com/video/18205452/index.html
at the 13:15 mark
(convo about not protecting family - they are all strong)
CA: I have a question for you....(kc:go'head)....how come (ch') you never got the chance to get the car....that doesn't make sense...
KC: mom....because this is recorded, and i don't know who's gonna see things, and who's gonna MISCONSCHTRUE whatever else...like I said, there's things that I directly need to say to each of you....
CA: Ok, I trust that....
KC: But Lee and I are finding other means....so.....
pause (convo about someone else being in their house)
I just don't get her reaction to that question! Thanks all for the great theories and debates here! I have severe fibro, and typing/editing is a chore most days - but I hope to join in more during the actual trial.
Casey Anthony: Worst criminal in history. If she really wanted to dump the car she should have driven it somewhere remote and firebombed it. I am not sure the girl thought from one minute to the next, she may have just taken it near a dumpster to take out some of the trash in the boot then found herself 'gas free', but then who knows with her, the purse in view and the idea of having it stolen may have popped into her head once she realized she couldn't drive it, so the 'oh maybe someone will steal it' plan was probably put together without much forethought.
As was with most things this girl did.
I can only imagine the dumbest of the dumbest thieves stealing that car with it stinking like it did. Maybe that's why she left it next to the dumpster. Not sure KC had anything inparticular she wanted to happen with the car, she doesn't seem to have that much foresight. She was just getting rid of it, and would make up a story if and when the time came. That said, I don't believe KC ever addressed the issue of the smell in any known discussion with LE or her parents. Did nobody ever ask her about it?