Casey Anthony's Parents Call Her Defense 'Baseless'

But George and Cindy say they accept the verdict and want to move on with their lives

Photo: Joe Burbank/AP; Red Huber/Reuters/Landov

The question of what happened to 2-year-old Caylee Anthony remains unanswered after the jury acquitted her mother, Casey Anthony, on Tuesday.

And no one is more aware of that fact than Caylee’s grandparents.

“The family may never know what happened to Caylee Marie Anthony,” George and Cindy Anthony’s lawyer Mark Lippman, said in a statement. “They now have closure for this chapter of their life. They will now begin the long process of rebuilding their lives.”

“Despite the baseless defense chosen by Casey Anthony, the family believes that the jury made a fair decision based on the evidence presented, the testimony presented, the scientific information presented, and the rules that they were given by the Honorable Judge Perry to guide them,” the statement continued.

During the trial, George Anthony was a target of his daughter’s defense, which accused him of both molesting Casey and having an affair with a woman who helped search for Caylee. (He denied the affair and the judge disallowed further mention of sexual abuse, saying it wasn’t proven.)

Cindy Anthony, however, was a key defense witness, taking credit for computer searches for chloroform and other apparently incriminating terms and also providing an explanation for how Caylee could have gotten into the family pool and drowned as the defense theorized.

In their statement, Casey Anthony’s parents concluded with their hopes for members of the public who want to honor Caylee.

Instead of leaving stuffed animals or toys near the Anthony home, the family “would prefer that those items be donated in Caylee’s name to families in need, religious centers, or any other entity where the toys would be appreciated.”