Most of you know that I spent 7 years of my life working in the exciting theme parks. I shared a two bedroom apartment with roomie, and we both spent our days directing tourists to the restrooms, making sure they had water, and making sure they were safe. Can I tell you how hard it is to convince a drunk man that his kid is too short to ride on a rollercoaster? It's nearly impossible. Thank heavens for security guards.
There are things I miss about Orlando. The palm trees were beautiful, and I liked having a more diverse world around me... there are also things I don't miss. Crime is one of them.
A couple times I was cleaning in the apartment or making dinner and I would hear helecopters hovering. We lived pretty close to Interstate 4, so when there was a decent crash we would hear about it via news helecopters. I would flip the channel to Central Florida News 13 as soon as I heard the hum of the chopper blades.
Once, there was a fire in the complex. I turned on the television and saw my neighbor's apartment on fire. That one was scary. Luckily no one was hurt, but they had to move everyone in her building while they repaired it.
There was a rape in the complex once, as well as a manhunt for a guy that ran a cop over with his car and left him to die. You couldn't really escape it. The neighborhood was nice... not broken down or full of crack dealers... crime would find you. No matter where you lived, you ran across a newsworthy crime event in your neck of the woods...
I have mentioned Jennifer Kesse before. She lived in a condo down the street from my apartment complex. She just disappeared. No one has seen her January 24, 2006. Her parents were on the street corner where she was last seen every single day with large signs asking people if they had seen her. They will never give up hope in finding her, and you have no idea how much I hope she is okay. She was my neighbor. It's scary.
This little guy's name is Trenton Duckett. He went missing on August 27, 2006 from his home in Leesburg, Florida. He was last seen with his mother, and the police were trying desperately to get her to take a polygraph exam about her involvement with the disappearance of her little boy. Melinda Duckett, Trenton's mother, was followed closely in the press. Many recall her appearance on Nancy Grace and blame the former prosecutor for eventually pushing Melinda to suicide in her grandparent's home.
It's been a long time, and there are no leads. It's a sad situation as Trenton's father dreams of finding his little boy.
1-800-423-8477
Well, another crime story has been in the news recently about my old stomping grounds...
Little Caylee Anthony was missing for a full month before her mother reported her missing. For obvious reasons, the police were concerned that her mother, Casey, had something to do with the disappearance of the little girl whose third birthday wasn't too long ago.
Caylee's grandmother was the first to call police when she realized her granddaughter had been missing for a month. She had found her daughters vehicle and told the 911 operator that is smelled like a dead body had been in the car. She later recanted that and told the media that the smell was from a rotting pizza left in the truck. I don't know about you guys, but I would be able to tell the difference between rotting food and human decomposition.
The grandmother has since started backing up her daughter and claiming she had nothing to do with the disappearance of the 3 year old. While it's apparant to me that Casey (the mother) had something to do with things, the police have little evidence... they have put Casey behind bars twice, and both times she received bond.
Caylee's mom, Casey, claimed to work at Universal Orlando. That was a lie. It was weird seeing footage of the work entrance to the park and the interviews with some of the people I used to work with. Casey Anthony also claimed that she gave her daughter to a babysitter/nanny at an apartment complex. That, too, was a lie. The apartment she claimed the woman lived in had been vacant for some time. There was one lie after another.
This one hits home for me because it's SO close to where I used to live and work every day. I went to the same clubs she went to and shopped at the same grocery store. I wonder if I ever came across this little girl who lived so close to me. Did I ever meet Casey? Caylee?
Where is this little girl, and why won't her family talk?
Andee