Casey Anthony's recent bankruptcy declaration is hitting home for one local nonprofit, which claims the notorious Florida mother owes it roughly $100,000 in damages.
Anthony — who was accused and acquitted of killing her daughter Caylee — filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in a federal court on Friday, claiming that she owes nearly $500,000 to her legal defense team and another $300,000 to a long list of creditors.
“We did a massive search for little Caylee. We had over 4,200 volunteers come in from all over the country.”
With only an estimated $1,000 to her name, Anthony will be able to maneuver around a series of pending lawsuits, including one led by a Houston-area organization named Texas Equusearch, which helps locate missing persons.
“We did a massive search for little Caylee,” organization founder Tim Miller tells KHOU Ch.11. “We had over 4,200 volunteers come in from all over the country. Equusearch itself spent a little over $119,000 on that search.”
During one of the century's most publicized trials, Anthony was shown by both prosecuting and defending attorneys to have known of her daughter's death well before the nonprofit dumped thousands in donation money into trying to find the dead 2-year-old.
KHOU notes that bankruptcy filings often allow lawsuits to grind to a halt, possibly leaving Equusearch high and dry.
The organization was launched in 2000 as a horse-mounted rescue group working in the undeveloped regions of south Harris and north Galveston Counties. Thanks to its long list of donors, the nonprofit has evolved into a broader search and recovery group with members across the country.
Miller says he'll continue to fight for his supporters.
"I don’t know what my next option is, but it’s not over. It’s not over for Casey . . . It wasn't over for O.J."
See the full KHOU report:
Tim Miller of Texas Equusearch
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Photo by Chris Furia