Recently, in another post, I wondered what the fascination was, or rather, why it was a fascination at all, with 911 calls that revealed the most rawest of human emotions.  With recent news over the past several days, I’m now wondering why we’ve become such a morbid society as to want to see photographs of a child’s skeletal remains and why so many are demanding to know the most private and devastating details of Jett Travolta’s death. 

The child’s skeletal remains I’m referring to, of course, are those of Caylee Anthony, who was found just days before Christmas.  Honestly, it’s become so convoluted and if you’re not following every second of this fast moving drama, you lose your place as to who’s who.  The prosecution team in this case was in court today, along with Casey Anthony and her defense attorney, Jose Baez, and expressed concerns over the “accidental” leak of the more than 800 pictures of this child’s bones.  The defense wanted unlimited access so that these remains and the still images could travel the country to many experts for their opinions.  The judge allowed the defense team only limited access.  The argument could be made that this limited access would make for a limited defense of Mr. Baez’s client.  Realistically, the damage was done long before he came into the picture.  Legally, it’s a viable argument.  But as I typically do, I tend to look at it from a maternal standpoint.  I would fight to my death to ensure my child’s privacy and dignity was respected every minute for the rest of my life.  The last thing I would allow would be an argument, in a courtroom, over the release of photographs or the remains themselves.  And I believe every mother would feel the same way.  With that in mind, we have to remember that Cindy Anthony is a mother too.  She’s clearly attempting to move heaven and earth to protect her own child and my guess is she will most likely do whatever she must to avoid having to testify in a trial that could potentially mean the death of her own daughter.  Still, there are remains that must be put to rest and that process shouldn’t come only after a tour across America.  It’s safe to say that the more who have access, the greater the odds of photos being sold to the highest bidder.  I just can’t understand why so many are clamoring for this and even worse, why there are those who feel as though they have some right to see these remains.

Last week, John Travolta and Kelly Preston’s oldest child, Jett, passed away.  The fact that the most intimate conversations to this child on their way to the hospital have been retold verbatim is one of the most unbelievable betrayals I can think of.  Now there are those who have the audacity to demand to see the autopsy.  Some argue celebrities, when they chose to pursue a career that puts them in the public eye, gave up the right to privacy.  I disagree with that theory simply because of this obsession with tragedy our society has whether they’re celebrities or not.  Just as I said in the previous post, no one wants their most vulnerable moments heard or seen by a planet of strangers.  There’s an old saying, “You can’t build your happiness on someone else’s misery”.  I don’t know that anyone is finding happiness in these tragedies, but there’s certainly entirely too much emphasis on the wrong aspects that cause lost perspective.

There might be a law, at least in Florida, that will protect Caylee Anthony’s remains.   The Earnhardt Family Protection Act, passed after legendary NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt was killed, makes

Dale Earnhardt

autopsy photos as well as all video and audio data confidential.  It’s a third degree felony with a hefty five thousand dollar fine and the potential for jail time.  This could benefit the prosecution’s argument in the Anthony case, but their concerns are due to the possibility of the photos being released in another state if they’re allowed to leave Florida for examination by experts hired by Casey Anthony’s lawyers.

It’s important to understand this goes so much further than the right of a free press.  For many, it’s a matter of honoring an individual’s privacy - whether it’s a celebrity or the average Joe Citizen.  So where does it stop?  It won’t until our society realizes how distasteful it is to demand such intimate information.  It’s all about perspective, and unfortunately, perspective often arrives hand in hand with hindsight.

We’ve arrived at the last day of this eventful and historical year.  In hindsight, we realize we’ve witnessed much history and have seen things we never dreamed possible.  The country’s largest companies have found themselves struggling just to keep their doors open, political leaders in new scandals from everything from marital affairs to placing price tags on political vacancies and the unbelievable audacity of one businessman’s belief he could get away with the theft of fifty billion dollars.  Below you’ll find a few more newsworthy events from the last half of 2008. The first half can be found here and here.

July 15 - A woman calls 911 to report her granddaughter has been missing for thirty one days. Caylee Anthony, who was two years old when she disappeared, has since been found murdered less than one half mile from her home.  Her own mother, Casey Anthony, was indicted on October 14 for the murder.  Her trial is set to begin in early 2009.

July 23 - Hurricane Dolly makes landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on the U.S.-Mexico border.

August 29 - Republican presidential candidate John McCain announces his running mate.  AK Governor Sarah Palin comes in with a bang and shakes up the entire election.  She’s well-received and

Anne Pressly

quickly gains a solid following from those not only from her home state, but from the country as a whole.

September 13 -  This is the day most analysts agree was day the chains come unhinged as Lehman Brothers announced it was near bankruptcy, AIG announced it was in hot water because of its underwriting practices and the mortgage crisis finally comes into full light and Americans realized just how bad things were on the economic front.

October 2008 - OJ Simpson is finally found guilty of one of his crimes.  A jury determined he was guilty of several felonies committed during a Las Vegas hotel room break-in.  He’s accused of stealing, at gunpoint, sports memorabilia and other momentos.  He’s facing thirty-three years in prison as a result of this guilty verdict.

October 20 - Anne Pressly, an admired Arkansas news anchor, was found murdered in her home.  A suspect has since been arrested and is awaiting trial.

October 24 - Jennifer Hudson’s family, including her mother and brother, are found murdered in their Chicago home.  A few days later, her nephew is found murdered in an abandoned vehicle.  An ex-husband of her sister is now charged with these murders. 

October 2008 - New legal provisions are passed that require insurance companies to provide the same coverage for mental health as they do physical health.  For twelve years, advocates have worked to ensure this law is passed.

November 4 - National history is made as Barack Obama becomes the first black president ever elected and will be the first U.S. president to enter office during wartime. 

Jennifer Hudson

November 2008 - The pregnant man (who is biologically a woman) announces a second pregnancy.  Thomas Beatie, a transgender who has undergone testosterone therapy but still has the reproductive organs of a woman, gave birth for the first time in March of this year.

December 9 - IL Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested for attempting to sell the vacancy left by President-elect Barack Obama in the Illinois Senate.  He’s also been accused of a number of other illegal and unethical activities.  Attempts are now being made to have him impeached from office.

As we head into a new year, we do so in a recession but also with hopes of effective solutions to these problems and with sincere attempts to leave the “one step forward and two steps back” way of doing things behind.

If anyone has even remotely been following the catastrophe better known as Casey Anthony, then you’ve surely become familiar with Tim Miller and his plight to find a missing girl in Florida. Casey Anthony, the little girl’s mother, is currently in jail and expected to stand trial in early January. She’s

Tim Miller

accused of killing her only child and taking huge measures to hide the body. Her family has been less than helpful, especially her brother. He seems to go from distancing himself to becoming a major ally for his sister. His most recent stunt, though, has a lot of people scratching their heads and thinking to themselves, ‘Huh?’

He has made it his personal mission to discourage every person he comes across from supporting Tim Miller’s efforts to locate his missing niece’s body. Tim Miller is the founder and director of EquuSearch, an organization that volunteers time and resources to locate missing people across the country. Incorporating horses, boats and any other means available, he and a team of volunteers selflessly donate their time and resources to locate missing children and adults. It should be noted that Tim Miller is a victim of crime himself. His daughter, Laura, was kidnapped and murdered in 1984. Her memory is the inspiration for his tireless efforts as well as the creation of EquuSearch.

For some reason, he and his team are a major threat to the Anthony family. They say they won’t support his efforts because he is searching for a body, while they contend their search is for a live Caylee. There’s definitely a “Paul Harvey” to this - a “rest of the story” that none of us are privy to. Yet. Despite being treated less than kind by the Anthony family during his several trips to Florida, he remains committed to finding this child’s remains and as such, has returned to Florida once again to resume the search. I absolutely believe there is another reason this family is so resistant to EquuSearch’s efforts. I can understand the resistance to believe a loved one is no longer alive, but what I can’t understand is why help, regardless of how the search is defined - whether as a recovery or as a rescue - is resisted. I wouldn’t care if I was told help was coming, but that it simultaneously included a search for Michael Jackson’s lost career. My interest would be only to find my loved one.

While on the EquuSearch webpage, I realized this is a huge operation that many dedicate their hearts to - and with absolutely no pay. They have 350 plus volunteers, not to mention those who volunteer their time and efforts for specific searches, such as the Caylee Anthony search. Many are found alive, but still, there are those stories that end with the discovery of a body. Statistics on their site reveal:

• 53% of child abductions are by strangers
• The typical victim is an eleven year old white female
• In 58% of abductions, the initial contact between abductor and victim is within a quarter mile of the victim’s home
• Partial profile of an abductor is a 27 white male who is unmarried

Despite the hostility Tim Miller’s group of volunteers are bound to experience, they’re back and they’re more determined than ever to locate this child, whether the Anthonys’ like it or not. In the meantime, this baby’s mother is in jail and will remain so until her trial begins. She has been charged with murder as well as the previous charges that include theft due to her shopping sprees on her best friend’s dime.