Casey Anthony walked out of jail a free woman under heavy guard early Sunday, facing shouts of “baby killer” from a heckling crowd less than two weeks after she was found not guilty of murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee.
The 25-year-old woman, whose acquittal shocked and enraged many around the country who had been following the case for months, left an Orlando area jail at 12:14 a.m., swiftly boarded an SUV and rode out of public view.
A crowd of more than 100 people surged against the orange plastic police barricades as the vehicle left. Some yelled “You suck!” Mounted patrolmen and police cruisers blocked the street outside the jail so Anthony’s vehicle could drive onto a nearby highway ramp unobstructed.
“A baby killer was just set free!” shouted Bree Thornton, 39.
News helicopters followed Anthony to a covered parking garage at an Orlando office building where one of her attorneys has offices, but reporters then lost track of her.
A short time later, amid the crush of media attention, there was police activity as two vehicles pulled up to a twin-engine private jet at Orlando Executive Airport, but no one saw Anthony get out and onto the plane. That plane took off shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday for Ohio, the home state of Anthony’s parents. But an official there said that aircraft was only carrying golfers back from a Florida vacation.
Anthony, it seemed, had vanished into the night.
Anger over Anthony’s July 5 acquittal has spilled onto social media sites and elsewhere. Her legal team said on Friday it had received an emailed death threat with a manipulated photo showing their 25-year-old client with a bullet hole in her forehead.
