Casey Anthony’s Mother Relives Day Granddaughter Caylee’s Body Discovered

Casey Anthony’s mother, Cindy, most recently sat for a new interview on Investigation Discovery, to relive her family’s horrible loss now almost a decade since the infamous murder of her granddaughter, Caylee. Crime Scene Confidential premiered on March 8, and its first episode focused on the Anthony murder trial with host Alina Burroughs, who took part in the original case.

For Cindy Anthony, the past is hard to keep buried, and the feelings are still pretty fresh. As Burroughs tells PEOPLE, Anthony “went through hell and back” due to the murder and trial, “and she’s never been the same.”

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“I didn’t know how Cindy was going to react to me,” Burroughs told PEOPLE. “I mean, I was a prosecution witness, so she could’ve seen me as someone who wanted to lock her daughter up. But she was very gracious. And I think in some ways, the interview gave her some closure.”

Casey Anthony was found not guilty of Caylee’s murder, though public opinion and media coverage were left comparing the trial to O.J. Simpson’s monumental murder trial in 1994. And while this is troubling on its own, the details of the murder and search itself are what weigh heaviest.

“I know you guys didn’t want to leave until you found every single [bone],” Cindy Anthony says in the episode. “It means a lot.” Anthony and husband George were dragged deep into the case before and after the trial. Casey Anthony has a cold relationship with her family stemming from her accusations against her father related to abuse and the murder itself, while Cindy Anthony has felt lied to throughout the entire ordeal, despite supporting her daughter.

“No, I don’t think, I truly, honestly don’t think she killed her,” Cindy Anthony said in a Dr. Oz interview in 2019. “I don’t know. I don’t know if it was an accident or what happened. I don’t know if Casey got distracted and Caylee drowned in the pool.”

George Anthony still feels differently, even with his life-threatening accident changing his outlook on his daughter. He wants to speak with her, but also has trouble with a scenario presented by Oz. “Would you be OK having a relationship with Casey if she never told you what happened to Caylee, her daughter? Your granddaughter,” the host asked. George Anthony could only gasp and emotionally said it was a “very hard question” to answer.