For 31 days, Casey Anthony told no one her daughter was missing.

Casey Anthony says she dropped off her darling two-year-old daughter, Caylee, at the babysitter's one afternoon in June 2008. She never saw her little girl again.

For months, Casey maintained that story — while her mother called 911, panicked that Caylee was missing. While police searched. While the world watched. Then, in December, Caylee's tiny body was found dumped in the woods near the family home.

The case gripped America. Casey was arrested, charged, and put on trial in one of Florida's most infamous murder cases. But despite the evidence, despite the public outrage, she walked free — acquitted of her daughter's death after a trial that split the nation.

Branded the "most hated mum in America," Casey has spent years in the shadows. Now, she's re-emerging — not as a grieving mother, but as a self-proclaimed advocate. And the internet is furious.

Before we get there, let's go back. This is what happened to Caylee Anthony— and where Casey is now.

Caylee Anthony. Image: AAP.

What happened to Caylee Anthony?

Little Caylee lived with her mother and her maternal grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony, in their family home in Orlando, Florida.

On June 16, 2008, Caylee was last seen alive. Casey never reported her daughter missing.

It was Casey's mother, Cindy, who eventually broke, calling 911 on July 15 to report her granddaughter was missing. She said she hadn't seen her for an entire month — even though Caylee and Casey lived in the family home until the toddler's disappearance.

"Caylee's missing," she told the dispatcher in the frantic call, according to Reuters. "It smells like there's been a dead body in the damn car."

That following day, Casey was arrested for child neglect, giving false statements and obstruction after she lied to police about her place of employment.

She told investigators that a babysitter, who she identified as Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, had kidnapped her little girl. It sent police on a wild goose chase before Casey's defence attorney later admitted in court that the accusations were false.

Investigators scoured Casey's car and cadaver dogs picked up the scent of human decomposition, CNN reports. Authorities claimed an air sample test from her car indicated there were human remains in the trunk.

In October, Casey was charged with first-degree murder and pleaded not guilty.

For months, authorities searched desperately to find Caylee. Then, in a tragic development, Caylee's skeletal remains were found in a wooded area near the family home in December.

Duct tape wrapped three times around Caylee's skull, mouth and nose was the only evidence indicating cause of death, according to prosecutors.

Casey Anthony leaves with her attorney Jose Baez. Image: Getty.

The trial.

Prosecutors argued Casey killed Caylee on June 16, 2008 to free herself from the burden of raising a child. They alleged she'd murdered her daughter with chloroform and duct tape and dumped the body.

The defence claimed Caylee drowned that day in a tragic backyard accident, but no one reported her death. They alleged Casey's father helped cover it up and sexually abused his daughter, creating an environment where she was used to keeping secrets. George vehemently denied the accusations.

During the six-week long trial — described by Time Magazine as the "social media trial of the century" — Casey was branded the "most hated mum in America".

In the end, prosecutors proved Casey was a liar, but convinced the jury of little else.

In July 2011, after less than 11 hours of deliberating, a jury found Casey not guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter of a child, CNN reports.

She was, however, found guilty of four misdemeanour counts of providing false information to law enforcement, though two counts were later dropped.

Casey was sentenced to four years in jail with credit for time served and fined $1,000 for each count.

The verdict was met with widespread outrage and disbelief.

Casey Anthony reacts to being found not guilty on murder charges. Image: Getty.

Where is Casey Anthony now?

On July 17, 2011, Casey was released from jail. To this day, many believe she was wrongly allowed to walk free.

A report by Florida's child welfare agency the following month concluded she was responsible for her daughter's death because her "actions or the lack of actions ... ultimately resulted or contributed in the death of the child", NBC reports.

Nine years after Caylee's death, Casey broke her silence in her first interview addressing the tragedy.

She told The Associated Press in 2017 that she knows much of the world believes she killed her daughter, but insisted she didn't know how the last hours of Caylee's life unfolded.

"I'm still not even certain as I stand here today about what happened," she said.

"Based off what was in the media, I understand the reasons people feel about me. I understand why people have the opinions that they do."

Casey admitted she lied to the police but said the last time she saw her daughter she "believed she was alive and was going to be OK".

Associated Press reported Casey was living in Florida with a man called Patrick McKenna.

McKenna is a private investigator and was actually the lead investigator on her 2011 trial as part of her defence team. He hired her to help with social media searches on his current cases.

Before that, Casey stayed with a pastor and his family in the same city, bleaching her hair blonde, wearing glasses and going out to local bars and restaurants.

In 2022, Casey decided to tell her side of the story in Peacock's docuseries Casey Anthony: Where The Truth Lies — her first televised interview. In the three-part docuseries, she made several bombshell accusations, including that she blamed her father for Caylee's death.

"He was standing there with her. She was soaking wet," she recalled in the docuseries.

"He handed her to me. Said it was my fault, that I caused it. But he didn't rush to call 911 and he wasn't trying to resuscitate her. I collapsed with her in my arms. She was heavy, and she was cold."

Last year, Casey's parents appeared on a true crime reality show on A&E, where they both took lie detector tests on camera while talking about Caylee's death.

In one clip, George denied that he knew his granddaughter's whereabouts while police were searching for her.

In another clip, Cindy said that she believes her daughter "100 per cent" knew what happened to Caylee.

"And I kept hoping upon hope that she would confess," she said, moments before having a panic attack. "And that's the only reason I put myself through all of her drama and everything."

Casey Anthony poses for a portrait next to a photo of her daughter, Caylee, in 2017. Image: AAP.

Now, Casey has re-emerged into the public eye once again to share her latest venture — a Substack, where she shares her work as a

"It has been more than 16 years since my name became a household one. Everyone seems to have an opinion — about me, and about my life. I am an advocate, a researcher. These are my words, this is my REAL life," she states in the Substack description.

In a now-viral TikTok, Casey shared that she's been in the legal field since 2011 and wanted to "advocate for herself and also advocate for my daughter".

She said the account was to help others realise their legal rights and what legal resources were available to them.

"One of the main reasons I am doing this. There are people close to me who have been targeted and attacked recently … and when necessary, people needed to step up, myself included," Casey said.

"I feel that it's important that I use this platform that was thrust upon me and now look at it as a blessing as opposed to the curse it has been since 2008."

And yet, the reaction from the public has been swift and furious. Thousands flooded the comments, calling her out for trying to rewrite the past.

Because while Casey might be looking to move forward, the world isn't ready to forget.

Feature image: Getty.