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Wednesday, February 12, 2025

GPD respond to false sighting of missing child

A false sighting in a Gainesville Winn-Dixie of missing Orlando toddler Caylee Anthony was reported to police Saturday night by Caylee's grandfather.

Caylee's grandfather, George Anthony, told police he received the tip from Kid Finders, an organization that helps find missing children.

Gainesville Police were immediately dispatched to the Winn-Dixie supermarket at 200 S.W. 16th Ave., where a man was reported to be shopping with a dark-haired toddler for 40 minutes, a GPD release stated.

George and his wife, Cindy, arrived in Gainesville on Sunday morning and reviewed the store's security camera footage but were not able to identify the child as their granddaughter, the release stated.

Using credit card and Winn-Dixie Reward Card information provided to them by the store, detectives were able to identify the man seen with the child as Kenneth Stanton.

Detectives went to Stanton's home and interviewed him; the child's mother, Jennifer Cowan; and the 2 1/2-year-old girl, the release stated.

According to the release, after Stanton and Cowan were able to provide hundreds of photos of the girl and her Social Security card, GPD detectives informed the Anthonys and the Orange County Sheriff's Office that the child was not Caylee Anthony.

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