The mother of a missing Florida girl was arrested again Friday night — this time on check fraud and theft charges — just over a week after a bounty hunter bailed her out of jail.
Orange County Sheriff's Office investigators took Casey Anthony into custody at her home Friday night. She was being held on $3,000 bond and was charged with uttering a forged instrument, fraudulent use of personal information and petty theft, Capt. Angelo Nieves said.
According to sheriff's office reports, Anthony used a friend's checkbook to buy items at Target and Winn-Dixie, and to write a check for cash in July.
"She used checks that did not belong to her," Nieves said.
The 22-year-old, who was released from jail on $500,000 bond last week, has already been charged with child neglect, making false statements and obstructing the investigation into her daughter's disappearance.
A spokeswoman for Anthony's attorney, Jose Baez, declined to comment on the arrest Friday night.
"We're still sorting out all the details," Christina Baez said.
Police say Anthony is a person of interest in the disappearance of her daughter, 3-year-old Caylee, who hasn't been seen since mid-June. She did not report her daughter missing until July.
Several people from a California bail bonds company helped Anthony post bond, saying she might be more likely to talk about her daughter's disappearance if she were released from jail. But a bounty hunter with the California company said Friday he no longer believes the girl is alive.
"Absolutely not," Leonard Padilla said.
Clearwater-based bondsman Albert Estes, who shares the same surety group as Padilla's company and helped post Anthony's bond, did not immediately return a phone message.
The State Attorney's Office and Anthony's attorney had discussed granting her limited immunity, according to e-mails from prosecutor Linda Drane Burdick. Under the offer, Anthony would provide statements to investigators, but prosecutors couldn't use them against her in court. However, they could use any evidence they find as a result.
Burdick said the offer is set to expire Tuesday.
