Newly released court documents reveal ABC News paid for a three-night hotel stay at a Central Florida Ritz-Carlton for the grandparents of murdered toddler Caylee Anthony.
George Anthony and Cindy Anthony stayed at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes from Dec. 11 to 14 &mdash in the days after Caylee’s remains were found near their home.
The Orlando Sentinel was first to report the story after a judge overseeing the case released an 80-page transcript which included the new details.
An ABC producer named Kaitlyn Folmer made arrangements with then-Anthony spokeswoman Michelle Bart to put up the couple and two of their investigators at the hotel. Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton run from $249 to $739 per night.
An ABC insider tells TVNewser the pricey hotel was picked because it had the best security. And with a horde of media trying to secure an interview with the Anthonys, ABC was simply being competitive. As it turns out, ABC did not get an interview that week, nor have they since.
During the first night of the stay, the Anthonys also dined at a restaurant inside the hotel. The ABC producer, Folmer, was also at the dinner. But it’s not known who paid. The ABC insider tells us, taking interview subjects out to dinner “is not a problem.”
The details were part of an interview the Anthony’s private investigator Dominic Casey gave to an Orange County Sergeant and an FBI Agent in early January.