R.I.P. Caylee

Skeletal remains found near the home of missing child Caylee Anthony are those of the little girl and her cause of death is homicide, the medical examiner said Friday.

"With regret, I'm here to inform you that the skeletal remains are those of the missing toddler," said Dr. Jan Garavaglia.

Garavaglia said the cause was ruled a homicide by unknown means.

Earlier, Florida police released evidence photos from the Caylee Anthony crime scene, among them one of a book they say they found in the woods that the child had been photographed reading before she vanished.

The pictures were among several cops publicized ahead of a Friday afternoon news briefing, during which authorities were expected to reveal findings about the bones and skull discovered near the little girl's family home.

The book is among numerous pieces of evidence Orange County Sheriff's deputies say they found in the privately-owned lot where a small child's skeletal remains turned up.

The press conference, scheduled for 2 p.m. EST at the Orange County Sheriff's Office, was announced by the county medical examiner.

Also Friday, police re-interviewed a county water meter reader who earlier this month discovered what likely are the girl's remains.

Detectives deny the worker is a suspect in the child's death.

The worker found bones Dec. 11 near the Orlando house where then 2-year-old Caylee lived with her mother and maternal grandparents. He also had called in a tip to police on Aug. 11, 12 and 13, telling them to look in the same area for the remains, police said.

Orange County Sheriff's officials say they believe the unidentified tipster was in the area on Dec. 11 following up on his own lead when he discovered the bones and skull.

Capt. Angelo Nieves said police are questioning the worker again, as well as the sheriff's deputy who took the original call. They want to know more about what prompted him to contact authorities and how they handled the tips.

The meter reader first called Aug. 11 to report a bag by the side of the road, MyFOXOrlando.com reported. A deputy wasn't able to locate the worker, the station said.

The following day, the meter reader called a crime hotline. The information was passed on to the Orange County Sheriff's criminal investigation division.

And on Aug. 13, the utility worker called cops a third time, MyFOXOrlando.com reported. He met with police, and a deputy did go into the wooded area to investigate the worker's claims, but didn't find anything. The scene was then cleared as a possible place of interest in the case.

There is now an internal probe under way within the police department into how the matter was handled.

"There are a lot of questions about the thoroughness of that response," Nieves told MyFOXOrlando.com.

Investigators were back at the wooded crime scene Thursday in their exhaustive dig for evidence. They said late Thursday they found additional bones that appear to be from a child.

Meanwhile, a representative for the defense lawyer of Caylee's mother Casey Anthony accused police of lying to the press and suggested they could be tampering with evidence at the site where a little child's bones were found.

Todd Black, a spokesman for Anthony's lead attorney Jose Baez, complained that investigators won't let the defense team observe their work at the scene where remains believed to be those of Anthony's daughter Caylee were discovered.

"Some of their comments are blatant lies," Black told FOXNews.com. "History has shown that in some cases authorities have been caught tampering with evidence. That is something we hope is not happening. We're not accusing anyone of anything."

Anthony, 22, has been charged with the little girl's murder and is being held in jail without bond.

Police said the bones discovered in the Caylee Anthony investigation could be identified by the end of the day on Thursday or on Friday.

Nieves remained tight-lipped about the nature of the evidence detectives have found at the site.

Some reports suggested teeth had been discovered.

Orange County Medical Examiner Dr. Jan Garavaglia — who has her own Discovery Channel TV show and calls herself "Dr. G." — is handling the tests. Her office said Thursday that they didn't know when the results would be ready but would put out a report when they were.

FOXNews.com's Catherine Donaldson-Evans and FOX News' Phil Keating contributed to this report.


May your murdering psycho-bitch of a mother burn in Hell for all etertiny.