another 911 call

Waving a caution flag before jumping to (erroneous) conclusions as once happened to JonBenet's parents, perpetuated by a widely distributed 911 call recording, Dr. Robert Thompson weighs in over at CNN on the public's drive for self-fulfillment in the Caylee Anthony case--

Frantic 911 call launched year-long Caylee drama
By Ann O'Neill


"One year ago, a sheriff's dispatcher in Orange County, near Orlando, Florida, received a strange 911 call. A small child was missing...

The 30-day delay in reporting Caylee's disappearance, along with the frequent release of police documents containing the personal details of the family's life, whetted the public's appetite...

"By that time, it becomes self-fulfilling," Thompson said. "Once the story gets into the inbox of places that cover this thing -- Dateline, America's Most Wanted, Greta van Susteren, Nancy Grace, Geraldo -- it becomes a packaged drama. We want to know how it turns out."

But Thompson, the pop culture professor at Syracuse, cautions that the final curtain hasn't fallen on this drama.

"It isn't necessarily a slam dunk," he said. "We have the JonBenet Ramsey case to show that we may think one thing, and it isn't so." Early in that investigation, authorities said John and Patsy Ramsey were "under an umbrella of suspicion" in their daughter's death, but they later were cleared. "These things are capable of twisting around," Thompson said. "But that's another element that makes them interesting."