There never was any question that a tragedy occurred in 2008 in the nationally publicized death of a pretty 2-year-old girl named Caylee Marie Anthony.
Caylee's mother, Casey Anthony, was accused of murdering her daughter.
But an Orlando, Fla., jury had to be convinced of that horrifying accusation beyond a reasonable doubt, and evidently, the jury did not believe there was enough evidence that Casey had murdered little Caylee.
The mother's acquittal on the most serious charges caused outrage among many who were convinced of her guilt, and to be sure, there were troubling aspects of the whole tragic case.
First, there was a six-month gap between the time when Caylee was first reported missing and when her body was found in December 2008. The long delay apparently made it harder for the prosecution to prove its case, because the time span may have destroyed scientific evidence. Prosecutors also lacked evidence that Casey Anthony had been at the scene where the girl's remains were found. Neither could the prosecution find the mother's DNA on duct tape that investigators believed had been used to suffocate Caylee.
Some other unanswered questions are equally disturbing. It was claimed, for instance, that Caylee had accidentally drowned in her family's pool. But if that was the case, why was the death not immediately reported?
The painful reality is, we may never have satisfactory answers to these questions.
The jury weighed the evidence for 11 hours before deciding that the young mother was not guilty of first-degree murder, of aggravated manslaughter or of aggravated child abuse.
The mother has been convicted, however, on four misdemeanor counts of lying to investigators.
While strong feelings about the case will linger, the jurors seem to have done their duty as diligently as they could, and found reasonable doubt about whether Casey Anthony killed her daughter.
We are left, however, with the agonizing question of whether justice will someday be done for Caylee.