ORLANDO, Fla. –Orange County investigators stepped in Wednesday to douse rumors circulating in the Caylee Marie Anthony disappearance, saying if it doesn't come from them, it's not true.
The unusual declaration came four weeks into the official search for the 3-year-old, who was last seen in June but not reported missing until July 15.
Caylee's mother, Casey Anthony, has been jailed since July 16, charged with child neglect and filing a false statement with authorities. Although investigators accuse her of lying about the child's whereabouts, family members support her story that she left Caylee with a baby sitter who has vanished.
Those responsible for the investigation refused to corroborate theories about the case spawned by Web sleuths, media consultants, TV hosts and even the Anthony family.
"The Orange County Sheriff's Office is not going to put information out there that's not going to benefit finding the child," Chief Mark Strobridge said. "We are not going to try this case everywhere else but in a courtroom."
Asked about Thursday's statement, Caylee's grandmother, Cindy Anthony, said that her family is as trustworthy a source of information as the Sheriff's Office.
"Unless you hear it from us or the police, it's not true," Cindy Anthony said. "We are only going to state the facts. Anything else is speculation."
Police share few details.
Detectives have revealed little of their investigation during the past month. Among the bits disclosed so far:
*Caylee was last seen alive June 16.
*Anthony borrowed a shovel from her neighbor several days later.
*She and her mother reported the toddler missing a month later.
Investigators also have taken hair and other evidence from the trunk of the family's white Pontiac Sunfire. The car had a rancid odor that trained dogs identified as human decomposition. Sheriff's officials would not say Wednesday whether they have learned anything from that evidence.
Strobridge reiterated that the Sheriff's Office continues to treat the case as a missing-person investigation and has not transferred it to homicide detectives.
"It's our hope and prayer that Caylee is found," Strobridge said, "Caylee is our goal. It's not the arrest or pursuit of the arrest or the prosecution of Casey."
Dozens of investigators from local, state and national law-enforcement agencies are working to find the girl, Strobridge said. A few analysts from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are helping to sort through the more than 1,500 tips received by the Sheriff's Office.
Grandparents stand by mom.
Since the disappearance became public, Cindy Anthony and her husband, George, have offered repeated defenses of their 22-year-old daughter, along with comments about the investigation.
George Anthony recently told reporters he thought his granddaughter was kidnapped and that her captors are being watched. The family has not identified the supposed kidnappers to reporters. They also have said Caylee's baby sitter, whom the child's mother identified as Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, has the child.
Investigators, unable to identify the baby sitter, question whether she exists.
Sheriff's officials would not comment on whether they think the child was kidnapped but said if there were information that led them to believe she had been abducted, they would alert the public.
Detectives maintain that Casey Anthony was the last person to see her daughter alive but that she has yet to contribute any truthful information to law enforcement.
She was caught telling several lies during the initial investigation — including where she worked and where she supposedly dropped off the child June 16.
Her parents are scheduled to visit her today at the Orange County Jail, where she is being held on more than $500,000 bail.