HALEIGH CUMMINGS - 5 yo - Satsuma FL - The Beginning

The Dad says they are renting - apparently rather recently.

I hope LE investigates the landlord and his/her family to see who may have had access to keys.

Also they hopefully are checking any/all previous renters and their families to see about who had access in case the landlord never bothered to re-key the property.

Susmihara wrote:Father said earlier that g/f put kids to bed at 8 p.m. (like she always does)...but the 1st reports say dad put Haleigh to bed at 10??? Am I mistaken?

Hi Sus! From what I gathered watching NG, and it sounds like she put the kids to bed at 8:00 and then she went to bed later, I believe 10:30 or 11:00, and that was the last time she saw Haleigh in bed.

This is just so sad. I hope the police and searchers find this little girl. This reminds me of the Jessica Lunsford abduction. That one still haunts me as my hubby and I were in Crystal River for a few days of "snow" escape and Manatee observing on the same weekend she went missing.

About the father of this child...Ronald Cummings....I think he's sincere. I think some people think he comes off as strange, but I personally just think it's because of his age and he's scared and also, he seems kind of "back-woodsy" and shy kind of kid to me...not "cityized" like Casey Anthony. JMO. Now, the girlfriend I'm not too sure of. Of course once the police discovered she was only 17, they wisked her off to her family to be out of the limelight, so we can't get too much info about or from her. I tried to listen carefully and read about all the details, and I'm still a little confused about a few things. 1.) All 3 of them (her and the 2 kids) were asleep in one (1) bed, right? 2.) Did she discover Haleigh missing when she woke up, but BEFORE she went to use the bathroom? or 3.) Did she just not notice that Haleigh wasn't in the bed till she got back from the bathroom? 4.) Was it a solid back door that was shut and locked? Or, was it just a screen-type door that was shut and locked? I was confused about that, as I heard mention something about a screen door in one of the statements, either from LE or Ronald himself. Was it warm in Florida the night of the abduction? Could the g/f have just had the screen door shut and locked, or was it a regular hard solid door?

I know when I wake up suddenly because I need to go potty, I don't pay too much attention to whose in the bed...the dog, the dh, etc, but by the time I wander back to bed, I'm more awake and would notice something or someone missing in bed. It seems strange to me that an abductor could just tippy-toe into their bedroom and snatch a 5 year child without waking the girlfriend up though. I've tried to imagine their sleeping positions. If the g/f was on one side of the bed rolled over facing AWAY from the two kids, maybe the little boy in the middle and Haleigh on the other side of the bed, then maybe, just maybe, an abductor could pull that off quietly and without waking anyone else. Still....seems strange.

TiaMaria wrote:The Dad says they are renting - apparently rather recently.

I hope LE investigates the landlord and his/her family to see who may have had access to keys.

Also they hopefully are checking any/all previous renters and their families to see about who had access in case the landlord never bothered to re-key the property.

My thoughts exactally about the landlord or his previous renters even. Who knows who could've been living there before. Since they hadn't lived there long, that's where my logical senses tell me check. There seems to be a lot of sex offenders living in the area, and it's kind of a remote area, which is where predators seem to like to live. We have a rental apartment in our 2-family house (upstairs) and we always re-key their doors after vacating. Usually our renters are there 2-3 years though, so haven't had any problems.

I know I'm talking to myself here, but just writing my thoughts, as I'm up early again...couldn't sleep.

If I'm not mistaken, the biological mother lives in Georgia? Someone on another blog from the nearby online newspaper (firstcoastnews.com) said she lives within an hour or so drive from Ronald and his g/f. There's something amiss with her. Why wasn't Haleigh living with the biological mother anyway? She seems a little strange to me, like maybe a drug addict or something. Also, whose son is the 4 year old? In one report, I heard he was 2 years old, then on NG last night they said he was 4. Is the woman in Georgia his mother too? I'm confused about who's who in whoville here. I highly doubt the 4 year old belongs to the 17 year old girlfriend.

I just read that TES and Tim Miller is flying into Putnam county today to search for Haleigh. I think I'll donate some money to TES today. God, I hope he finds this child....and ALIVE.

Posted on 10. Feb, 2009 by B Tarr in Missing Persons
02/11/09 - Texas EquuSearch has been contacted by law enforcement to aid in the search for Haleigh Cummings. Tim Miller will be traveling to Florida today, and the mobile command center is leaving Texas this afternoon, enroute to the Putnam County area. More information will be posted here as it becomes available.

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MandiJones wrote:My heart goes out the the father and family. I was thinking/wondering....is Haleigh used to her dad coming home in the middle of the night? Just curious, because she was on my mind last night when I went to sleep. Then I had a dream about my daughter. She sleeps with me when daddy works nights too. It is a treat for her and her sister to snuggle, and it helps me feel like they are safer close to me (without the big bad daddy here to protect us). My dream was more like a memory, I woke up once to her trying to unlock the door. I ran through the house and got to her before she could complete the task. When I asked what she was doing, she said that she thought she heard daddy trying to get in(she had thought he was already off work), so she was going to let him in! That scared me to death, and I explained that daddy needs no help, he has his own key. But if Haleigh was used to daddy coming in before dawn, would she (being a daddy's girl) allow someone access to the home if she thought it was daddy???? All she had to do was open the door, 5 yr olds are capable of that, and then she could be snatched without anyone knowing.
And, WHO went to the bathroom?? Haleigh or the girlfriend??? I'm getting mixed reports on this. Either way, Haleigh is in the bathroom, hears a noise, goes to let daddy in the house....or....Girlfriend is in the bathroom, makes a noise, Haleigh wakes up thinks its daddy, opens the door. Like I said, I was just wondering/dreaming/thinking and it made a bit of sense to me. It would explain the "no forced entry". But in the back of my mind, I'm trying to fight off the thought that it was pure jelousy from the GF that caused this child to go missing.......

Hmmmmmmmmm, I could see this happening. Not too far fetched but what about the cinderblock? Maybe someone had already propped it open? Was it a storm door that was propped or the inside door? My son used to sleep walk and we had to put locks high up on the door where he couldn't unlock them as he would head right out still sleeping.

RIVERBABE60 wrote:I just read that TES and Tim Miller is flying into Putnam county today to search for Haleigh. I think I'll donate some money to TES today. God, I hope he finds this child....and ALIVE.

River, I am so glad TES is helping in the search. I was hoping they could but knew they didn't have the funds after Caylee. I will send a donation in Haleighs name today too.

The 25/17 age diff is disturbing. If they are newly renting this place, it is unlikely for a child to get up in the middle of the night and wander off. According to reports, all of them slept in the same bed, so if that's the case, a normal parent would place the children closest to the wall so that no one could either climb in or out of bed without them really knowing. Children have a tendency to bump and crawl themselves over sleeping parents and 99% of the time wake the parent up with all of the squishing, etc. Who would prop a door open and go to sleep unless the kidnapping was previously planned. Maybe the girlfriend was supposed to get up and close the door back after the kidnapper came and got the child. It would be interesting to know the full dynamics of the relationship between the gf/father/mother, etc.. The cinder block propping the door open is out of place and I think this was an inside job on the gf's behalf. JMO

I wonder if the girlfriend slipped out to do something, thinking the kids would be okay while they were sleeping, and then came home to find Haleigh missing. It seems strange that she just happened to notice her missing right before the father got home. A predator in the neighborhood could have seen her leave and known there were kids in that house. Just a thought.

Here is Crystal's myspace (Haleigh's Mom) http://www.myspace.com/crystalsheffield
Plus Crystal's mom's myspace (Marie, gm to Haleigh) http://www.myspace.com/luckylady1207

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Police have not said how Croslin did on her lie detector test.

Florida Sheriff: Girlfriend of Missing 5-Year-Old's Father Took Polygraph, Thursday , February 12, 2009

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,491485,00.html

Something doesn't make sense here. If a predator lived in the neighborhood, and was watching the nightly routine, he would not have taken Haleigh right before the father got home. If, we believe the girlfriend's story of Haleigh being in the bed when she got up to go to the bathroom, and Haleigh being gone when she came back, and right then the father comes home, it is unlikely a predator would've risked such a close call with the father. It just doesn't make sense. A predator would've had a 4 hour window, if in fact the girlfriend goes to bed around 10:30 or 11:00 every night. Why wait to take the child until moments before you know the father is going to get home?

Thank you, Allure. That is some very interesting reading.

No problem... here you go... I found Crystal's little sister's page too...

http://www.myspace.com/sarah32063

Wow, such class emanating from those pages. :shock:

I feel I need to reserve judgment on this case until more facts come in. I do feel there is something not right about the situation but I also don't want to jump to a conclusion and end up hurting people that may have had nothing to do with the abduction. Like the maternal grandmother said either someone had a key or it was an inside job. For me I would like to know who and how many people had access to that home and had keys. JMO

George Anthony, Leonard Padilla Join Search For Missing Girl

Thursday, February 12, 2009 – updated: 3:26 pm EST February 12, 2009

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. -- Investigators continued their search for a missing 5-year-old north Florida Thursday. Haleigh Cummings was last seen early Tuesday morning in her father's home.

Deputies from Volusia, Marion and Flagler counties are all involved in the search and Haleigh's mysterious disappearance has a Community on edge.

Eyewitness News has learned that George Anthony and the father of missing toddler Trenton Duckett, Josh Duckett, were assisting in the search. In a press conference Thursday afternoon, Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, and George Anthony talked about their search efforts.

PRESS CONFERENCE CLIPS: Father Begs For Her Return | George Anthony On Search

Bounty hunter Leonard Padilla, who was involved in the search for Caylee Anthony, joined the search for 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings. Padilla is offering a $25,000 reward for her safe return. Founder of Texas-based EquuSearch, Tim Miller, who's volunteer group helped look for Caylee Anthony, was also assisting in the search for Haleigh.

"Who ever has her I know you are watching, please bring her back," said Haleigh's mother Crystal Sheffield.

Sheffield said she has not stopped shaking for days. Her 5-year-old daughter Haleigh has been missing since early Tuesday morning when she disappeared from her own bed.

"I'm scared for her. She is probably scared and cold and hungry," she said.

Haleigh lived with her father, Ronald Cummings, in Satsuma. Ronald told police his 17-year-old girlfriend was watching Haleigh and her 3-year-old brother while he was at work.

Ronald said that when he got home at 3:00am, the back door was propped open and Haleigh was gone.

"I just got home from work. My 5-year-old daughter is gone. I need someone to be here now," he tearfully said. "Somebody came in my backdoor, broke into my home and stole my child.

"Police continued to scour the area with K-9 teams and divers were searching the nearby St. John's River. Police said 44 sex offenders live within a five-mile radius and they are considering the case as an abduction.

"All the world is a suspect. We are going to treat everybody, every family member and every associate like a suspect until we eliminate them," said Jeff Hardy of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

Late Wednesday night Haleigh's family and neighbors held a small vigil, holding out hope that the little girl will be found alive.

"She ain't done nothing wrong, please bring her back," said Sheffield.

Police said they are looking into a bitter custody battle between Haleigh's parents, but they said all of the little girl's family members have been extremely cooperative and are not suspects.

Dozens of officers and volunteers have been searching around the clock for Haleigh since she disappeared. They are searching by air, water and on the ground.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office is in charge, but deputies from the surrounding counties, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and state troopers are also part of the effort. Over 130 officers are involved in the search.

"The best case scenario is going to go ahead and be that we find this little girl alive and well. You've got to remember we've got a 5-year-old girl missing that's not with her father. That's our primary concern," said Hardy.

http://www.wftv.com/news/18700272/detail.html#-

Does anyone have the address? I can't find it!

Meawhile, the dad's mug shot:

http://public.pcso.us/jail/bookingDetails.aspx?SYSID=733879&IMG=49930