HALEIGH CUMMINGS - 5 yo - Satsuma FL - The Beginning

Haleigh Cummings Update: Misty Shocker Confirmed, Failed 4th Polygraph-Misty Never Went to Bed The Night Haleigh Vanished!

Posted on August 27th, 2009



This just in from TJ Hart. Parts of this story started to break last night, but we wanted to confirm a few things before going to press. It looks like the heat is again being turned up on Misty Cummings. 10 days ago the process started with the interestingly worded Press Release from the PCSO. Are these new developments the next step in bringing this case to a close? - Simon
What did happen the February night leading up to the abduction of 6-year-old Haleigh Cummings from her father’s home in Satsuma, Florida? Police say the last person to see her holds the key to the answer.

Haleigh’s then-babysitter-now-stepmother Misty Croslin-Cummings recently asked for a polygraph to clear her name after the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office asked members of the public to come forward with information on Misty’s whereabouts the night of the abduction. Acording to the director of the group who arranged the test, Misty failed the polygraph “miserably.”

17-year-old Misty Cummings, who married Ronald Cummings a few weeks after little Haleigh disappeared, reportedly went gainst the advice of her Attorney Robert Fields when she requested to take another polygraph, to be hypnotized and submitted herself to voice analysis regarding the events leading up to Haleigh’s disappearance.

Two weeks ago, the family of Haleigh Cummings contacted Tim Miller from Texas Equusearch (TES). A report which appears on the TES website said that independent from law enforcement, Miller arranged for three (3) separate experts to arrive into Florida to conduct the test, the costs paid for by Texas Equusearch. The experts included John Gastar, a former NYPD Detective with 35 years experience in hypnosis, TJ Ward, a voice analysis expert, most notable for his work on the Natalee Holloway case, and D. Craig Harper an independent polygraph expert.

This seemed outside the realm of the kind of work TES traditionally does. Miller stated in the report on his website, “We will go to any lengths at any costs to find this missing child.”

If what has been reported during the 2 days of intense questioning is true, Misty broke down in tears as she recounted sexual abuse at the hands of family members and attempts to point fingers at people who she thinks may have taken Haleigh in an attempt to defer attention from herself.

97.3 The Sky has learned that detectives from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department were made aware of the findings, and although they are not endorsing the release of the information to the public, they were planning on subpoenaing the tapes and any related information. Miller willingly turned the finding over to investigators.

The results of the taped interviews according to the experts who conducted them and the police who reviewed them are great for the investigation but not great for Misty. She “miserably failed” the polygraph test.

This is the fourth time she has failed a polygraph.

The report appearing on the Texas EquuSearch website claims that during the hypnosis, Misty appeared uncooperative and told yet another version of the story that was inconsistent with previous versions.

The voice analysis was perhaps the most revealing and according to results on the site, “It appears Misty Cummings knows what happened and was directly involved in the disappearance of Haleigh Cummings.”

Upon their initial viewing of these tapes, investigators uncovered several inconsistencies in Misty’s story. They are particularly interested in her version of the timeline the night of February 9th between 8:00pm and 3:00am. She claims she put Haleigh down at 8:00pm and went to sleep herself at 10:00 and awoke abruptly at 3:00 to find Haleigh gone.

The report on the TES website claims Ronald said “the bed was made” and that police confirmed Ronald’s story.

Misty Cummings: 'I'm 17-Years-Old, What Do You Think?'

The one person police believe holds the key in the case of Haleigh Cummings spoke to First Coast News this afternoon.

Misty Cummings, the wife of Haleigh's father Ronald, said, "I feel like they're trying to pinpoint me because they cannot find the right person."

Police say her story is "sketchy," and she underwent a series of tests recently to clear her name, but reportedly failed them all.

Haleigh's maternal grandmother, Marie Griffis, also spoke about yesterday's revelation that Misty Cummings, the wife of Haleigh's father Ronald, had recently failed a series of tests she wanted to take to clear her name.

REPORT: MISTY CROSLIN MISERABLY FAILED POLYGRAPH

Griffis says that only confirms what she already thought, that Misty knows more than she's letting on about what happened the night Haleigh disappeared from Ronald Cummings' home in Satsuma.

Griffis also said she thinks Ronald Cummings should be tested, as she believes he also knows more than he's saying.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office has said Ronald Cummings is not a suspect, but investigators do feel that Misty knows more than she's saying.

Misty Cummings said Tim Miller of Texas EquuSearch told her if she did not agree to take the polygraph, voice analysis test, and undergo hypnosis, he would not search for Haleigh.

She said she only agreed to take the tests because she wanted Miller to search for Haleigh. She also said she did not want to take the tests because her attorney told her not to.

Misty Cummings said she and her husband will have nothing more to do with Tim Miller or with Mark NeJame. He is the attorney who agreed to work with the Cummings last week in the search for Haleigh.

Misty Cummings said she feels they lied to her.

Miller said Misty Cummings wanted to take the tests and came to him asking for help to clear her name.

During the tests, Misty Cummings said, "I didn't have nothing to do with it. I loved that little girl more than anything. I would never hurt her. If i knew who hurt her, I would tell!"

At one point, private investigator T.J. Ward, who conducted the test, pressed Misty Cummings for answers.

"I don't know what you're trying to get out of me. I'm 17-years-old, what do you think? Come on! How much do you think a 17-year-old can take?" Misty Cummings asked Ward as she cried.

Miller said he will still do a ground search for Haleigh in Putnam County.


Video of Misty's voice analysis:
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/video/default.aspx?maven_playerId=articleplayer&maven_referralPlaylistId=playlist&maven_referralObject=1230001893

A voice analysis expert says Misty Cummings knows something about the disappearance of her step-daughter, Haleigh.

T.J. Ward met with Misty this week. Ward says the 17-year-old signed an agreement to take a layered voice analysis test. He says she wanted to take it to help clear her name.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH T.J. WARD

"She was not pressured. She was on the phone with me and asked if I'd come to Florida," says Ward.

Ward is a voice analysis expert based in Atlanta. He says the test is much like a polygraph except it is better. He says instead of just getting yes and no answers, like with a polygraph, a voice test allows him to get more in depth and have a conversation.

He says the analysis allows him to pick up on stresses and untruths. "I think she is lying...I don't know who she is covering for," says Ward.

He says he believes Misty knows who took Haleigh.

The test, which happened on Monday, lasted about 24 minutes. Misty now says she was pressured to take it.

"That's totally untrue. I was with her four of five hours, there was no pressure."

Ward says a polygraph is about 50 percent accurate and a voice test is about 95 percent accurate.

Portion of Hypnosis Session with John Gastar

Misty's signed agreement and statement:
http://download.gannett.edgesuite.net/wtlv/docs/mistycummingspretestrelease8_26_09.pdf

Misty (Croslin) Cummings was babysitting Haleigh Cummings when she
vanished from her father's Putnam County trailer in February.

A man who recently gave Croslin a lie detector test says she “failed miserably.” In
video taken by a freelance photographer at the request of Texas
Equusearch founder, Tim Miller, you can't see the administrator of the
voice analysis, but he worked with Miller in Aruba on the Natalie
Holloway case. He says Misty is hiding something. "There's
things going on with you about Haleigh going missing that you know
about that you're not telling me about," he says. "There's nothing I'm
not telling nobody. I told you and everybody everything I know. I don't
know what you're trying to get out of me. I'm 17-years-old...come
on...how much can a 17-year-old take?" responds Croslin. During
a couple hours of this voice analysis, a polygraph and even hypnosis;
misty again and again points the finger at other people. Miller says
the polygraph test was not effective, adding that misty was not
cooperative, even though she was the one who requested it be conducted.


"If it's her mother's side of the family... they came in and
took her because they didn't want to pay child support.... or if it was
somebody else.... I keep hearing things about my brother... I have no
idea if he took her," said Croslin. Investigators say Croslin
insists sometime between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m., the morning of February 9,
while she and Haleigh slept in the same room, someone came in and took
the child. The Putnam County Sheriff's Office says misty is
their person of interest right now adding that her only consistency is
her inconsistency. In one of the polygraph questions, Croslin is
asked, “Have you intentionally withheld any information about Haleigh's
disappearance?" to which she answered, “No.” According to the polygraph
technician, her answer indicated a 99 percent deception rate. When
asked if she knew the whereabouts of Haleigh, again she answered, “No.”
According to the polygraph technician, her answer indicated a 95
percent deception rate. But when asked if she knew who took
Haleigh, again the answer was, “No.” This time, according to the
polygraph technician, her answer indicated a 46 percent deception rate.

More telling was the second test Misty did that same day, a layered voice analysis.

"I don't know why I woke up. I just woke up out of a deep sleep. I just woke up," said Misty. The expert, T.J. Ward, asked, "What did you notice?" Misty replied, "The kitchen light was on. All the lights were shut off when I went to bed. That kitchen light I knew was off when I went to sleep. The kitchen light was just glaring in my bedroom. So, I got up and went to the kitchen and that's when I noticed the back door was wide open."For the next 20 minutes, Misty had a conversation with the expert, who was able to track her stress and movements.Do you know of any person that would bother Haleigh?" asked Ward. Misty replied, "I really didn't know a lot of people. I have suspicions, yeah."

Police have asked us not to release that part of the tape.

But it's what Misty did say during that section that raised a red flag for the voice expert. "You have knowledge of the person who has taken Haleigh. You need to think. You need to tell me the truth because I can see changes," Ward told Misty.

While fighting back tears, Misty said, "I've been trying to think. I've been thinking for six months. I don't know. I don't know if I seen something in my sleep. I don't know."

"There's something you are not telling me. Okay, I want you to tell me about it. I can see it. There's things about Haleigh you are not telling anybody," Ward told her.

"There's nothing I'm not telling nobody. I told everybody everything that I know. I don't know what you are trying to get out of me. I'm 17 years old. What do you think, come on how much can a 17 year old take?" Misty replied.

Misty was then asked about Ronald Cummings, Haleigh's dad and her new husband. It was that questioning which puzzled the expert

"Ronald had nothing to do with his daughter. He loves his daughter more than anything in this world," Misty told Ward.

He then told her, "When I asked you that, it came up and said you are not sure. Why is there doubt in your mind?"

Misty replied, "I don't know. I don't know if there's doubt in my mind, really Ronald didn't have nothing to do with his daughter, I can tell you that."

Ward then asked Misty, "What do you think happened to Haleigh?"

Misty replied, "I don't know what's happened to her. I mean I don't think she's dead, and I don't think she's dead at all. Everyone keeps saying she could be, I don't think Haleigh's dead."

Ward then pressed Misty a little more, asking her if someone has threatened her not to say what happened to Haleigh.

"No, nobody told me nothing to say about Haleigh or nothing. I've never been once told not to tell where Haleigh is. I wouldn't care if someone told me not to tell I would still tell. I don't care if they want to kill me. Go ahead and kill me, they can have my life for her back any day."

A comment Misty Croslin-Cummings allegedly made about investigators
needing to double-check a patch of ground marked by a single plastic
rose in their search for her missing stepdaughter, Haleigh Cummings,
has motivated a private firm to begin scouring the area this morning.

Croslin-Cummings, 17, is said to have made the unrecorded comment
while undergoing a lie-detector test, hypnosis session and voice stress
test earlier this month. The head of the organization that paid for the
tests said the stepmother of Haleigh -- the 6-year-old Putnam County
girl missing since February -- was trying to clear her name when she
agreed to the tests, yet failed each of them."She said there was
a place that was not searched very well and that we should look for a
red rose, and she gave us the location," said Steph Watts, who recorded
the sessions for EquuSearch, a private Texas firm that founder and
director Tim Miller said was contacted by Croslin-Cummings to help
clear her name."We went and we looked, and we found it, and the
next day we took them (Putnam County investigators) back there," Watts
said. "I don't think they are going to dig where the rose is and find
the body, but the fact that they went with us shows that they are
following up on every lead."The Putnam County Sheriff's Office
has said it has followed about 4,000 leads so far in its search for
Haleigh, whom Croslin-Cummings reported missing at 3:27 a.m. on Feb. 10.Croslin-Cummings
initially said she had put Haleigh and her younger brother to bed at
about 8 p.m. on Feb. 9 in the same room where she went to sleep about
two hours later. She was caring for the children because their father,
Ronald Cummings, was working the night shift.When Haleigh was
reported missing, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office launched an Amber
Alert and led a massive search that included boats, canine teams,
four-wheelers, helicopters and horses.In the months since
Haleigh was last seen, investigators have said Cummings and Haleigh's
mother, Crystal Sheffield, are not considered suspects.On Friday
afternoon, Putnam Sheriff's Maj. Gary Bowling weighed his words
carefully in describing his agency's view of Croslin-Cummings'
situation."No, I don't think we consider her a suspect," Bowling
said. "We factually know that she is consistently inconsistent and we
need some factual exactness about her activities the night before
Haleigh disappeared until the morning when she was reported missing."Croslin-Cummings
did not respond to interview requests made Friday through her attorney,
a friend and a family member. Without the knowledge or approval of her
attorney or the Sheriff's Office, she reportedly asked Miller, the
director of EquuSearch, to help her clear her name.The firm was
established nearly 10 years ago to assist in searches, especially after
local law enforcement agencies are unable to sustain a search. Miller
said Haleigh's family reached out to his firm "because they didn't
think enough was being done to find her."Croslin-Cummings then
asked for something specific -- assistance clearing her name so that
the search could focus on Haleigh, not on rumors about her, Miller said."She
said she did not trust the cops and asked me if she could take a lie
detector test or something," Miller said. "I told her that was out of
the realm of what we did, but this was something that she felt would be
helpful, and so we arranged it. This is the first time I have ever been
put in a position like this. It has ended with Misty (Croslin-Cummings)
not speaking to us. "Miller said the polygraph that
Croslin-Cummings underwent in Orlando on Aug. 19 "showed huge
deceptions." When Croslin-Cummmings was told about the results, "she
said she wanted to be hypnotized," Miller said. "My thought was 'Now
where do we go?' My hopes were that she would have passed, but the
opposite happened, so we arranged for the hypnosis and a voice analysis
to be done at her husband's aunt's house in Welaka."Apparently,
Croslin-Cummings leaked the news about the pending hypnosis and
analysis to some of her relatives, and the word spread quickly. Miller
said there were lots of people in the yard of the aunt's home during
the tests and that within a day or two, a variety of reporters began
requesting interviews.The sessions were taped and have since
been distributed to media outlets around the state, including The Sun.
The sessions reportedly were paid for by EquuSearch and recorded by
Steph Watts, who distributed copies to reporters with the approval of
EquuSearch.Among those asking for a copy of the tapes and other
materials was the Sheriff's Office, which phrased its request in the
form of a search warrant, but the firm immediately handed them over,
EquuSearch officials said.Croslin-Cummings' attorney, Robert Fields of Palatka, downplayed the value of the materials."Everyone knows that if there was any merit, polygraphs and these sorts of things would be admissible in court," Fields said.Fields
also said that his understanding from conversations he had with
Croslin-Cummings was that she agreed to the testing by EquuSearch
because "she was told that if she did not take the exams, they
(EquuSearch) would not bring any assets to the search." Miller has
denied that allegation."We will be in Florida very, very soon to
search for Haleigh," Miller said. "I am not a detective and did not
want to be in the position this has put me in."Those close to the case said EquuSearch will launch a search this morning at an undisclosed location in Putnam County.Croslin-Cummings' results also put her attorney in an embarrassing position."This
all kind of hit me out of the blue," Fields said. "My advice to her was
'Don't speak to any law enforcement without speaking to me first,' and
I found it hard to imagine that a private party would be playing Magnum
P.I."Seventh Judicial Circuit Assistant State Attorney
Christopher Kelly gave no indication that any arrest or other legal
action is imminent."We have been in touch with the Sheriff's
Office since the beginning, but this is still under investigation, so
it is still in their hands," Kelly said.

PUTNAM COUNTY, FL -- The Putnam County Sheriff's Office is interviewing Misty Cummings' brother and his wife in connection with the disappearance of Haleigh Cummings, who disappeared a little more than 6 months ago from her home in Satsuma.

Hank Croslin says that detectives took his son, Tommy Croslin, to the sheriff's office at about 7 p.m. Friday. Hank Croslin is also Misty's father, but says allegations against his son that he was involved in Haleigh's disappearance are untrue.

Hank Croslin says his son told investigators that he would take a lie detector test to prove his innocence as he was led away.

Tommy Croslin says he has no idea why his sister is accusing him in Haleigh's disappearance. He stated Misty is trying to pass blame onto someone.

Despite the accusations, he says he stands by his sister and doesn't think she had anything to do with Haleigh's disappearance.

He is now being questioned by detectives. This is the first time he has been brought in for questioning in about a month.

Haleigh Cummings' home in Satsuma, the one she was taken from in Orlando, has sat empty since the night she disappeared.
However, earlier this months, a woman moved into it.
She wants to keep a low profile, so we'll call her Jane.
Jane says she recognized the address and home when
she was looking for places to live. She said the realtor also told her
the house's history regarding a missing child.
"He said, 'I'm telling anybody interested in the place that this is
where it happened so they would be aware.' He didn't want to keep it a
secret," Jane explained.
Ronald Cummings, Haleigh's father, never went back into the home and eventually moved out of.
Jane had lived in another part of the state and wanted to move to a
rural town like Satsuma. The price and the place were good for her.
Jane had even followed news reports about Haleigh's disappearance
which started in February. She had seen the house, inside and out, on
national television.
Jane said, "We had seen enough on television to know the different
rooms but to actually be here and walk around...it's a little creepy
but it's just a strange feeling."
Jane said she doesn't mind living int he home, even if it has been
on national television and associated with a tragic case of a missing
child.
In fact, she feels a little closer to Haleigh now.
"To think that she was actually here and played here and then one
one night she didn't anymore," Jane shook her head. "I can kind of see
her, more than watching her on television."
So the trailer that was Haleigh's home will now be home to a woman who never knew the child but feels a connection to her.

A comment Misty Croslin-Cummings allegedly made about investigators
needing to double-check a patch of ground marked by a single plastic
rose in their search for her missing stepdaughter, Haleigh Cummings,
has motivated a private firm to begin scouring the area this morning.
Croslin-Cummings, 17, is said to have made the unrecorded comment
while undergoing a lie-detector test, hypnosis session and voice stress
test earlier this month. The head of the organization that paid for the
tests said the stepmother of Haleigh - the 6-year-old Putnam County
girl missing since February - was trying to clear her name when she
agreed to the tests, yet failed each of them."She said there was
a place that was not searched very well and that we should look for a
red rose, and she gave us the location," said Steph Watts, who recorded
the sessions for EquuSearch, a private Texas firm that founder and
director Tim Miller said was contacted by Croslin-Cummings to help
clear her name."We went and we looked, and we found it, and the
next day we took them (Putnam County investigators) back there," Watts
said. "I don't think they are going to dig where the rose is and find
the body, but the fact that they went with us shows that they are
following up on every lead."The Putnam County Sheriff's Office
has said it has followed about 4,000 leads so far in its search for
Haleigh, whom Croslin-Cummings reported missing at 3:27 a.m. on Feb. 10.Croslin-Cummings
initially said she had put Haleigh and her younger brother to bed at
about 8 p.m. on Feb. 9 in the same room where she went to sleep about
two hours later. She was caring for the children because their father,
Ronald Cummings, was working the night shift.When Haleigh was
reported missing, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office launched an Amber
Alert and led a massive search that included boats, canine teams,
four-wheelers, helicopters and horses.In the months since
Haleigh was last seen, investigators have said Cummings and Haleigh's
mother, Crystal Sheffield, are not considered suspects.On Friday
afternoon, Putnam Sheriff's Maj. Gary Bowling weighed his words
carefully in describing his agency's view of Croslin-Cummings'
situation."No, I don't think we consider her a suspect," Bowling
said. "We factually know that she is consistently inconsistent and we
need some factual exactness about her activities the night before
Haleigh disappeared until the morning when she was reported missing."Croslin-Cummings
did not respond to interview requests made Friday through her attorney,
a friend and a family member. Without the knowledge or approval of her
attorney or the Sheriff's Office, she reportedly asked Miller, the
director of EquuSearch, to help her clear her name.The firm was
established nearly 10 years ago to assist in searches, especially after
local law enforcement agencies are unable to sustain a search. Miller
said Haleigh's family reached out to his firm "because they didn't
think enough was being done to find her."Croslin-Cummings then
asked for something specific - assistance clearing her name so that the
search could focus on Haleigh, not on rumors about her, Miller said."She
said she did not trust the cops and asked me if she could take a lie
detector test or something," Miller said. "I told her that was out of
the realm of what we did, but this was something that she felt would be
helpful, and so we arranged it. This is the first time I have ever been
put in a position like this. It has ended with Misty (Croslin-Cummings)
not speaking to us. "Miller said the polygraph that
Croslin-Cummings underwent in Orlando on Aug. 19 "showed huge
deceptions." When Croslin-Cummmings was told about the results, "she
said she wanted to be hypnotized," Miller said. "My thought was 'Now
where do we go?' My hopes were that she would have passed, but the
opposite happened, so we arranged for the hypnosis and a voice analysis
to be done at her husband's aunt's house in Welaka."Apparently,
Croslin-Cummings leaked the news about the pending hypnosis and
analysis to some of her relatives, and the word spread quickly. Miller
said there were lots of people in the yard of the aunt's home during
the tests and that within a day or two, a variety of reporters began
requesting interviews.The sessions were taped and have since
been distributed to media outlets around the state, including The Sun.
The sessions reportedly were paid for by EquuSearch and recorded by
Steph Watts, who distributed copies to reporters with the approval of
EquuSearch.Among those asking for a copy of the tapes and other
materials was the Sheriff's Office, which phrased its request in the
form of a search warrant, but the firm immediately handed them over,
EquuSearch officials said.Croslin-Cummings' attorney, Robert Fields of Palatka, downplayed the value of the material."Everyone knows that if there was any merit, polygraphs and these sorts of things would be admissible in court," Fields said.Fields
also said that his understanding from conversations he had with
Croslin-Cummings was that she agreed to the testing by EquuSearch
because "she was told that if she did not take the exams, they
(EquuSearch) would not bring any assets to the search." Miller has
denied that allegation."We will be in Florida very, very soon to
search for Haleigh," Miller said. "I am not a detective and did not
want to be in the position this has put me in."Those close to the case said EquuSearch will launch a search this morning at an undisclosed location in Putnam County.Croslin-Cummings' results also put her attorney in an embarrassing position."This
all kind of hit me out of the blue," Fields said. "My advice to her was
'Don't speak to any law enforcement without speaking to me first,' and
I found it hard to imagine that a private party would be playing Magnum
P.I."Seventh Judicial Circuit Assistant State Attorney
Christopher Kelly gave no indication that any arrest or other legal
action is imminent."We have been in touch with the Sheriff's
Office since the beginning, but this is still under investigation, so
it is still in their hands," Kelly said.

PUTNAM COUNTY, FL -- A search is underway this morning for new clues about Haleigh Cummings' disappearance.

EquuSearch and Putnam County officials are out again after a comment by Misty Croslin-Cummings revealed a possible new detail. According to reports, Croslin-Cummings mentioned something about a fake rose and that was enough for EquuSearch to begin a new hunt for clues.

It has been learned that EquuSearch is leading the operation and Putnam County officials are monitoring.

Croslin-Cummings made headlines again this week after taking independent polygraph, voice analysis and hypnosis tests to try to prove her innocence. According to Tim Miller of EquuSearch, Croslin-Cummings "miserably failed" the tests. The tests were video taped and the fake rose comment was made off camera.

There was a flurry of activity related to the disappearance of Haleigh Cummings over the weekend.
The Putnam County Sheriff's Office interviewed Misty Cummings'
brother and his wife Friday evening, and searchers on horseback
continued the hunt for the missing Putnam County kindergartner Saturday
morning at a plot of land near the Palatka home where she last seen in
February.
The search yielded no results. The Sheriff's Office didn't respond to multiple calls for comment about the interviews.Crystal Sheffield, Haleigh Cumming's mother, said she heard from
investigators that Tommy Croslin and his wife were brought in for
questioning because of comments from Misty Cummings, 17, wife of
Haleigh's father, Ronald.
"They were checking up about some things she had told police," Sheffield said.
She added the interviews each lasted a few hours.
The 30-person search was undertaken by EquuSearch, a Texas group
that specializes in tracking down missing children and was involved
with the Caylee Anthony case.
EquuSearch founder Tim Miller said the search was planned in
advance, and Cummings suggested the location because she believed the
6-acre wooded plot hadn't been thoroughly searched.
Cummings has been under intense scrutiny after a series of poor
results on different tests, such as voice analysis, administered by
Miller. Those results went public shortly after authorities issued a
release that said physical evidence contradicts where she told
detectives she was when the girl vanished. Lt. Johnny Greenwood of the
Putnam County Sheriff's Office told the Times-Union earlier this month
that Misty Cummings knows more than she is letting on, but she isn't
considered a suspect.
An argument between Ronald Cummings and his brother-in-law, Hank
Croslin Jr., preceded the search and interviews. The fight earlier this
month ended with Ronald Cummings' arrest. Two days later, Croslin found
a dead rat in his Satsuma mailbox.
Misty and Ronald Cummings were not available for comment.

After a busy week in the Haleigh Cummings abduction case where the last person to see the 6-year-old Satsuma girl who’s been missing since February failed her 4th polygraph, a Bounty Hunter involved in the Caylee Anthony case Sunday made an open offer to assist Misty Croslin-Cummings, on a radio program.

The program recapped the week’s events including Misty’s failed polygraph test and other tests that she requested Texas EquuSearch to conduct in an attempt to clear her name, accusations her brother Tommy may have been connected and his subsequent questioning and a fruitless ground search on a piece of land marked by a plastic rose.

After the recap, I challenged listeners to think for a moment from the perspective of Misty whose life has impacted by sexual abuse at the hands of family members, a low level of education, being raised by drug addicted parents and who just might have been threatened with lethal force the night of Haleigh’s abduction. I also brought up the idea that Misty might not need another polygraph or an attorney, but rather and advocate.

At that point of the program, the host injected Bounty Hunter Leonard Padilla into the conversation. Padilla agreed that Misty probably needs a friend right now.

I asked Padilla if he had any suggestions. He responded by offering his help to Misty if she wanted it.

Padilla suggested taking her away from her surroundings for safety reasons–perhaps flying her to Canada in order to get some straight answers and to provide her an attorney.

Journalist Art Harris added that Misty is fragile, scared and might be suffering from a form of Stockholm Syndrome right now.

Leonard Padilla is also a figure in the Caylee Anthony case in Orlando.

Wow, LP wants to get involved with this case ,too! IMO something is not right with Misty. Can't figure out what she is hiding.

LIElemteach wrote:Wow, LP wants to get involved with this case ,too! IMO something is not right with Misty. Can't figure out what she is hiding.

---I can - the Truth!

Misty and Ronald Cummings say they hoped Tim Miller of Texas Equusearch was going to help them find Haleigh Cummings, who disappeared in February.

Instead, they claim he took them out of town and tricked them the week of August 20th.

In an interview on August 31st, Misty and Ronald Cummings talked in Ronald's attorney's office in St. Augustine.

Misty Cummings said, "[Miller] called on the phone and said 'I'm going to take you to Orlando to get you away because your days are numbered.' And I said okay."

However, Miller told reporters he only offered to take them away from the stresses in Putnam County so they could relax a little bit.

Miller said, "I asked if they wanted to get away for a couple of days to let their heads clear out."

When leaving Putnam County, Misty Cummings said Miller told her and her husband they could not bring their cell phones with them. She said she did not ask why.

Miller said, "No it's false. Ron was afraid to talk on their cell phones because Ron said his phone was tapped and Misty's phone was tapped, everybody's phone was tapped. He said it won't do any good to get away because it's a Nextel phone with GPS on it."

Ronald Cummings told Clark, "My understanding is [Miller] did not want us to be tracked, I don't know if we were being tracked by the FBI. I don't know."

Miller said the phones were "their choice. One-hundred percent their choice." Miller said he did want them to be able to reach him and their families while in Orlando, so he did purchase a prepaid phone for them.

While in Orlando for three days and two nights, Miller said Misty Cummings wanted to take a polygraph test.

But Misty told reporters she did not ask to take it and that it was a surprise.

"When I showed up there, they told me I was taking a polygraph. I was like, okay," Misty said. She said she never said she did not want to take the test because "I was helping. I was trying to do everything to help find Haleigh. Anything for Haleigh, I'll do."

Misty Cummings said she later felt pressured by Miller to take a voice analysis test and undergo hypnosis.

"He told me if I do not take those tests, he wouldn't look for Haleigh, and that's why I took the tests because I don't want no one to stop looking for Haleigh," Misty Cummings said.

However, Miller said she begged him to take those tests and that the hypnosis was her idea.

Misty Cummings' attorney, Robert Fields, feels Orlando-based attorney Marck NeJame was behind the tests and should not have been interfering with his client.

Fields said, "If there was an ethical obligation it was possibly breached. And it would've been by Mr. NeJame. Again, I wasn't there but that's my understating of what Misty and Ronald said."

While investigators and these latest private tests indicate Misty Cummings is withholding vital information about Haleigh's disappearance, Ronald Cummings stands by his wife.

"My feelings are we need to find my daughter," Ronald Cummings said.

Reporters asked him, "Do you feel Misty holds some information that can help do that?" He answered, "I don't think she has any information that will help find Haleigh."

Misty Cummings said, "If they go out and look for the right person, they'd have all the answers but they're trying to get all the answers from me that I don't have."

Misty Cummings said she did not call her attorney before taking the polygraph because she thought she could take it on her own.

Fields said he feels she did pass the tests and that the tests are open to interpretation.

Misty Cummings says she does not regret taking the tests. She also feels she passed them, even though the independent test administrators say she failed them.

A weekend ground search for a missing Putnam County girl and a law
enforcement interview with a relative of the child's stepmother,
launched after she reportedly failed lie-detector and voice-stress
tests last month, didn't provide any new information about the
youngster, according to searchers and officers.
On Saturday, members of Equusearch, a Texas-based search group,
hunted for signs or any clues regarding Haleigh Cummings, a 6-year-old
who vanished from her south Putnam home in February, in woods near the
residence. The Putnam County Sheriff's Office also confirmed they had
questioned the brother of Misty Croslin-Cummings, the child's
stepmother, after she said during one of the tests that Tommy Croslin
had been acting strangely after Haleigh's disappearance.Attention
in the case of the missing girl has been focused on Croslin-Cummings
after the Sheriff's Office publicly stated last month that
investigators believe she hasn't been truthful.While Haleigh's
father was at work, Croslin-Cummings, who was then Ronald Cummings'
girlfriend, has said she was asleep at home with Haleigh and the girl's
younger brother when the child vanished.Sheriff's Office
spokesman Lt. Johnny Greenwood said questioning Croslin-Cummings'
brother and participating in the search were efforts by the law
enforcement agency to make sure they cover all bases.And Greenwood repeated that investigators feel there are problems with Croslin-Cummings' reports of what happened that night."She's
failed to account for her actions that evening," Greenwood said.
"There's lots of holes in her statements. The things she said she was
doing we verified she wasn't doing."The most recent search
focused on an area Croslin-Cummings talked about while taking tests the
head of Equusearch said she hoped would clear her name.In an
unrecorded comment, Croslin-Cummings allegedly told the founder of the
search firm that there was an area that may not have been adequately
searched. She said searchers should look for a red rose and provided a
location.The flower had previously been located and the area was shown to investigators before the weekend search.Rich Giles with Equusearch was among about 30 members of the group who hunted through the area Saturday.He
described it as a strip of wooded property of varying widths running
from the St. Johns River east behind the home where Haleigh, her
brother and father were staying. The land had been searched before,
Giles said.Participants were on foot and were an arms-length
apart as they moved in a line through the woods once and then back
through again. Although nothing was located, Giles said it was a good
search because at least it helps eliminate one area and may put
investigators closer to concentrating on other locations.Like
the Sheriff's Office, Giles said there are no specific plans for any
immediate actions in connection with the missing child."It's basically a wait on new information," he said.

Misty Cummings was the last person to see Haleigh Cummings before she disappeared in February from their home. Misty's husband, Ronald Cummings, stands by her side.

He told reporters Monday "I don't think [Misty] has any information that will help find Haleigh." Tim Miller of Texas Equusearch told reporters this week, "Ron may be saying that now."

Miller said Ronald Cummings told him, as well as Orlando-based attorney Mark NeJame, about two weeks ago that he doubted Misty's story about the night Haleigh disappeared.

Miller told reporters, "Ronald's statement right then was, 'The b**** has something to do with Haleigh's disappearance.'"

Misty Cummings has said she put Haleigh to bed that February night at 8:00 and then around 10:00 Misty herself went to sleep.

Miller said Ronald Cummings does not buy that story.

Miller told reporters, "He said, 'She had never been to sleep that night.' He said, 'The bed was still made.' He said, 'Nobody had been in the bed.'"

Misty, in an exclusive interview, said the bed was not made. "I was sleeping in that bed. How would it be made if someone was sleeping in the bed? I wasn't the only one sleeping in it. Me and his son. How would the bed be made if we were in the bed sleeping in it?"

Miller said Ronald Cummings also told him, "She's lying."

Miller said, NeJame asked Ronald Cummings, "Why did you marry her? [Ronald] said, his exact words were, 'You keep your friends close and your enemies closer.'"

NeJame told reporters he would not comment on private conversations, but he added, "Whatever Miller says, you can take it to the bank."

Misty Cummings said she had nothing to do with Haleigh's disappearance.

"They've been on me for six months. I've been the focus. They just need to move on and look for the right person," Misty Cummings said.

Ronald Cummings agreed Monday afternoon, even though detectives and private individuals say Misty holds the key to finding Haleigh." Ronald Cummings was asked, "Do you feel Misty is the key to this investigation?"

Ronald responded and said, "No, I don't. I think they're barking up the wrong tree."

Ronald Cummings' attorney, Terry Shoemaker said Ronald did have conversations with Miller. Shoemaker said Cummings has questioned everyone around him since Haleigh disappeared.

Shoemaker added that his client still stands by Misty and will continue to do so until there are "cold hard facts" to suggest he should not.

Misty Cummings and her attorney feel she passed the tests, even though the people who administered the tests said she failed them.

GLEN ST. MARY, Fla., Sept. 2 -- Crystal Sheffield, mother of
HaLeigh Cummings who disappeared from her home in Satsuma, Florida, supports
the renewed involvement of Texas EquuSearch and Tim Miller in the search for
her daughter. HaLeigh's maternal grandmother, Marie Griffis, also supports the
efforts of Tim Miller and his organization.

The Sheffield/Griffis families appreciate the dedication of Tim Miller to the
truth and to the search for HaLeigh. As a family, they have made a donation to
Texas EquuSearch in the name of HaLeigh Cummings and they ask others to do the
same.

"I still wake up every morning wondering if someone will call and tell me that
HaLeigh has been found and that she wants to see me. All I want is HaLeigh
back home. I would like to thank Tim Miller for trying to help find my
daughter," says Crystal Sheffield.

Marie Griffis agrees and says, "We have been looking for HaLeigh for over six
months and we need all of the help we can get. All we want is the truth. Thank
you Mr. Miller for helping to find out the truth about HaLeigh."

The family asks that people show their support for Texas EquuSearch and Tim
Miller by making donations to the organization in the name of HaLeigh
Cummings.

Donations can be mailed to: Texas EquuSearch, P.O. Box 395, Dickinson, Texas
77539

Online donations can be made at the Texas EquuSearch website at :
www.texasequusearch.org

Tim Miller Speaks To TJ Hart After The Nancy Grace Show.