HALEIGH CUMMINGS - 5 yo - Satsuma FL - The Beginning

CBS News says Misty Cummings
provides new details about the night that Haleigh Cummings vanished in
part two of an "Early Show" interview. Misty Cummings was baby-sitting
for the child when she disappeared from her father's Satsuma home in
February.Maggie Rodriguez conducted the interview, which concludes Monday. The first part aired this morning.
Also on Monday, Rodriguez will have a live interview with Ronald Cummings, Misty's husband, about her comments. "The Early Show" starts at 7 a.m. on WKMG-Channel 6. CBS offered this excerpt from Monday's interview with Misty Cummings:

Rodriguez:"Your brother told police that when he went to the trailer that night,
that you were supposedly putting Haleigh to bed -- that you weren't
there. Did you go somewhere that night?"
Cummings: "No, I did not. Did not leave my house at all."
Rodriguez: "Why did he tell police you weren't there?"
Cummings: "Trying to get out of jail, that's what I think."
Rodriguez: "So your brother was in jail"
Cummings: "Yeah, he was in jail."
Rodriguez: "Your own brother would betray you like that?"
Cummings: "That's how my family is."

After eight months of scrutiny, Misty Cummings says the police and public need to focus their attention on someone else.

"They just need to move on and look for the right person because they're
focusing on me, and I'm not the one who has Haleigh," the 17-year-old
told CBS's "Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez in a segment aired
Friday. "I don't know where she is so they need to look for the person
that does have Haleigh."

Misty Cummings was babysitting then
5-year-old Haleigh Cummings the night the kindergartner disappeared
from her Satsuma home last February.

But authorities investigating the child's disappearance say Misty Cummings' statements
have been inconsistent and they will continue to press for answers.

"She does have information that we need," Putnam County sheriff's spokesman
Lt. Johnny Greenwood said Friday. "There are still things that she has
been telling us that do not match the physical evidence."

Cummings flew to New York on Thursday to appear on the CBS program against her
attorney's recommendation. During Friday's interview, Cummings appeared
subdued. She wore a T-shirt with Haleigh's photo.

She told Rodriguez she thinks Haleigh is alive, and family members are holding her.

"Someone came in and got her, obviously," Cummings said. "I feel like it's on the other side of the family that has her."

Cummings wasn't pressed for further details, such as whether the "other side of
the family" was her estranged husband, Ronald Cummings, or the family
of Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield.

Ronald Cummings' attorney termed Misty Cummings' assertion "absolutely ludicrous."

"That was stated merely for the purpose of deflecting attention away from
her," lawyer Brandon Beardsley told the Orlando Sentinel.

Cummings, who reportedly has failed several lie detector tests, said she was only
supposed to undergo hypnosis when she took the latest polygraph in
August. She attributed the failures to "I feel like it's my fault
because I was the last one seen with her."

Ronald Cummings, Haleigh's father, has said he was divorcing Misty Cummings. The
paperwork is set to go through next week, according to her attorney,
Robert Fields of Palatka.

Misty Cummings discussed the pending divorce with Rodriguez.

"If that's what happens, it happens," Cummings said. "We're going to still
stay in contact. And if something happens down the road, then we might
end up back together. I don't know."

Cummings also told Rodriguez that the divorce has nothing to do with her criticism from investigators.

"He tells me, it's just too much pressure on us right now," she said of her
husband. "And you know, I got family problems. My family's trying to
start problems. It's just too hard.

"He believes me. He doesn't think I had anything to do with Haleigh going missing."

Added Cummings, "I just want everything to be back to normal. I want Haleigh home," Cummings said.

CBS acknowledged the network paid Misty Cummings' travel expenses to appear
on the program and said a second segment would be aired on Monday in
which she further criticizes her family.

The sheriff's office has now received approximately 5,000 tips since Haleigh was reporting missing at 3:27 a.m. Feb. 10.

Cummings, who was babysitting Haleigh the night she disappeared, told authorities
she put Haleigh to bed at 8 p.m., and awoke at 3 a.m. to discover the
child missing. She married Ronald Cummings about a month later.

Authorities have said they believe Haleigh was abducted. No suspects have been identified.

Misty Croslin-Cummings, the stepmother of Haliegh Cummings, no longer has legal representation. The move follows an appearance on the CBS Early Morning Show.
Cummings will no longer be represented by Putnam County attorney
Robert Fields. He says he feels he has "navigated her through the most
difficult parts of this matter," and he "wishes her well."
Fields advised Croslin-Cummings not to New York for the nationally televised interview Friday morning.
During the interview, Cummings suggested someone on her husband's
side of the family may know what happened to her missing stepdaughter.
Shortly after, Fields made the announcement.
Ronald Cummings' attorney confirmed Tuesday that he was asking his wife for a divorce.

Misty
Croslin-Cummings says she put 5-year-old Haleigh to bed on the night of
February 9. Early the next morning, the teenager said she woke up to
discover Haleigh had vanished. The little girl would've celebrated her
6th birthday in August.
If you have any information that would help investigators locate
Haleigh Cummings, call 911 or Crimestoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS. You will
remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward.

Ronald Cummings, whose daughter vanished from their home in Putnam
County in February, still stands behind the last person to see Haleigh Cummings, his attorney said on national television this morning.

Misty Croslin Cummings, who was baby-sitting Haleigh Cummings in
February, may not have revealed everything about the night the girl
vanished, but Ronald Cummings does not think the 17-year-old he later
married was involved, said attorney Terry Shoemaker.

"He's just doubting whether everything she said is what transpired that
night. But he in no way believes that she is involved whatsoever,''
Shoemaker said during an interview on CBS' The Early Show.

Ronald Cummings, 25, wants to divorce Misty Croslin Cummings because of
the stress the disappearance has placed on their marriage -- not
because he thinks his wife was involved, the attorney said.

Ronald married his former girlfriend about a month after Haleigh Cummings vanished. Their divorce was announced last week.

"Ron has stuck by Misty all along." Terry Shoemaker. Ronald Cummings
was scheduled to appear on the show but couldn't because his youngest
child was sick, the attorney said.

Shoemaker's appearance was the second part of a two-segment piece on
CBS' The Early Show about the case of the girl, who was 5 when she was
last seen.

The first part aired Friday with Haleigh's stepmother, Misty Croslin
Cummings, 17, saying she suspects someone on the "other side of the
family that has her."

The statement was interpreted to mean Ronald Cummings' family. But on
Monday, the network aired additional footage of the interview that
indicated Misty Croslin Cummings was casting suspicion on the family of
Haleigh Cummings' biological mother.

Crystal Sheffield has admitted she didn't have a close relationship with Haleigh, Misty Croslin Cummings said.

"I don't think that she, personally had anything, to do with it,''
Misty Croslin Cummings said in the interview that aired this morning.

Authorities have said Haleigh Cummings was abducted. No suspects have been named. No arrests have been made.

A man who claims he was involved in a sexual relationship with
Misty Croslin-Cummings days before Haleigh Cummings disappeared in
February, spoke with FOX 35's Jacksonville affiliate on Wednesday. "It was brief. It was one time and then she left. It was a mistake,' Gregory Page also known as 'White Boy Greg' told WAWS TV . "I wish I would have never gotten caught up with the girl because it has just been turmoil since." On Tuesday, Page was arrested on drug charges. He said during the arrest, he was questioned by police. "They just asked me where she was at. I told them, 'I don't know'." Page
said this wasn't the first time he was interviewed about the case. He
said he has been questioned several times before and even took a
polygraph. He said he passed. The Putnam County Sheriff's Office
would not comment about Page. They would not confirm whether he has
been interviewed or if he took a polygraph. "I have a daughter about the same age. If I knew anything about her, I would have told. That's not my kind of thing," Page said. "If anyone knows me they know I love kids and I don't do anything to hurt anybody."

Detectives involved with the Haleigh Cummings investigation have
been tight lipped about any details involving the case. On Tuesday, for
the first time, they released the details of an interview conducted
with Hank Croslin Jr., Misty Cummings brother. They say he told them he
went by Haleigh Cummings home the night she disappeared, and no one was
there. This is different from the story Misty Cummings has told
police. She has said time and time again that she was home the entire
evening on the night Haleigh disappeared. What she’s told us is
a farce…and the idea that she was doing what she says she was doing and
how she was doing it is just not believable…its totally unbelievable in
fact, said Major Gary Bowling of the Putnam County Sheriffs Office . Hank
Croslin Jr. is already in jail on an unrelated grand theft charge. On
Thursday, he was interviewed by police in regards to the Haleigh
Cummings investigation. He told officers on the night Haleigh
disappeared; he received a call from Haleighs father Ronald Cummings. In
the interview, Hank tells us something very interesting. Which is that
Ronald had attempted, the night of the ninth, the evening before
Haleigh went missing, that Ronald had made several calls to Misty that
went unanswered. So Ronald ultimately calls her brother Hank, better
known as Tommy, asking Tommy to go down the street to the residence to
see if he can make contact with Misty. Hank says he does, around 9:45
or 10 o’clock, go down the street and he says when he gets there the
lights are off in the trailer, he says its dark, and quite, said Major
Bowling. Bowling went on to say that Hank Jr. showed him how
hard he banged on the door, and told them he stayed in the area for
awhile waiting for Misty to either answer the door or come home. Hank
Jr. says after some time passed, he gave up and assumed she wasn’t home. We
believe that releasing some of the information we’ve found out advances
the investigation. And particularly the way that we think this will
advance it is that Misty’s family now knows about this information that
I’m telling you now about Hank. We hope that the family or maybe Misty
by her own conscience, if there is a discrepancy, that if she was
indeed not home or she wants to explain why Hank banged on the door,
with no response we want to hear Misty’s side of that, said Major
Bowling.
Major Bowling went on to say that on the Saturday
following the interview with Hank Jr., Misty voluntarily came into the
Sheriffs Office for questioning. But, he says she did not talk discuss
Hank Jr.s interview. Misty is the type that if you ask her a question that she doesn’t want to answer, she reminds us she has a lawyer, said Bowling. Action
News spoke with Misty’s lawyer on Tuesday. Robert Fields tells us Misty
is out of town and will be for the next few days. He says Misty is
sticking to her story that she was home the night Haleigh disappeared.
He also says he believes the story Hank Jr. is telling deputies is not
true. Fields says as soon as the Sheriffs Office contacts him to do a
formal interview with Misty, he will be glad to consider it. We’ve
said for some time now, quite unapologetically, that we think that
Misty has some information that she needs to tell us, and its
information like this just like this that she needs to clarify so we
can understand better what she was doing that evening. If Misty, who is
represented by attorney Robert Fields, if they want to come down here,
we would love to ask her some questions specifically and narrowly about
that evening, said Major Bowling. Major Bowling also talked about Misty’s cell phone. Action News
asked him if he could use GPS technology to track down exactly where
Misty was the night Haleigh disappeared. Major Bowling wouldn’t go into
details, but says they are investigating those facts. There are
some things we can do with electronics, and there were some problems
with the electronics…that’s about as far as I can go into that…there’s
some things were still working on trying to get cleared up in regards
to electronic intelligence, said Major Bowling. Action News
asked the Putnam County Sheriffs Office about possible charges it might
file against Misty if it turns out that she was lying about where she
was the night Haleigh disappeared. The Sheriffs Office said it wasn’t
at that point yet. We haven’t arrived at a place that will allow
us to articulate probable cause for arrest yet…the issue is that---we
have a lot of little things, but really coming to the point where we
can in good faith go to a judge and seek a warrant or simply make a
probably cause arrest, were simply not there, said Major Bowling.

MISTY CUMMINGS: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

Posted from a blogger
October 10, 2009
I’m not even going to address the accusations that have been made over the last few days. They are truly so outlandish that they don’t dignify a response. What I am going to do, is what I was planning on doing all along; tell exactly what has been going on behind the scenes for the last week in the Haleigh Cummings’ investigation. However, we all know now that the plan got foiled by a little road rage incident, that has damaged this investigation irreparably.
Back on Sept 20th, Tim Miller asked me to come to Orlando to film Misty Cummings’ hypnosis and voice analysis that SHE had requested to have done. Although I was not paid, I was permitted to report (as I did on this blog) my observations of the tapings. Tim also flew in TJ Ward, the voice analysis expert, and he needed someone to pick TJ up at the airport. Because Texas EquuSearch (TES) operates with a very small budget, they rely on volunteers. Tim called his TES member closest to the airport, and asked her to pick up TJ; that member was Donna Brock. Donna and TJ arrived in Satsuma at Ronald’s aunt’s house (where the hypnosis and voice analysis was being conducted). This is the first time I had ever met Donna. She was asked to wait with TJ until he was done with his test and to return him to the Orlando Airport (he’s from Georgia). It was a long day for all involved, and there was a lot of waiting around. Misty took a liking to Donna; they chatted causally as we got set up for the interviews. The two even slipped out to pick up food for everyone (Ronald, Teresa, Ronald’s aunt, Jr. and a few other family members were all there).
The week before this, Tim Miller had an intimate conversation with Ronald Cummings in the bedroom he shared with Misty in his grandmother’s trailer just down the road. They talked in detail about their thoughts of Misty’s involvement in the case. Tim asked Ronald why he married Misty. Ronald responded, “I have to keep her close til I find out what happened to Haleigh.” It’s what happened next that frightened Miller. Ronald pulled a gun out of the closet — an assault rifle with 2 clips — each clip holding 32 bullets. Ronald looked at Miller and said, “When I find out where Haleigh’s at, I will blow the teeth out of the back of her head, and then I’ll do this…” He then got on his knees, put the butt of the rifle on the floor, leaned over and put the barrel in his mouth. There was no “IF” she had anything to do with it, Miller knew that Ronald was serious — that he would kill Misty, and then take his own life. It was at that point he knew they had to get Misty out of there, or she would end up dead.
After LE received copies of the polygraph, the voice analysis and hypnosis, I wrote about it on my blog. The media then picked up the story and it blew up. (I cleared with Miller and LE that it was ok to release the tapes to the media.) When the story blew up, so did tempers in Satsuma, and Miller knew he had to get Misty out of there immediately. Donna seemed liked the logical choice. Misty trusted her — she is a mother and a grandmother, and most importantly, she lived close enough and was willing to take Misty in. “We may have to save Misty’s life,” Miller told Donna. And in an instant, Donna was off to get Misty and bring her to safety in Orlando.
Miller knew in the back of his mind, Donna now had an opportunity to get close to Misty and get more information that could lead to Haleigh. So did LE. Miller also knew she wasn’t an expert, just one of his volunteers going above and beyond her call of duty, and he worried about that. LE was well aware of exactly where Misty was and what was going on at all times. This is what they wanted — Misty away from Satsuma, the trailer park, her family, Ronald’s family, and most importantly — away from Ronald.
In Mark Fuhrman’s new book, “The Murder Business,” he writes in detail about the Melinda Duckett case, the young Florida mother of Trenton Duckett, who went missing in 2006. After appearing on Nancy Grace’s show, Melinda committed suicide.
“With Melinda Duckett’s suicide, investigators lost their best chance of finding Trenton,” says Fuhrman. “We have to avoid that same situation at any cost,” says Tim Miller. “If anything tragic happens to Misty now, any knowledge of what happened to Haleigh dies too.” “You can’t put a price tag on finding a child.”
Over the next month, Misty and Donna grew close. Miller wired money into Donna’s account on several occasions to cover Misty’s living expenses, right up until 4 days ago, when he wired her $300.00 dollars, all for the purpose of keeping her safe, keeping her away from Satsuma and keeping her talking.
“Donna made incredible sacrifices. She put her life on hold, stopped spending time with her own family, including her daughter and newborn grandbaby,” said Miller. “This has been very stressful for her.” Miller and Donna both made periodic reports to LE on Misty’s whereabouts and activities.
As any good journalist should, I reached out to Donna to try and get comments and information on Misty. Donna and Misty were tight-lipped at first, but they read my blog nightly, and as they watched the media bashing Misty on TV every night, they grew to trust me. When the divorce news broke, Misty wanted to respond to what was being said. So she granted me an interview on the phone and I posted it on the blog.
That night, someone from CBS’ “The Early Show” read my blog and emailed me immediately to see if I could get them an interview with Misty. I freelance for CBS, so when they called, I wanted to help them out. I knew I didn’t have the resources to fly to Orlando and conduct the interview myself, just to post it on my blog. I told Misty of CBS’ interview request and she agreed to it. CBS arranged to fly her up, not first class as rumored last night on Nancy Grace, but in coach. It is Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in the media to fly a guest in and put them in a hotel to tape an interview. Donna came along because Misty is a minor, and she needed to be accompanied by an adult. I notified LE that she was coming to NY to appear on “The Early Show,” and I gave them her outgoing and return flight and hotel information so they knew where she was. LE requested that we not change her return ticket to any state other than Florida.
Then the road rage incident happened. Donna and Misty called me right after it happened because we had been in constant contact. A woman cut them off on the road and they (both) gave her the finger. A stupid decision on both their parts, bad judgment whatever you want to call it, in that second everything changed. Up until that point Donna and Misty had remained quiet, flying under the radar so to speak, and Misty trusted Donna. Apparently, the woman who cut them off recognized Misty and called police claiming they pointed a gun. Next thing you know, Donna and Misty are pulled over and find themselves face down on the ground with guns in their backs. The situation quickly diffused when the police realized the report was false. The media went nuts, Donna’s cover was blown, and the woman turned up on Nancy Grace. What an opportunist, she should be ashamed of herself for lying to police. Donna and Misty realized they were wrong and it was foolish. Then the armchair investigators tried to connect dots that weren’t connectable. And none of this has anything to do with finding Haleigh. Why would Nancy Grace waste an hour on this? I decided not to even right a post about it. It was irrelevant. But now Misty learned that Donna was not her friend.
The CBS interview was important because the more people talk, the more they reveal. Every time Misty tells the same story, police can look for inconsistencies, something different, perhaps a clue. That’s why it was so important to get Misty to tell “her side of the story.” And perhaps, from what I hear, it may her last interview (Part 2 will air on CBS’ “Early Show” on Monday). After the interview aired, Misty’s attorney dropped her as a client.
Tonight as I write this, Donna has dropped Misty off in Satsuma. Donna will meet again with LE to tell her the last of what she has learned. Donna has been very tight-lipped about her conversations with Misty, at least with me. At least for now. The next few days should be interesting, now that Misty is back in the lions’ den. I will write more about my observations and conversations I had with Misty while in NY with her.
I asked Tim Miller if his organization will continue to look for Haleigh. “I’m not done with this case; I’m done with these people. But any resources I have will be available to help find Haleigh. I will continue any efforts I can to end the search for Haleigh Cummings.”
I hope this begins to clear up a few things and connect the dots for everyone that has been following this case. There is a lot more coming. Please stay tuned

The mother of the woman who put Haleigh to bed before she disappeared is behind bars in Putnam County.
The sheriff's office arrested 40-year-old Lisa Carmen Croslin on two felonies and a misdemeanor Wednesday afternoon.

According to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office web site, Croslin
faces charges of fraud utter false instrument, forgery of alter public
record certificate, and larceny petit theft.
The arrest stems from warrants that led to her arrest in Nashville last month.
Croslin is the mother of Misty Croslin-Cummings, the teenaged stepmother of Haleigh Cummings.
The 5-year-old girl vanished on the night of February 9 at her home
in Satsuma. Misty Croslin-Cummings said she put Haleigh to bed.
Call Crime Stoppers at 1-888-277-TIPS if you have any information to help investigators.
There is a $35,000 reward for Haleigh's safe return.

A volunteer in the search for Haleigh Cummings was a mother-like
figure to Misty Cummings and recently accompanied the 17-year-old to
New York to obtain information about the missing child.

EquuSearch founder Tim Miller said Donna Brock met Misty Cummings the day the teen
reportedly took polygraph tests in Orlando, and Misty befriended the
woman immediately.

Little did she know Brock was passing information along to investigators.

"This is all about Haleigh," Miller said. "It's all about one little child,
and we will do anything in our power to get that child located."

Miller added he was concerned about Misty Cummings' well-being after
witnessing fights between her and her former husband, Ronald Cummings.

"It was an opportunity to get Misty out of the house into a safe place," Miller said.

"She certainly wasn't set up, she reached out to Donna. It felt as though
Misty may say something valuable and take this investigation forward."

Equusearch provided funding for Brock to take Cummings to get her hair and nails
done, and other leisure activities, Miller said.

"Equusearch spent a lot of money, but how do you put a price tag on Haleigh? You can't do it," Miller said.

"I have a lot of compassion for Misty. She had a terrible, terrible life
growing up. She lived in a house that was extremely dysfunctional, full
of drugs and alcohol," Miller added. "If Misty was involved with
Haleigh's case it's halfway understandable, but by no means justified."

On Wed-nesday, Cummings' mother, Lisa Croslin, was booked into the Putnam
County Jail on two felony charges and a misdemeanor stemming from her
arrest in Tennessee last month.

The 40-year-old was charged with fraud utter false instrument, forgery or alter of public record certificate and larceny.

Any information Brock learned was reported directly to investigators, Miller said.

Meanwhile, divorce papers for the Cummings' were signed by a judge Thursday,
finalizing the couple's split, Brandon Beardsley, attorney for Ronald
Cummings, said.

An Amber Alert for Haleigh was issued Feb. 10 after she was reported missing by Misty Cummings at 3:27 a.m.

A massive search ensued, involving helicopters, boats, canines and horseback units. No sign of the child was found.

Misty Cummings previously said she put Haleigh to bed about 8 p.m. on Feb. 9
and went to sleep herself two hours later. She said the child was gone
when she awoke the next day at 3 a.m. to use the restroom.

Investigators believe that Haleigh was abducted.

Meanwhile, reports of people spotting the missing 6-year-old continue to come forward, but all have been unfounded.

"There have been sightings since the beginning of the case," Lt. Johnny
Greenwood, spokesman for the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, said.
"She's been spotted all over the country and Canada. She's been spotted
everywhere."

The sheriff's office has now received more than 5,000 tips.

To report any information on Haleigh's whereabouts, call 329-0808.

The marriage between Misty Croslin and Ronald Cummings, father of missing Putnam County girl Haleigh Cummings , is officially over.

St
Johns County court documents show Misty and Ronald are officially
divorced just 2 days after Ronald filed the papers. Both waived the 20
day waiting period. They got married just over 7 months ago, about a month after Haleigh vanished. Putnam County Sheriff’s Office
investigators say Haleigh was kidnapped early on February 10 and the
last person to see the five-year-old was Misty Croslin, who placed the
911 call alerting police to Haliegh's disappearance.

The disappearance of 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings eight months ago
occurred about the time Ellen Johnson got Internet access at home in
east Texas. "I didn't even have a computer in my house until just before this," she said. Now,
the 46-year-old petroleum engineer has a Twitter account called
haleighnewz dedicated to the case and at summer's end, was in Putnam
County to help with a school supply drive for Haleigh's classmates.
Johnson met Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield, and grandmother Marie
Griffis there. She spends hours sharing her thoughts online and probing
for information about the ongoing investigation. It is as if the Internet has removed a wall. Johnson
is not alone. In the eight months since the kindergartner disappeared
from the Satsuma mobile home where she was living with a younger
brother, their father and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Misty Croslin,
Haleigh has touched legions of hearts and spawned international
attention in an online community. Johnson says her attraction to
the case is not something she understands completely. She had never
posted on an online forum but is now immersed in Haleigh's story. "You are interacting with the people themselves," she said. "There is not that distance between them and you." Johnson said she is not married and has no children but was struck by the plight of a mother without her child. "On some level I felt compassion for them," she said. Steph
Watts, a broadcast producer and journalist who has worked for Court TV,
CNN and Fox and followed crime and justice stories, said there is a
danger in becoming too close to a case. "We feel like we have
permission and a right to be in their lives and we don't," he said. Watts has a blog, Watts Up With This??? at stephww.wordpress.com that follows the Haleigh story. "What the Internet has done is taken those local stories and made them national stories," he said. Watts said he began writing about Haleigh in August. "I think people are feeling they can become part of the story by weighing in," he said. What
has happened is not necessarily new, he said, and reactions from online
observers are equivalent to earlier generations yelling opinions at the
television. "This is like a high-speed letter to the editor," he said. Kathy Schmidt, 42, a mother of three in Madison, Wis., calls the case a "scattered puzzle." Schmidt,
who has a Twitter account, camille_2010, is scheduled to launch the
Justice 4 Haleigh blog today with a friend she met online. It will be
at justice4haleigh.wordpress.com. Passion ebbs and flows in the forums, she said. "Nobody is really in charge of anything," she said. "They just get a following." Like Johnson, Schmidt said she had never been compelled by a case before Haleigh's. "She didn't get treated right and she didn't deserve this," Schmidt said of the still-missing youngster. She
has an answer for her children, aged 10 to 14, when they ask her why
she is so absorbed by a girl so far away that she never knew. "I
don't really see anybody fighting for Haleigh on either side," she
tells them. "If it was you, I'd want someone fighting for you. Haleigh
didn't just walk out of that trailer for the rest of her life." It
is as if these people can reach through their computer screens to ease
the pain of Haleigh's family or nudge a detective's shoulder to prod
them forward. They e-mail the cops and politicians when
investigations seem to sputter and urge state child safety workers to
check the welfare of Haleigh's younger brother, said Chantell Wofter,
44, of Southern Ohio. She created her crwofter1 Twitter account because
of the case. "I feel close to the investigation," she said, one
time even calling the FBI. "If there is a search or something is going
on, I hear about it first." Since Feb. 10, detectives and
analysts have tried to crack the mysterious disappearance. They remain
unconvinced that Croslin, who became Haleigh's stepmother after
marrying 25-year-old Ronald Cummings in March, is telling all she knows. But
while searches, the Cummings' already dissolved marriage, standoffs by
both Haleigh's parents and unrelated arrests of family members and
others are strong fodder, they are not all that drives the story, said
Art Harris, whose blog The Bald Truth at artharris.com gives her
prominent coverage. "There is something about Haleigh's
picture," he said of the girl whose often-used image shows her with a
bright smile and a pink bow in her hair. "She is so winning," he
said. "Just by looking at the pictures regardless of how you feel about
her parents, she is an innocent." Harris' posts are often biting
and most likely focus on Ronald or Misty Cummings. Harris describes his
coverage as "calling it the way you see it." He is regularly
interviewed by cable television's Nancy Grace. "My challenge is how do you get behind the motives and the reasons behind it," he said. Lt.
Johnny Greenwood of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said bloggers
Harris and Watts check information and have not caused heartburn for
investigators. "The only thing that is really discouraging is those bloggers who have bad information," he said. Some hide behind online anonymity, he said. "We don't know who they are. People take what these people say as gospel." The
Internet can offer a measure of secrecy but is still within the reach
of the law, said Rick Karcher, a torts law professor at Florida Coastal
School of Law. Opinions are not illegal but the First Amendment does not protect against false, defamatory statements, he said. "It's from the perspective of the reader," he said. "Would they think it is true?" While
the case has gripped a divided online following that casts public
accusations about such troubled families, to Haleigh's relatives, much
of the attention is a bombardment that puts them on the defensive. "It
just consumes too much of your time to continue to sit and try to keep
up with who is saying what," said Griffis, who lives in Baker County.
"I think they're irrelevant. Half of their information isn't true." Now,
she said, she limits her involvement to posting Scripture. Those who
think they have a lead in the case need to contact detectives, she said. "If it is someone I've become familiar with, I'll answer them, but nine out of 10 times I don't," she said. Ronald
Cummings' grandmother, Annette Sykes, lives in southern Putnam County
and said her family has found support but also suffers sharply from the
commentary. "There's not much you can do," she said. "They are going to believe what they want to believe or say what they want to say."

On Monday evening, the ex-stepmother of missing Florida girl HaLeigh Cummings, was robbed at an apartment complex in Palatka. One of the women with her told police they were there to buy drugs.
The police report says Misty, 17, was with two friends in the Ragsdale Apartments parking lot when one friend exited the car they were driving to speak to someone. When the woman returned, she said “two or three black males jumped on Cummings [Misty] taking her purse and pulling her out of the vehicle.”
Misty got back into the car and the driver drove off, while the third woman chased the men. Misty was treated for minor injuries at Putnam County Medical Center.
The report indicates that at the scene, police found a purse strap and a “crushed pill bottle with unknown pills inside,”
After the incident, one of the women told police that she and Misty had gone to the apartment complex to purchase drugs. First Coast reports that during their interview with the woman, police were called to another scene, so no one was arrested.
Misty was recently divorced from HaLeigh’s father, Ronald Cummings, and is believed to be the last person to see the little girl the night she disappeared in February. She has been the primary focus of the investigation into HaLeigh’s disappearance, after giving authorities inconsistent stories about what happened the night the girl went missing.

The trouble-plagued teenager who was the last known
person to see HaLeigh Cummings alive was robbed and injured Monday
night during a drug deal gone bad, according to the Palatka Police
Department.

Misty Croslin, whose seven-month marriage to the missing girl's
father ended Thursday, was named as one of three young women who tried,
and failed, to buy drugs at the Ragsdale Apartment Complex, police
reported.

Croslin, 17, accompanied by Brandy Steedley, 18, and Melinda
Santmyer, 22, went to the apartments on Moody Road in Palatka around
8:15 p.m. Monday, according to the report.Two or three unidentified black males approached their car and reportedly grabbed Croslin and stole her purse.

She managed to get into the car, and Steedley drove away -- leaving Santmyer behind to flee on foot, police said.

Investigating officers reportedly interviewed Santmyer at an apartment in the complex.

"She told officers that they came to the apartment complex
attempting to buy drugs," according to the police department report.
"She stated that she got out of the car to look for an unidentified man
they gave money to for drugs.

"As she was going back to the vehicle the unidentified suspects came up to them" and stole Croslin's purse.

Croslin's attorney, Robert Fields, with the Palatka firm of Dowda
& Fields, said he believes his client's cell phone also was taken.

Fields said he only talked briefly with Croslin on Tuesday
afternoon, and she had little information to give him about the
incident.

Croslin, for a short time, was the stepmother of HaLeigh Cummings,
who was 5 years old when she disappeared from her father's Satsuma
mobile home the night of Feb. 9.

The teenager, who was Ronald Cummings' live-in girlfriend at the
time, was babysitting HaLeigh and her younger brother while their
father worked a night shift as a crane operator.

The two were married March 12, one month after the child disappeared.

A St. Johns County judge reportedly finalized their divorce on Thursday.

Croslin was a passenger in a car driven by Donna Brock, 43, on Oct.
7 when it was pulled over on Interstate 4 near Lake Mary, because
another driver said Brock had threatened her with a handgun.



Croslin and Brock were handcuffed and the car searched. They were released when no weapon was found. Croslin then decided to go against Fields' advice and appear two days later on a nationally televised show from New York.

At that point, he dropped her as a client because she repeatedly had gone against his advice.

He said Tuesday that he reconsidered when he learned that Brock was telling Croslin to ignore him.

"She was counseling Misty to go against my advice," Fields said. "I
didn't like that sort of interference with my representation."

Brock was identified as a current or, perhaps, former volunteer with
EquuSearch, a Texas-based search and recovery group that the missing
girl's family called on just after her disappearance.

Tim Miller, owner of EquuSearch, later became openly critical of
Croslin, insisting she knows more than she's telling investigators.

Anyone with information about the reported Monday night attack in Palatka is asked to call the police department at 329-0115.

Thank you, TomT! What a sad mess this case has become!

kygirl09 wrote:Thank you, TomT! What a sad mess this case has become!

---I so agree! Misty knows what happened. She's afraid to admit it but the girl's gonna crack one of these days. Unfortunately we cannot administer any "treatments" to expedite the process.

This case burns me to no end. Ron should be charged with child neglect for leaving his children with Misty to begin with, knowing what she is. Misty needs to be charged with something, she was in charge of those children and don't tell me she doesn't know what happened-I'm sure there is something they could pick her up on. The little beotch would'nt last long in jail, she needs her "fix" every day so, she should've been picked up the other nite when LE learned she was buying drugs. LE is gonna/or has, screwed this one up big time, but that's ok-it seems these days our children are "disposable"!!!

Tonight on the Nancy Grace Show on HLN they "bombshelling-ly" proclaimed that Haleigh Cummings is dead. Their source? Tim Miller, founder and CEO of the highly-regarded Texas Equusearch organization.
I have no problem with Tim Miller having drawn his own "personal" conclusions, he is entitled to his opinion, as I am mine. He has invested much time, money and energy on this case. I do, however, have a problem with Mr. Miller stating those conclusions in a public media arena where many viewers will take his message as being the "verified" truth. Without convincing physical evidence, it is wrong to tell the public to stop searching, to stop keeping their eyes open.
He even was quoted as saying, "They'll be lucky if they ever find a body".
It occurs to me that perhaps Mr. Miller is trying to force Misty's hand by making this pronouncement. She did, after all, high-tail it out of Florida to stay at her Granny's in Tennessee. (Her welcome mat from the two druggie friends was allegedly withdrawn after she shined the media spotlight on them).
If Mr. Miller wants Misty to "fess up", there must be a better way to go about this. Telling the public that the child is dead defeats the purpose of a Rescue organization. So, with a "dead" child there's no point in Texas Eq to stay around. So, they too have pulled up stakes and left the scene.
I will continue to report the facts, not my opinions, unless I give fair and honest notice that it is strictly an opinion.
That's the way I see it from here.

TomTerrific0420 wrote:Tonight on the Nancy Grace Show on HLN they "bombshelling-ly" proclaimed that Haleigh Cummings is dead. Their source? Tim Miller, founder and CEO of the highly-regarded Texas Equusearch organization.
I have no problem with Tim Miller having drawn his own "personal" conclusions, he is entitled to his opinion, as I am mine. He has invested much time, money and energy on this case. I do, however, have a problem with Mr. Miller stating those conclusions in a public media arena where many viewers will take his message as being the "verified" truth. Without convincing physical evidence, it is wrong to tell the public to stop searching, to stop keeping their eyes open.
He even was quoted as saying, "They'll be lucky if they ever find a body".
It occurs to me that perhaps Mr. Miller is trying to force Misty's hand by making this pronouncement. She did, after all, high-tail it out of Florida to stay at her Granny's in Tennessee. (Her welcome mat from the two druggie friends was allegedly withdrawn after she shined the media spotlight on them).
If Mr. Miller wants Misty to "fess up", there must be a better way to go about this. Telling the public that the child is dead defeats the purpose of a Rescue organization. So, with a "dead" child there's no point in Texas Eq to stay around. So, they too have pulled up stakes and left the scene.
I will continue to report the facts, not my opinions, unless I give fair and honest notice that it is strictly an opinion.
That's the way I see it from here.

Amen Tom

TomTerrific0420 wrote:Tonight on the Nancy Grace Show on HLN they "bombshelling-ly" proclaimed that Haleigh Cummings is dead. Their source? Tim Miller, founder and CEO of the highly-regarded Texas Equusearch organization.
I have no problem with Tim Miller having drawn his own "personal" conclusions, he is entitled to his opinion, as I am mine. He has invested much time, money and energy on this case. I do, however, have a problem with Mr. Miller stating those conclusions in a public media arena where many viewers will take his message as being the "verified" truth. Without convincing physical evidence, it is wrong to tell the public to stop searching, to stop keeping their eyes open.
He even was quoted as saying, "They'll be lucky if they ever find a body".
It occurs to me that perhaps Mr. Miller is trying to force Misty's hand by making this pronouncement. She did, after all, high-tail it out of Florida to stay at her Granny's in Tennessee. (Her welcome mat from the two druggie friends was allegedly withdrawn after she shined the media spotlight on them).
If Mr. Miller wants Misty to "fess up", there must be a better way to go about this. Telling the public that the child is dead defeats the purpose of a Rescue organization. So, with a "dead" child there's no point in Texas Eq to stay around. So, they too have pulled up stakes and left the scene.
I will continue to report the facts, not my opinions, unless I give fair and honest notice that it is strictly an opinion.
That's the way I see it from here.

Tom I remember Tim said the very same thing about Caylee. Well her body was eventually found. I pray that Hayleigh is too.

SATSUMA, Fla. -- A new e-mail address has been created for people to communicate tips and leads directly with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office about missing Florida girl Haleigh Cummings.

The address -- haleigh@putnamsheriff.org -- is in addition to the Crime Stopper tip line.

Authorities said on Wednesday that this address will help ensure that all of the e-mails coming into the sheriff's office are routed to the appropriate person.


Haleigh, then 5 years old, disappeared in February from her father's trailer home, in a heavily wooded area near the central Florida town of Satsuma.

Across the street from where 7-year-old Somer Thompson lived in suburban Orange Park, a memorial grows in the shade of an old oak.

Friends, family and strangers leave candles, flowers, prayer cards,
teddy bears, balloons and short, hopeful notes: "You're OK now. God got
U Baby" and "You are my Sunshine" and "Justice for Somer."

Profound sadness surrounds the place, but so does a certain sense of
closure: Somer Thompson lived here. She is gone now. Somebody did a
horrible thing to her, but many others loved this girl.

Fifty miles south in rural Satsuma, there is no closure.

In February, 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings'
disappearance captured national attention. Now a billboard along U.S.
Highway 17 flashes Haleigh's face every few seconds at drivers passing
through town and provides a number to call with tips.

But unlike Somer, whose body was discovered in a Georgia landfill two days after she disappeared, Haleigh has never been found.

Missing-children's experts involved in both cases say the cooperation
of Somer's family and her community coupled with some creative and
aggressive detective work by the Clay County Sheriff's Office led to
the girl's discovery.

At the same time, some say inconsistencies in the account given by the
last person thought to have seen Haleigh late Feb. 9 has hindered the
efforts of investigators with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

The difference between the cases is one little girl being found and put
to rest near her home — and a series of fruitless searches through
woods, lakes and fields that have turned up no body after nearly nine
months.

"In Clay County, they said, 'You know, we've got a little girl missing.
Let's go to work,'" said Tim Miller, founder of Texas EquuSearch, who
is familiar with both cases. "They've got a family that's being honest.
They've got a community that's being honest. They got right in on it,
and they just did a tremendous job."

On Tuesday, Somer was buried at Jacksonville Memory Gardens near her
home. The discovery of her body has the community frightened, but also
confident her killer will be found.

But in Haleigh's case, investigators initially thought the child had
been abducted from the Satsuma double-wide of her father, Ronald
Cummings. By mid-August, about the time Haleigh would have turned 6,
they were publicly expressing doubt that a stranger had taken Haleigh.
And investigators noted that Misty Cummings "continues to hold
important answers in the case." At the time of Haleigh's disappearance,
Misty Cummings was Misty Croslin but later married Haleigh's father.
They have since divorced.

Tests have shown Misty Cummings to be deceptive when answering questions about Haleigh's disappearance.

"From very, very early on, we stated publicly there were
inconsistencies in Misty's story about what happened that evening,"
said Putnam Deputy Sheriff Hancel Woods, adding that investigators
continue to work the case daily, as they have handled nearly 6,000 tips.

While praising the team investigating Somer's case in neighboring Clay
County, Woods said the two cases have many differences, and nothing at
this point suggests they might be related.

"Obviously there are similarities drawn due to geographic proximity and
the girls' ages, but each case stands on its own," Woods said.

Crucial differences

Though Clay detectives have
received widespread praise for finding Somer so soon, experts say
Putnam officials have done their job well, too.

"Putnam County [investigators] did everything right," Miller said this
week. "Unfortunately they didn't have a damn thing to work with."

Investigators working on the Somer Thompson case had the pressure of
time slipping away with each hour Somer was missing. But they were
prepared. Several months earlier, they had trained for just such a
scenario: a child who went missing after school.

They had started searching Somer's neighborhood quickly, including the
trash coming out of the Grove Park neighborhood, where the girl was
last seen walking home from school early last week, according Clay
Sheriff Rick Beseler.

But one detective, Bruce Owens, came to work early the morning after
Somer was reported missing and noticed "dumpsters were being picked up"
in the neighborhood, Beseler said.

"Bruce said to me that morning, 'We need to get on those dumpsters,'"
Beseler said. "I said, 'I want a deputy on every garbage truck.'"

Orange Park's trash is brought to a local transfer station before being
hauled up to a Georgia landfill, where the child was found. If
Beseler's team had not tracked the trucks — and their contents — as
soon as they did, he said it would have been much harder, perhaps
impossible, to ever find Somer and valuable evidence.

"She might have been under too much debris," he said. "... In any
abduction murder case, your crime scene is wherever the body is found.
Time and the elements cause degradation of any forensic value."

Beseler, who is still awaiting forensic testing done in the wake of
Somer's discovery, added, "It has had to unnerve the person who did
this that we found her body so quickly."

By late this week, about 50 detectives from the Sheriff's Office, FBI, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the U.S. Marshals Service were working the case.

The crucial discovery of Somer's body so soon may provide a wealth of
"forensic evidence," including possible fingerprints, fibers and DNA
samples, said Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing
and Exploited Children.

"You have the ultimate evidence of the crime scene," Allen said. "...
While it is a tragedy and an outrage, it does provide substantial
evidence for a positive ending. You've got somewhere to start."

He called the sheriff's decision to rapidly follow the trucks
"brilliant" and a tactic that will likely be followed by other
law-enforcement agencies in the future.

Woods, in Putnam County, said investigators searched the landfill as
part of Haleigh's investigation as well. Such searches are routine
parts of missing-child and suspected-abduction cases.

"I personally was inside a dumpster, searching that morning," Woods
said. The "meticulous" landfill search came a little later, but that's
because trash pickup in the area did not occur immediately after
Haleigh was reported missing as it did in Somer's case, he said.

'Somebody knows'

Allen emphasized that cases such as Haleigh's, in which the child is not found within days or months, should not be forgotten.

"The reality in each of these cases is: Somebody knows," Allen said.
"Somebody knows where Haleigh Cummings is. It's really important that
we not let the world forget."

"The key to this case is us getting that one tip, that one lead from someone who knows something," Woods said.

Meanwhile, back at the memorial for Somer at the corner of Debarry
Avenue and Horton Drive in Orange Park, Kaliyah Allen, who lives near
the Thompson home but does not know the family, said the investigators
working the case appear to be handling it well.

"I think they're doing the best they can without exposing too much
information and hurting their case," she said. "They're building a
case. Honestly, I think they're doing a good job."

Haleigh Cummings Update: Tommy Croslin Arrested

Posted on November 5th, 2009
The brother of Misty Croslin, the last person to see a missing Satsuma girl alive, is once again behind the bars of the Putnam County jail.
Hank Thomas “Tommy” Croslin Jr. was booked in to the Putnam County jail Thursday morning at 11:40 and charged with misdemeanor narcotic equipment-possession or use and a felony drug charge for possession of a controlled substance without a prescription.
Reporters spoke with Lt. Johnny Greenwood to ask if Croslin’s arrest had anything to do with rumours of an ambulance call to 116 Tyler regarding a 42-year-old man frothing at the mouth and how this arrest might impact other cases pending against Croslin. Greenwood replied:
“I have spoken with our Communications Center and we have not had a rescue call at 116 Tyler Lane today. Regarding your question of Tommy Croslin’s bond on the previous arrest, that will be up to the judge or possibly the bail bondsman that bonded him out last time. If there was a condition in his bond paperwork concerning any future arrests, the bail bondsman could possibly move to have his bond revoked if he/she desires.”
Tommy Croslin was recently released on bond regarding the alleged theft of a gun from his blind neighbor. This is the same neighbor his mother, Lisa Croslin, is accused of stealing checks from and forging at least one of those checks for $400.
While awaiting bond on his gun theft charge, Tommy Croslin told investigators he didn’t think that his sister Misty Croslin was at home in the 10pm hour that February night then 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings was taken while she was being watched by Misty.
Misty Croslin was the babysitter for Haleigh Cummings and a Ronald Cumming Jr. before marrying the children’s’ father, Ronald Cummings Sr., shortly after was abducted from the mobile home they shared in Hermit’s Cove near Satsuma, FL.
Just weeks ago Misty and Ronald divorced and young Haleigh is still missing.
Haleigh is described as a 5 year old white female. She is approximately 3′0, 39 lbs, blonde hair & brown eyes. Unknown clothing description.
Haleigh was last seen at her residence in the Hermit’s Cove area of Putnam County on February 9, 2009 between the hours of 8-10pm.
A statewide Amber Alert has been issued. An additional $30,000 in rewards have been posted.
If you have any information and wish to remain anonymous, please call Crime Stoppers at 1-888-277-TIPS (8477) or you can Text your tip by Texting “TIP231 plus your message” to CRIMES (274637).

The brother of the last person to seen Haleigh Cummings before the Putnam County kindergartner disappeared in February has been arrested on drug charges.
Hank Thomas Croslin, Jr., 23, was charged with possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia after he was found slumped over in the front seat of a van near a school bus stop in Satsuma.
Putnam County investigators who responded to a report of a non-responsive person said they were told Croslin, whose sister Misty Croslin, 17, was the last person to see Haleigh, had not moved after dropping his son off at the bus.

He told deputies he had dropped his son off at 8 a.m. and taken a nap because he was sleepy, according to a police report.Authorities said the arrest is unrelated to the disappearance of Haleigh, who remains missing. Her 6th birthday was in August.

Deputies found methadone, hydrocodone and other narcotics in the van during a search just before 9 a.m. Thursday.
Hank Croslin lives about a block from the intersection of Buffalo Bluff Road and Tyler Street in Satsuma where he was awakened by rescue personnel, according to a Putnam County Sheriff's Office report.
He was charged and jailed in lieu of $1,500 bail.
In September, he was charged with grand theft of a .38 caliber handgun that was reported missing by a former neighbor. He was questioned then about Haleigh's disappearance but authorities said it was unrelated to the theft arrest.