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Amber Alert: Massive Search for Missing Girl

First Coast News
February 10, 2009

SATSUMA, FL -- A massive search is underway in Putnam County for a missing girl.

An Amber Alert has been issued for Haleigh Cummings of Satsuma.

She hasn't been seen since 10 p.m. Monday when she went to bed.

Haleigh lives in a mobile home community called River Villa. It's on Green Lane in the Hermits Cove area of Satsuma, just off Buffalo Bluff Road and U.S. 17.

The little girl was home with her father's girlfriend and a 2-year-old sibling. The Putnam County Sheriff's Office says the girl's father was at work in Palatka until about 3 a.m.

Haleigh's father told First Coast News he came home from work and discovered his daughter missing.

"She's afraid of the dark," said Ronald Cummings. "She didn't leave my house. Somebody came in my back door and stole my child while I was at work."

Mr. Cummings said when he came home he found signs of forced entry to his home, but investigators with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said they didn't find anything to suggest a break-in.

The sheriff's office said Haleigh's bedroom door was open when her father's girlfriend woke up to go check on her at about 3:45 a.m.

Investigators haven't said what stirred the father's girlfriend at that hour, but authorities say she called 911 when she discovered Haleigh missing from her room.

"It's unspeakable," said Marie Griffis, Haleigh's grandmother. "You see it on TV and then it happens to you."

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says Haleigh had on a pink shirt and underwear.

She is three feet tall and weighs 39 pounds.

The girl's mother drove in from where she lives in Glen St Mary to Putnam County to talk with authorities.

Helicopters and boats from a number of agencies are looking for Haleigh. Authorities are searching cars leaving the neighborhood. The FBI is also assisting in the investigation.

If you have any information on where Cummings is, call 911 or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-277-TIPS. You will remain anonymous and you could receive a cash reward of up to $1,000.

[Admin]

Police Question Father of Missing Florida Girl, 5

Fox News
February 11, 2009

Investigators in northeast Florida questioned the father of a missing 5-year-old girl who his girlfriend says wasn't in her bed when they checked on her, police told FOXNews.com.

Putnam County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Jason Nettles said he didn't have information on whether or not Haleigh Cummings' father, Ronald Cummings, and girlfriend are suspects in her Tuesday disappearance.

"I don't know that for sure," he told FOXNews.com.

Both were interviewed Tuesday by authorities. The child lives with the couple in Putnam County, Fla.

"The girlfriend and the father are cooperating with police," Special Agent Steve Donaway of the Florida Dept of Law Enforcement told an afternoon news conference.

Investigators also were interviewing others in the case, according to Nettles — including sex offenders in the area.

Local and state authorities and the FBI searched Tuesday for Haleigh in neighbors' homes and vehicles leaving her neighborhood on the St. Johns River.

An Amber Alert was issued Tuesday for Haleigh, and authorities with dogs and ground search crews were hunting in the nearby river and woods for signs of the girl, who apparently disappeared before dawn.

"It could be an abduction. We're looking at it from all angles," Donaway said. Leads have been minimal, he said, and investigators are asking for the public's help.

Haleigh was reported missing after her father's girlfriend told police she discovered the child wasn't in her bed about 3 a.m. Cummings said his girlfriend was awake and frantic that Haleigh was missing from her bed.

The woman said the back door to the home was not locked at the time. Police found the door to the trailer unlocked when they arrived, but no sign of forced entry, according to Donaway.

Several registered sex offenders reportedly live in the vicinity of the missing girl's home in Satsuma, Fla. Donaway said they've all been identified, and either have been or will be interviewed by police.

Nettles said he couldn't confirm whether authorities were worried a sex offender might have abducted Haleigh.

"I don't think they've ruled anything out," he told FOXNews.com.

He declined to comment on one report that put the number of registered sex offenders nearby at 25 because he said he didn't know how wide an area was being considered.

Haleigh is 3 feet tall with blond hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a pink shirt.

Donaway said search teams would continue to look for the child through the night.

Local and state authorities and the FBI searched Tuesday for Haleigh in neighbors' homes and vehicles leaving her neighborhood on the St. Johns River.

Anyone with information about the girl is urged to contact the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at (386) 329-0800 or 911.

[Admin]

Family, Friends Pray As Search For Missing 5-Year-Old Continues

News 4 Jacksonville
February 10, 2009

SATSUMA, Fla. -- After the sun set on Tuesday, the bright lights came on at the Putnam County Command Center near the home where 5-year-old Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings was last seen.

Local detectives and even investigators with the FBI remained at the scene and said they would continue to feverishly work the case throughout the night.

According to detectives, when dealing with missing children, the first 24 hours are crucial. At 10 p.m. on Tuesday, investigators said they were very aware that it had been a full day since Haleigh was last seen and they were working hard to make every minute count toward finding the missing girl.

"We feel good about what we're doing, but we feel really desperate that 24 hours have passed now and we don’t have a clue where this child is," said PCSO Major Gary Bowling.

Haleigh was last seen in her Satsuma home on Green Lane with her 2-year-old brother and her father's 17-year-old girlfriend. The girlfriend told police she put the children to bed at 10 p.m. Monday but when she awoke at 3 a.m. to use the bathroom Haleigh was missing and the back door of the home was open.

The 17-year-old called 911 for help as Haleigh's father returned home from an overnight shift at work:

CALLER: I just woke up and my back door was all open and I can't find my daughter.

DISPATCH: Can't find what?

CALLER: My daughter.

DISPATCH:Ok. When did you last see her?

CALLER: Um, we just like, you know, it was about 10 o'clock. She was sleeping (inaudible).

DISPATCH: Ok. How old is your daughter?

CALLER: She's 5.

DISPATCH: OK. What was she last seen wearing, Ma'am?

CALLER: She was in her pajamas. We were sleeping.

DISPATCH: OK. Alright, you said your back door was wide open?

CALLER: Yes, with a brick. Like, there was a brick on the floor. Like, when I went to sleep the door was not like that.

DISPATCH: Was your back door locked do you know?

CALLER: Yes. The back door always stays locked.

FATHER: I just got home from work, my 5-year-old daughter is gone. I need someone to be here now. I'm telling you. If I find whoever has my daughter before you all do, I'm killing him. I don't care. I'll spend the rest of my life in prison.

DISPATCH: It's OK sir, we got them on the way. Can you give me a description of the pajamas she was wearing?

FATHER: I don't (expletive) know I was at work.

"We have no suspect information. We're not focusing on any person as a person of interest right now. It is truly still a 'who done it,' meaning whether it's an abduction or a homicide or if she just wandered out," Bowling said Tuesday night.

Since the search for Haleigh began, there have been boats out on the nearby St. Johns River, a helicopter in the sky and search dogs on the ground all in hopes of finding a clue to the girl's whereabouts.

Still there has been no sign of the missing child.

Community Gathers, Prays For Missing Girl

As the search for Haleigh continued to get more desperate with each passing hour, friends and neighbors in the area came together for support.

Twenty-four hours after the girl was last seen, her family members, friends and neighbors gathered to hold a candlelight vigil to pray Haleigh's safe return.

"Father, we're asking that she's going to be released tonight, so we can go home and celebrate your goodness and bring her back," said one neighbor as he led the group in prayer.

"She's the most precious thing in our life. We want her to come home," said Haleigh's grandmother, Teresa Neves. "Please bring my baby home. She's an angel, she's never done anything bad. She is such a good girl and she does not deserve this. I know she has to be scared to death without her daddy … let her go. Bring her home."

"Please call and giver her to the police department so I can get my daughter back, please. All we want is my child, that's it. I just want my daughter back," said the child's father, Ronald Cummings. "Somebody has her. They have her hidden. I just want my daughter back, that's it. That's all I want."

Friends and neighbors have been offering their support, but all the family really wants is answered prayers.

Authorities ask anyone with any information to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0800 or the FDLE's Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse at 888-FL-MISSING.

[Admin]

Massive search targets woods, river in South Putnam for missing girl

Larry Sullivan
Palatka Daily News
February 10, 2009

SATSUMA - A young girl was reported missing, and possibly abducted, from her South Putnam County home early Tuesday.

The disappearance of 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings triggered a massive search on land, water and in the air as more than 130 officers from agencies across Northeast Florida responded to the Satsuma area.

"We would hope that she is safe," Detective John Merchant said Tuesday. "And we're hoping for the best outcome."

The nightmare began about 3 a.m.

Haleigh wasn't in bed. The back door of a blue doublewide mobile home was open, and a blanket and sheets were scattered on the wooden ramp leading from the door.

Authorities said they were told Haleigh's father, Ronald, had just ended his shift at PDM Bridge in Palatka. His girlfriend, Misty Croslin, said she had been sleeping next to Haleigh, but when she awoke, the blonde-haired girl was gone.

"She was sleeping right next to me," Croslin told the Daily News while distributing flyers bearing Haleigh's photo. "I can't believe I didn't hear anything."

A 911 call at 3:27 a.m. resulted in Putnam County sheriff's deputies being sent to the home, which is on a dirt road in the Hermit's Cove neighborhood.

By daybreak, a Child Abduction Regional Team response was implemented by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement at Putnam County's request. A nearly constant convoy of vehicles and personnel from a wide spectrum of agencies rolled into the otherwise quiet neighborhood.

A roadblock was set up on the only road out of the neighborhood and deputies thoroughly searched every vehicle that left.

Helicopters from Volusia County and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission flew over the neighborhood and a section of the nearby St. Johns River. Those flights continued into Tuesday night.

Boats from the FWC and Jacksonville Sheriff's Office joined Putnam County deputies seeking clues from the river, while divers searched below the surface.

And, several search teams scoured woods adjacent to the Cummings home.

Some searchers were led by specially trained bloodhounds from the Tomoka Correctional Institution and nearly 30 workers at the state prison in East Palatka joined the effort.

Some officers rode all-terrain vehicles while others walked carefully side-by-side through brush hoping to find some sign of the missing child.

At the same time, authorities went door-to-door asking neighbors if they saw or heard anything that could help find Haleigh.

"Right now, our leads are minimal," Merchant said.

He asked the public to report possible leads to the sheriff's office by calling 329-0800.

"We are doing everything possible," Chief Deputy Rick Ryan said.

Haleigh's 4-year-old brother also was in the home Tuesday night, authorities said.

Haleigh does not have a history of wandering from home.

"That would be abnormal for the child," Merchant said.

Investigators questioned family members for much of Tuesday.

In an interview Tuesday night, Sheriff Jeff Hardy said the FBI had dispatched 16 agents to assist the investigation.

"They'll be on the ground with us Wednesday," he said.

In addition, Hardy said the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was sending a team to help authorities.

Hardy said he appreciated the fast response and he was hopeful.

"I am optimistic this case will have a positive outcome," he said. "This is a missing, endangered child at this point."

An Amber Alert was issued for Haleigh on Tuesday morning, prompting many tips to be called in to the sheriff's office, Hardy said.

"We're adding to our dispatch staff to handle the calls," he said.

There are no plans at this time to bolster the ranks of searchers with volunteers from the general public Hardy said.

"We have what we consider to be adequate law enforcement resources at this point," he said.

Investigators are pursuing "several different angles" on the case, including the whereabouts of 44 registered sexual offenders who live within a five-mile radius of the Cummings home, Hardy said.

He said "less than 10" were registered sexual predators with a more serious past.

Hardy also said there were no signs of forced entry into the Cummings house.

[Admin]

Detectives: Missing Florida Girl Was Kidnapped, Family Members and 'All the World' Are Suspects

Fox News
February 11, 2009

Florida detectives say they believe a 5-year-old girl who vanished from her bed Tuesday morning was abducted — and they aren't overlooking anyone, including family members, as suspects.

Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings reportedly vanished from her bed before dawn Tuesday.

The child's father, Ronald Cummings, said in an interview with FOX News' Greta Van Susteren that his girlfriend Misty Croslin, 17, was watching his daughter while he was at work as a crane operator.

Haleigh had gotten up to use the bathroom, according to Cummings. When she didn't return, Croslin went to look for her and noticed the back door was open.

"I locked doors before I left for work. My child cannot unlock the deadbolt, you have to force the door shut all the way ... and she doesn’t open the door to strangers," Cummings said.

Croslin and Cummings called 911 after discovering the girl was missing, according to the police report. The tapes were released Wednesday.

Putnam County Sheriff's spokesman Gary Bowling said Croslin, Cummings and the child's mother, Crystal Sheffield, as well as several others have been questioned in the case. Police have given them all the chance to take lie detector tests.

"It is never safe to say that a family member is not a suspect," Bowling said during a press conference. "However, all the world is a suspect right now."

Investigators conducted a second day of ground and air searches Wednesday for Haleigh.

"This child didn't voluntarily walk out of her home. If she did, someone took her," Bowling said earlier.

Cummings, who has custody of Haleigh and her brother Junior, said his daughter was scared of the dark and would not wander off.

"Somebody stole my child," he said. "Trust me when I tell you that I know my child."

Sheffield's mother, Marie, told Van Susteren that the children seemed to be doing well living with their father.

"Haleigh told us they’ve been hit, and stuff like that, but to this point, everything was fine," Marie Sheffield said.

Police had never been called to the home in the past — but there have been prior problems with Cummings, Croslin and the children, Putnam County Capt. Steve Rose said.

"There have been some investigations done through the department of children and family," Rose told FOX News on Wednesday. He didn't elaborate.

There were still no firm leads in the case, despite police interviews with Cummings, Croslin and sex offenders in the area.

Investigators say Croslin is now with her family, but they're not calling her a suspect nor are they revealing whether the child's father is a focus of the investigation.

"I don't know that for sure," Putnam County Sheriff's Sgt. Jason Nettles told FOXNews.com on Tuesday.

Haleigh's grandfather, Johnny Sheffield, said he was distraught about the girl's disappearance and characterized Croslin as suspicious, though he admitted he didn't know much about her, according to MyFOXOrlando.com.

Cummings said his girlfriend was awake and frantic after she found Haleigh was gone.

But in the police report, obtained by FOX News, Cummings reportedly told officers that his "dumb goofball girlfriend" told him Haleigh was gone when he got home from work.

"Ronald said that he did not know what Haleigh was wearing, and that all he knew was that the back door was standing open. Ronald repeatedly said that someone had taken his child and also said 'When I find him I'll kill him,'" police wrote in the report.

He referred to a 9mm Beretta handgun he owns and said if authorities found his daughter's kidnapper, "he would shoot them through the back window of the patrol car," the police report said.

Detectives wrote that they followed a path that led behind the home and found what appeared to be a child's footprint in the dirt, though Cummings said his daughter's shoes were in the house.

Nettles told FOXNews.com that the hunt for Haleigh got under way Wednesday morning, with more helicopter searches as well as more on the ground using K-9 units.

Deputies say they have questioned 44 registered sex offenders who live within five miles of Haleigh's home, according to MyFOXOrlando.com.

Nettles said he couldn't confirm whether authorities were worried a sex offender might have abducted Haleigh.

"I don't think they've ruled anything out," he told FOXNews.com on Tuesday.

An air conditioner repair man who was at the home on Monday was questioned after police found out about his house call but cleared him of any wrongdoing.

Local and state authorities and the FBI searched for Haleigh in neighbors' homes and vehicles leaving her neighborhood on the St. Johns River, as well as in the nearby river and woods for signs of the girl. The effort lasted through the night Tuesday.

Investigators are asking for the public's help. Leads have been minimal, according to authorities.

Crystal Sheffield made a tearful plea about her little girl on TV news Tuesday night.

"I just want to say, 'Bring her back home. Please,'" Sheffield said.

Sheffield told Van Susteren the children "loved Croslin," who she says Cummings was dating for four to six months.

"I’ve talked to her, she seemed like a really nice person, but I never sat down and had a conversation with her," Sheffield said.

Rose said Sheffield doesn't live in the area but traveled to Putnam County after she learned of her daughter's disappearance and has been interviewed.

"She is cooperating," Rose told FOX News.

The family held a candlelight vigil Tuesday night and said they plan to continue with the vigils until the child comes home.

Haleigh is 3 feet tall with blond hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a pink shirt and underwear.

Anyone with information about the girl is urged to contact the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at (386) 329-0800 or 911.

[Admin]

Satsuma waits and worries for a little girl

Lise Fisher
The Gainesville Sun
February 11, 2009

SATSUMA -- A sign outside Satsuma Volunteer Fire & Rescue is running a message asking for help finding missing 5-year-old Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings.

News and questions about the girl’s disappearance are the talk of residents in and around Satsuma, the small rural town off U.S. 17 in southern Putnam County, where the girl was staying with her father and his girlfriend.

Named after a type of orange that used to grow in the many orange groves that once populated the area, Satsuma is a mix of families and retirees, said the town’s retired U.S. Post Master Sandy Fellinger.

“The houses are spread apart. There are a lot of wooded areas around — a lot of water, canals and little lakes,” said Fellinger.

The area has about 5,500 residents most in their 50s and 60s, according to recent U.S. Census data.

Most residents in the area work in Palatka, are retired or self-employed, said Fellinger and another woman, Jeryl Anne Musser, 51.

Both women were working at Hope Lutheran Church in Satsuma near the fire department Wednesday morning. Neither woman lives in Satsuma but in nearby towns.

A few businesses, including a restaurant known as Mema’s, a gas station and a Family Dollar store, the newest addition, mark the town’s location.

Fellinger and Musser said the area has attracted retirees and families because the cost of living is cheaper than staying in more populated cities, such as Palatka, located about 10 miles north.

Although Satsuma is rural and small enough where almost everyone knows their neighbors, neither woman said they would leave their homes unlocked.

“I think bad things are happening all over the place,” Musser said.

The women said the area has many residents who are registered sex offenders because they can afford to live there and be self-employed.

“You can get lost easier down here,” Musser said.

Musser also said there has been an ongoing problem with break-ins at homes and businesses, often connected to younger people and drugs.

[Admin]

Haleigh's mom: 'It's tearing me apart'

Christopher Curry
The Gainesville Sun
February 11, 2009

Haleigh Cummings' mother - Crystal Sheffield, 23, of Baker County - was clutching a framed school picture of her daughter Wednesday afternoon as she issued a desperate plea.

"I just want whoever has her to bring her home, drop her off somewhere," Sheffield said as she fought back tears. "I just don't know who could have done this. It's tearing me apart. Whoever did this is wrong. ... They hurt a lot of people."

She said Haleigh is a "wonderful child" who acts very motherly toward her brother, Ronald Cummings Jr., who is 2. She also liked computers, purses and phones.

Sheffield said she has custody of the children every other weekend and is scheduled to pick them up on Friday. She said she thinks the child was taken and would not have wandered off on her own. She has spoken to Haleigh's father.

"He's tore up. He blames himself for it, because if he would have been at home it wouldn't have happened."

Sheffield said she doesn't know Cummings' girlfriend, but from what she heard she always treated the children well.

[Admin]

Haleigh investigators: 'We assume abduction'

Christopher Curry and Lise Fisher
The Gainesville Sun
February 11, 2009

PALATKA - Absent any sign of a missing south Putnam County girl, investigators called her disappearance an abduction two days after she was last seen at her father’s home.

With no evidence of Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings near her residence in Satsuma, there is no longer any reason to believe the child wandered away, said Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Major Gary Bowling Wednesday afternoon.

“We just don’t believe that the child is here, so we assume abduction,” Bowling said.

About 150 officers and 20 law enforcement agencies have been searching for the child that family members said was last seen at about 10 p.m. Monday in a bedroom at her father’s home in the Hermit’s Cove area.

The man’s girlfriend said she woke up in the middle of the night and discovered the child was gone. A rear door at the double-wide mobile home was ajar, but authorities could not say if it had previously been locked. A 911 call made from the home reported the door always stayed locked.

Scanning from the air, combing the St. Johns River about 300 yards from the residence and hunting on the ground through woods and with bloodhounds produced no sign of the girl Wednesday.

A young child like Haleigh would be afraid of walking down a dark hall by herself, Bowling told reporters. And, without any history indicating she might have wandered away, the likelihood of an abduction has become increasingly likely. Officers also said they had no reports of a custody issue between the child’s father and mother.

“All the world’s a suspect right now,” Bowling said. “We’re going to treat every family member, every neighbor as a suspect until we eliminate them.”

Bowling’s words echoed comments from the girl’s relatives and others in the community who feared she had been taken.

The child’s father, Ronald Cummings, 24, broke down in tears on a neighbor’s lawn Tuesday and said someone had taken his child. The girl’s mother, Crystal Sheffield, 23, held a picture of her daughter and cried with him.

Cummings had been at work from late Monday night until Tuesday when he came home to find that Haleigh had disappeared. She had been at the home with her younger brother and her father’s 17-year-old girlfriend, Misty Croslin.

The two children were in the same bedroom with Croslin when she awoke to go to the restroom and discovered the girl missing, officers reported Tuesday.

Bowling said Croslin, like others who know Haleigh or are her relatives, had been questioned by and was cooperating with authorities.

“She’s with family,” Bowling said when asked about Croslin’s whereabouts. “We’re just going to keep close contact with her.”

Both Croslin and Cummings made frantic 911 calls early Tuesday. The Sheriff’s Office released redacted copies of the calls Wednesday.

“If I find whoever has my daughter before y’all do, I’m killing them. I don’t care. I’ll spend the rest of my life in prison. ... I don’t care,” Cummings said during the call.

Earlier Wednesday, Haleigh’s mother — Crystal Sheffield, 23, of Baker County — made a desperate plea.

“I just want whoever has her to bring her home, drop her off somewhere,” Sheffield said as she fought back tears. “I just don’t know who could have done this. It’s tearing me apart.”

She said Haleigh is a “wonderful child” who acts very motherly toward her brother, Ronald Cummings Jr., who is 2.

Haleigh’s maternal grandparents also made an impassioned plea for the girl’s return.

Standing in the small Putnam County community of Satsuma — next to a street-side banner that says “Our prayers are with you, Haleigh” — Marie Griffis and Johnny Sheffield talked with reporters.

Griffis, 43, of Baker County believes the girl is alive, she said. “She’s out there somewhere. I can feel it. I can feel her presence.”

“People around here know me,” said Sheffield, a Putnam County resident. “If anyone around here has my granddaughter, just bring her home to me. She’s my first baby from my first baby. Please bring her back. ... I’m going to look around hell and half of Georgia until I find her.”

They said the family wants to join the police search for Haleigh but that law enforcement officials won’t let them out of concern that they might contaminate evidence.

Griffis described her grandchild as an outspoken, happy child.

“All we can do is hope, and we believe that she is OK,” Griffis said. “If anybody knows her whereabouts just please bring her back. We love her and miss her.”

The woman said she didn’t believe her granddaughter just left the home.

“She’s not going to get up and wander through the house and get up and go through the back door,” she said. “She’s not going to get up and go outside.”

Griffis said she wasn’t sure how her granddaughter would react to a stranger but she thought she would put up a fight.

Divers have been checking the St. John’s River. But Griffis said her granddaughter had once fallen into water in the past and she believed the child now was afraid to go near water.

Officers confirmed that a dog, searching for Haleigh’s scent, had alerted to something in the direction of the water. But they stressed that could have been due to the way the wind was blowing. Still, authorities have been paying close attention to the river and sent search teams out in that area again Wednesday.

Blankets from the home were used to provide the dogs with a scent to track, Bowling said.

Officers also were looking at a cinder block that apparently had been used to prop open the back door, according to officers. They were also gathering tips from the public. Authorities urged people to call (386) 329-0808 or 0809 if they had information about the girl.

Fliers of Haleigh and well-wishes for her safe return have gone up around the area, including on U.S 17 north toward Palatka. Her smiling picture beamed from a Burger King drive-thru window while a message sending prayers to her was posted on a sign outside another roadside business.

The principal at Browning-Pearce Elementary School, where Haleigh is a kindergarten student, describes the child as “a sweet little girl, a tiny little girl, blond hair, beautiful brown eyes.”

Principal Debra Lands-Buckles said Haleigh “always has that smile on her face, just like you see in the flier.”

The school, which has more than 800 students, is shocked and saddened, but hopeful Haleigh will return soon, the principal said.

Bowling detailed other efforts to find the girl, from canvassing homes and plans to re-search some residences or get access to others that did not appear occupied to checking on the whereabouts of 44 sex offenders who live within a five-mile radius of the home at 202 Green Lane.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI were assisting in speaking or locating those individuals, some of whom live across the river on the opposite bank from the Hermit’s Cove area. Bowling said some of these people have voluntarily come forward to eliminate themselves as suspects.

In interviews with family and others who know Haleigh, officers confirmed that all had been offered the chance to take a lie detector test. He didn’t elaborate on who had accepted the offer.

Although the focus of the investigation is on an abduction, Bowling said volunteer groups will again be searching the area for Haleigh. Some spots that could be looked at will be areas of thick vegetation, initially thought to be too densely overgrown or difficult for a child to wander into. Those searches could begin as early as Thursday.

[Admin]

Search for Haleigh Continues; probe intensifies; authorities say girl abducted

Larry Sullivan
Palatka Daily News
February 12, 2009

SATSUMA - Authorities believe the 5-year-old Putnam County girl missing since early Tuesday was kidnapped and are trying to identify who's responsible.

Meanwhile, the search for Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings continued Wednesday.

"All the answers to why you would take a 5-year-old are ugly," Maj. Gary Bowling, a spokesman for the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

The massive ground and air search launched Tuesday around the South Putnam neighborhood known as Hermits Cove, complete with roadblocks and door-to-door canvassing, changed Wednesday to a quiet-but-determined effort by local, state and federal officers.

Bowling said an intensive investigation was under way and "all the world is a suspect."

Wednesday's developments include:

• Authorities said there was no trace of Haleigh, no arrests and no suspects.

• Bloodhounds tracked Haleigh's scent from her home to the St. Johns River, but authorities don't know how recent the tracks were. Divers checked the area nearby.

• Relatives maintained a vigil not far from the command center directing the search.

• FBI agents are helping question people, including 44 registered sex offenders living within five miles of Haleigh's home.

• Volunteers may be utilized later in the week.

Haleigh was reported missing at 3:27 a.m. Tuesday by Misty Croslin, 17, girlfriend of Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, who had just gotten home from his night shift at PDM Bridge in Palatka.

The rear door of their home was propped open with a cinderblock, authorities said, and there was no sign of forced entry.

Croslin had been sleeping next to Haleigh and when she went to the restroom, the child vanished. Haleigh's 3-year-old brother was unharmed.

"She was sleeping right next to me," Croslin told the Daily News while distributing flyers bearing Haleigh's photo on Tuesday. "I can't believe I didn't hear anything."

The emergency call for help triggered a massive response. About 150 law officers worked from helicopters, all-terrain vehicles and on foot, as well as boats, into the night Tuesday.

On Wednesday, about 50 officers were involved, and the ranks of investigators were growing.

"Right now, a major focus is on the investigation," Bowling said. "We've talked to nearly everyone in the neighborhood."

Through extensive interviews, investigators are building a timeline of Haleigh's family going back 30 days in an attempt to uncover leads, Bowling said.

"The family is cooperating with us completely," Bowling said.

Haleigh's maternal grandparents and other relatives gathered Wednesday on a grassy area between the Cummings home and the sheriff's office command post. Throughout the day they met with deputies and well-wishers.

Behind them were signs expressing support. One, written on a blue sheet, urged people to pray for the young girl's safe return.

Johnny Sheffield, Haleigh's grandfather, and his ex-wife, Marie Griffis, expressed doubt in Croslin's account, saying details of her account "don't fit."

"How could somebody lift her up and move her and this girl not even wake up?" Griffis said. "It don't fit together. I don't know, it just don't work."

Sheffield said he believed his daughter's ex-husband and Croslin had dated about three to six months.

"I don't know nothing about her," he said. "Never seen her, never spoke to her."

As they spoke, their daughter, Crystal Sheffield, watched and waited inside a SUV. Griffis said her daughter was distraught over the disappearance and came to Putnam County for word.

Down the road, another group of relatives and friends waited for news.

Teresa Neves, Haleigh's paternal grandmother, said they stayed there all night Tuesday. Supporters held a candlelight vigil.

Griffis, meanwhile, urged Haleigh's abductor to release the girl.

"Just take her somewhere where the police can have access to her," she said.

Sheffield, who lives in Fruitland, said he wouldn't give up.

"I'm going to look over hell and half of Georgia until I find her," Shefield said.

"They're not going to get away with it. I'm going to find my baby," he added. "Somebody around here knows something."

Also Wednesday, authorities explained the blanket and bed sheets on a wooden ramp leading from the Cummings' back door. Bowling said the items had been brought out by police so tracking dogs could learn Haleigh's scent.

Sheriff Jeff Hardy on Wednesday cited assistance Putnam County was receiving from other agencies and said the cooperative effort increased the chance of "a positive outcome."

The sheriff's office also has received numerous tips, and residents have also provided food and other support, Hardy said.

"I want to thank the public for their assistance," he said.

Many volunteers have offered to help search for Haleigh, Bowling said, and they may be utilized later this week.

Johnny Sheffield, Haleigh's grandfather, praised the efforts of the sheriff's office and other agencies, describing their work as "tremendous."

"We can't say enough," Sheffield said.

[Admin]

5-Year-Old's Father, His Girlfriend 'Pass' Polygraph Test

Fox News
February 12, 2009

The 17-year-old girlfriend of a missing Florida girl's father has taken a lie detector test, a local sheriff said.

He wouldn't reveal the results of the test, but the father, Ronald Cummings, and his girlfriend, Misty Croslin, said Thursday night during an interview with FOX News' Greta Van Susteren that they both submitted to polygraphs and both "passed."

Croslin was the one who reportedly discovered that 5-year-old Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings had vanished from her bed before dawn on Tuesday.

Several people have been interviewed by police and the FBI, and all have been offered the chance to take a lie detector test, Putnam County Sheriff's spokesman Gary Bowling said.

Detectives believe Haleigh was abducted — and they aren't overlooking anyone, including family members, as suspects.

Haleigh is 3 feet tall with blond hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a pink shirt and underwear.

Hardy said ground searches continued for a third day on Thursday. Bloodhounds have been used, but haven't turned up any clear evidence.

"We have nothing definitive to say where the child is based on the bloodhounds," Hardy told reporters at a Thursday news conference.

He said evidence has been collected from the mobile home where Haleigh lived with her 3-year-old brother Junior, her father, Cummings, and Croslin — but declined to describe it.

"I can't discuss what evidence was taken into custody," Hardy said. "I don't want to reveal what was found or not found."

Ronald Cummings, told FOX News' Greta Van Susteren that Croslin was watching his daughter while he was at work as a crane operator.

According to Cummings, Haleigh had gotten up to use the bathroom. When she didn't return, Croslin went to look for her and noticed the back door was open.

"I locked doors before I left for work. My child cannot unlock the deadbolt, you have to force the door shut all the way ... and she doesn’t open the door to strangers," Cummings said.

Croslin and Cummings called 911 after discovering the girl was missing, according to the police report. The tapes were released Wednesday.

In addition to Croslin, Cummings and the child's mother, Crystal Sheffield, as well as several others have been questioned in the case.

"It is never safe to say that a family member is not a suspect," Bowling said Wednesday. "However, all the world is a suspect right now."

Police have ruled out the possibility that the girl ran away.

"This child didn't voluntarily walk out of her home. If she did, someone took her," Bowling said.

Cummings, who has custody of Haleigh and her brother, said his daughter wouldn't leave on her own.

"I know somebody took her. I know for a fact she didn't wander off — she's afraid of the dark," Cummings told NBC's "Today" on Thursday.

Police said house-to-house searches of the neighborhood Wednesday found no evidence that the child wandered away.

Police had never been called to the home in the past — but there have been prior problems with Cummings, Croslin and the children, according to Putnam County Capt. Steve Rose.

"There have been some investigations done through the department of children and family," Rose told FOX News on Wednesday. He didn't elaborate.

John Harrell, spokesman for the northeast region of the Florida Department of Children and Families, said Thursday that his agency "was involved with the family." Harrell would not offer any details, citing state confidentiality laws.

Sheffield's mother, Marie, told Van Susteren that the children seemed to be doing well living with their father.

"Haleigh told us they’ve been hit, and stuff like that, but to this point, everything was fine," Marie Sheffield said.

There were still no firm leads in the case. Detectives wouldn't say whether Croslin, Cummings or anyone else in the family were a focus of the investigation.

Haleigh's grandfather, Johnny Sheffield, said he was distraught about the girl's disappearance and characterized Croslin as suspicious, though he admitted he didn't know much about her, according to MyFOXOrlando.com.

Sheffield told Van Susteren that her children loved their father's girlfriend, whom he'd been dating for 4 to 6 months.

"She seemed like a really nice person, but I never sat down and had a conversation with her," she said.

Appearing on FOX News on Thursday, Sheffield answered "yes" when asked whether it was true that Croslin had given conflicting statements to police.

The child's mother doesn't live in the area but traveled to Putnam County after she learned of her daughter's disappearance and has been interviewed, according to Rose.

"She is cooperating," Rose told FOX News on Wednesday.

Cummings said his girlfriend was awake and frantic after she found Haleigh was gone. But in the police report, obtained by FOX News, Cummings reportedly told officers that his "dumb goofball girlfriend" told him Haleigh was gone when he got home from work.

"Ronald said that he did not know what Haleigh was wearing, and that all he knew was that the back door was standing open. Ronald repeatedly said that someone had taken his child and also said 'When I find him I'll kill him,'" police wrote in the report.

He referred to a 9mm Beretta handgun he owns and said if authorities found his daughter's kidnapper, "he would shoot them through the back window of the patrol car," the police report said.

Deputies said Thursday they're in the process of questioning 44 registered sex offenders who live within five miles of Haleigh's home.

An uncle, Andrew Sheffield, believes she is alive, but the mystery of her whereabouts continues.

"It's fishy," he said. "Somebody knows something."

George Anthony, the grandfather of slain Florida toddler Caylee Anthony, met with Haleigh's father Thursday. Anthony said he was there simply to offer moral support.

Anyone with information about the girl is urged to contact the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at (386) 329-0800 or 911.

[Admin]

Day 3 in search for Haleigh

Valerie Boey
FOX 35 News
February 12, 2009

SATSUMA, Fla. - Putnam County Sheriff's Deputies are on day 3 of searching for 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings. Haleigh was last seen on Monday night at 10 p.m. in her mobile home on Green Lane in Satsuma.

Investigators said she was sleeping in the same bed as her 3-year-old brother and her father's 17-year-old girlfriend, Mistie Croslin. When Croslin woke up around 3:30 a.m., the same time Haleigh's father Ronald Cummings got home from work, they realized Haleigh was gone and called 911.

Sheriff Jeff Hardy says they have been searching for more than 55 hours. They plan to bring in more aviation assets, dive teams, boats and ground crews. They also have a fresh team going back to the house, tracing any steps they can find. Hardy says right now they do not have any suspects.

Hardy said both Cummings and Croslin have taken polygraph tests, but would not say if they passed. When FOX 35 asked if they tested their vehicles for evidence, he could not comment saying it was part of the investigation. He also said they have collected evidence, but could not say what items were taken.

Sheriff Hardy said investigators have been going from home to home searching for the little girl. They are also searching the homes of 44 sex offenders within a 5 mile radius. Hardy says neighbors have been cooperative and so has the family.

Last night Ronald Cummings told FOX 35 that it has been difficult dealing with this. Haleigh's mother Crystal Sheffield says it has been hard controlling her emotions. "I don't know where she is or who has her, I just want her home," Crystal said.

Hardy says Ronald has legal custody of Haleigh and their 3-year-old son.

Meanwhile, Texas Equusearch, the team that helped look for Caylee Anthony is back assisting deputies to help them find Haleigh. Founder Tim Miller says deputies called him for help. He had not planned to be back in the Sunshine State so soon.

"We didn't think we'd be back in Florida this close to where Caylee disappeared in the short period of time so it brings back some painful memories to say the least so we just have to focus on this, the more we stay focuses the better chance we have of bringing her home," Miller said.

He says the cases are very similar. "Too close to Caylee's memorial. Ironic, a matter of hours before Caylee's memorial, Haleigh disappears. The names rhyme and so close. It will bring tears to your eyes," he added.

Miller hopes Haleigh's case will have a different outcome. "We hold on to those good feelings and success stories and hope we can put another one into the successes, but we got to realize we can't sugar coat anything. This doesn't look good at this time, but we'll just do what we do," he said.

Miller says he plans to fly in 9 members of Equusearch from other parts of the country. He has around 200 members in Orlando. "Today's going to be a big mapping day. Planning day and then it appears tomorrow is when the big serach is going to start, but it's important. We try to do something to get her home alive," Miller said.

Scattered rain in Satsuma isn't making it any easier. The Equusearch group said the weather will slow them down but they do not consider it an inconvenience because they are trying to find a little girl.

Miller says he will need volunteers to help search on Friday. However, he hasn't determined where everyone will meet yet.

Haleigh is 3 feet tall and weighs 39 lbs. She has blonde hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about her whereabouts should call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office. The number is (386) 329-0800.

[Admin]

Girlfriend explains more about missing Haleigh
"I don't care what people are saying about me because I didn't do it."

Dana Treen
Florida Times-Union
February 13, 2009

SATSUMA -- For the first time, Misty Croslin, the 17-year-old who was watching her boyfriend’s children the night 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings disappeared, explained in public what she recalls from Monday night inside the Green Lane mobile home.

As hours became days following the disappearance, Croslin has been under scrutiny for being the last one to see her when she put the little girl to bed Monday.

Authorities are calling the disappearance an abduction.

“I don’t care what people are saying about me because I didn’t do it,” Croslin said Thursday.

In interviews that included questioning while hooked to a lie detector, Croslin said she had little to tell investigators about what happened.

“I was sleeping,” she said. “I don’t know what happened.”

A pair of her nephews who are about Haleigh’s age were at the mobile home where Croslin and Ronald Cummings, 25, live about 5 p.m. Monday.

Because Tuesday was a school day, Croslin put the kindergartner to bed about 8:15 p.m. while Cummings was at work. About two hours later Croslin said she went to sleep with Cummings¹ son, 3-year-old Ronald Jr., in the same room.

Haleigh was asleep in a separate bed by the television set, a family member said. There's some discrepancy and confusion about what initially was reported that she was in the same bed as Haleigh. That information came from Cummings and sheriff's detective John Merchant and was widely reported.

But it couldn't be confirmed if there was any misinterpretation of what was told to them and what was told to the media. Nobody questioned it until Croslin's interview Thursday, however.

Croslin said she did not hear anything or notice anything wrong until she got up about 3 a.m.

“When I went to sleep she was there,” she said. “When I woke up she was gone.”

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office took Croslin’s 911 call at 3:27 a.m., around the same time Cummings got home.

Thursday she said she had volunteered to take a polygraph test č two of them.

“I was so shook up that night, I kept moving,” she said of how stressful it’s been. “I couldn’t stay still. I was crying.”

“We have all offered to take lie detectors,” Cummings said of his family. He said there was no reason to believe he or his girlfriend failed them.

He said he is willing to do what is needed.

“If you need to draw blood, draw blood,” he said.

Sheriff Jeff Hardy said Croslin took the test but he would not discuss outcomes of any polygraphs.

“Misty has been interviewed extensively,” Hardy said. He said neighbors in the area have been helpful and that family have been “extremely cooperative.”

Early Thursday afternoon Cummings along with family members and friends talked beneath a canopy with George Anthony, whose granddaughter Caylee disappeared in Orlando in what became an internationally recognized case.

Anthony said he decided Tuesday to come to Satsuma after a memorial to his granddaughter. He shared lunch and a private conversation for most of an hour beneath the canopy because authorities still had not allowed anyone to return to the mobile home.

“They do not need to be judged,” Anthony then said before a bank of news cameras and reporters. “They do not need to be scrutinized.”

Their most important strength will be what they share, Anthony said.

“They need to be in support of each other,” he said. “They need to be there no matter what. They need to reach out when things get tough and there’s tough days, there’s tough hours, there’s tough minutes.”

Cummings, with Croslin at his side, made his own appeal for his daughter’s return.

“If you know anything about her whereabouts, if you have seen her, [if] somebody has contacted you that thinks they might have seen her, just contact the local authorities,” he said. “We are trying to find my daughter and get her home safe. We want her back. That’s all we want. We don’t want revenge. We just want my daughter back.”

He made a stark request to any abductor.

“Drop her off somewhere safe, call 911,” he said. “If you’ve done something with her, tell us where she’s at.”

Hardy said efforts are expanding to include horseback searches of the palmetto scrub and pine woods in the south county community. Sporadically during the day, helicopters could be heard circling overhead, even as the search began turning to leads coming in to local, state and federal agencies.

As air and marine searches continued, Texas EquuSearch, a group specializing in horseback searches, arrived to begin mapping out the scrub.

“We’ll expand this investigation as far as it needs to go,” Hardy said. “We worked late into last night interviewing people.”

Hardy said items have been sent for lab analysis but would not say what those were.

Interviewers have talked with friends and family of Cummings as well as Haleigh’s mother, Crystal Sheffield, 23, of Baker County. Agents including those with the FBI have been tracking down registered sex offenders -- 44 are registered within 5 miles -- for interviews.

Polygraphs have been offered to all those who have been interviewed.

As the day passed, searchers hacked with machetes to peer into the dense foliage for signs of Haleigh, helicopters flew overhead and search dogs scoured through.

Near nightfall, no discovery had been announced.

Hardy said no favorite toys or other items of Haleigh’s appear to be missing from the mobile home off Buffalo Bluff Road.

“The best-case scenario is that we find this child alive and well,” he said.

Cummings has custody of Haleigh and Ronald Jr. and shared parental responsibility with Sheffied, court records show.

He said in 2005 custodial court records that Haleigh had been diagnosed with Turner syndrome, a chromosomal abnormality that affects about 1-in-2,500 girls, and requires monthly checkups with a cardiologist and endocrinologist.

It was not clear if the condition would have an impact on Haleigh over a short period of time.

J. Atilio Canas, an endocrinologist at Nemours Children’s Clinic, said it would depend on each patient’s unique case. For instance, certain girls with Turner syndrome can have cardiac problems. If that was the case, then that child could need medication.

Haleigh's grandmother, Teresa Neves, said Friday that she doesn't need medication and gets checkups every six months.

Cummings said he has no idea who might try to take his daughter.

He said he tends to stay to himself.

“I don’t make friends, I don’t make enemies,” he said.

[Admin]

Haleigh: The smiling face that haunts the halls

Mark Woods
Florida Times-Union
February 14, 2009

SAN MATEO — The sign on a wall in the front office of Browning-Pearce Elementary School says, “Smile, class picture day is coming.”

Class picture day. Normally you wouldn’t think twice about this sign. But these days you can’t help but look at such a reminder, imagine the age-old scene — a teacher with a couple of rows of little kids flashing little gap-toothed grins — and feel a lump in your throat.

These days one picture of one student — a smiling kindergartner with a bow in her sandy brown hair — is all over town, all over the world.

Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings is on the fliers taped to the windows of businesses. On the front page of the newspapers spread out in front of patrons at a coffee shop. On the television screens in a nearby barber shop. In the notes that were sent home with all 800 students at this elementary school a few miles north of Satsuma.

Haleigh is everywhere. And yet Thursday, three days after she disappeared from her home in the middle of the night, she still was nowhere to be found.

As I went through my morning routine Thursday — going for a run, coming home and waking up a first-grader — I tried to figure out what I could write about after I dropped Mia off at her elementary school and headed to Putnam County.

Before we got out the door, Mia began procrastinating, playing what has become one of her favorite games lately. She will find a hiding place, then burst out and yell, “Boo!”

“Did I scare you?” she always asks.

“Yes,” I say, even if it’s not true.

“A little or a lot?” she asks, hoping to hear me answer the latter.

She did this same routine Thursday, concluding with the usual giggling and question. A little or a lot?

“A lot,” I said.

A lot more than usual. Not that I thought she actually had disappeared. But I have thought about that what that must be like for a parent. What parent hasn’t the last few days?

And knowing that I was going to spend my day in Putnam County, everything about our routine felt a little different. Especially when I dropped Mia off at school and, before the car door shut, said, “I love you. See you tonight.”

To me, it was different. To her, it was just another day.

This is what I thought of as I sat in the principal’s office at Browning-Pearce. The school brought in counselors for the students. But I wondered if the adults — the parents, teachers and staff — weren’t the ones most affected.

Amazing thing about kids. They can pitch a fit over not getting the right flavor juice box. And yet they can be remarkably matter-of-fact about something that shakes up the adults around them.

“I think that’s true,” principal Debra Buckles said. “Especially with the little ones. At this age, they don’t understand the magnitude.”

As she started to explain how this has affected the adults at the school, her phone rang. She told the person on the other end of the line that the goods they had collected for Haleigh’s family — water, food, money — were in her car and ready to go. She was going to deliver them later in the morning.

She paused as the person on the other end asked something.

“I don’t think there’s anything else we can do,” she said, clearing her throat. “Just keep praying. We’re planning a homecoming.”

She hung up and we continued talking. But she didn’t really have to say anything else. That moment, the pain in her voice, said it all.

“I’m a parent, too,” she said, explaining she has five children and four grandchildren. “My baby is 26, but she’s still my baby. The day we found out about this, I couldn’t get to her fast enough.”

This, of course, has been the universal reaction. Hug your little ones tighter, even if they aren’t so little anymore. After school, the faculty and staff have been gathering in a courtyard, holding hands and praying for Haleigh’s return.

When I asked the principal to describe the 5-year-old, she grabbed a piece of paper that had been sitting on her desk. It was a picture of Haleigh, the same picture that is everywhere.

“Whenever I stopped in her classroom, she always looked like this,” she said. “She always had a smile on her face. She’s a happy girl, a good student, the kind you’d like to duplicate and have 18 in a room.”

Picture that room this week.

We wonder, understandably, how Haleigh’s absence affects the other children in her class. But imagine being Haleigh’s teacher.

“It has been heart-wrenching for her,” Buckles said, “because she’s looking at an empty seat all day.”

Imagine trying to do your job with one empty seat. Imagine doing all the ordinary things that don’t seem so ordinary. Imagine watching 17 children exchange Valentine’s Day cards. Imagine collecting a pile for one who is missing.

Imagine next Tuesday.

Class picture day.

Imagine what it will be like if Haleigh isn’t in the picture.

No, better. Do what the adults at her school continue to do.

Imagine what it will be like if she is in it.

[Admin]

Haleigh's School Does Their Part To Help

Jennifer Lindgren
First Coast News
Febrauary 12, 2009

PUTNAM COUNTY, FL -- The kindergartner's disappearance has hurt her classmates, teachers and principal at Browning Pearce Elementary School.

Though Satsuma is a rural area, more than 800 pre-school through 5th grade children attend school with Haleigh Cummings.

Principal Debra Buckles says in some way every child is affected by the abduction.

While the older children grasp the seriousness of the case, Buckles says even the young ones can tell something is wrong.

To help teachers and students deal with the situation, administrators have brought in extra counselors, and sent letters home to all parents.

Thursday morning, staff members did their part.

"We feel so helpless. Anything we could do to help them we were willing to do," Buckles said.

The principal, who know Haleigh to be a sweet-natured, good student, visited the Cummings and asked how the school could step forward in their time of need.

"A child is missing and that's what we're most concerned about," said Sheriff Hardy.

They've organized a donation drive, bringing water, snacks, a hot meal and incidentals to help sustain the family.

"We're hurting for the family. Can't fathom what they're going through," Buckles said.

Haleigh's loved ones say they're not getting any sleep and can hardly eat, knowing the girl is out there somewhere.

Haleigh's aunt, Crystal Cummings was touched by the kindness. The family embraced the school members, and thanked them.

"Words can't even describe what it means," Crystal said.

"We want to say thank you very much. It means a whole lot to us right now," Cummings said through her tears.

Principal Buckles says anyone can drop off donations of food, water or incidentals at Browning Pearce Elementary school if they'd like to help the family.

Any money donated will be used for the same purpose.

The school is located on Bear Blvd., off Hwy 17 in Putnam County.

[Admin]

Haleigh's father discusses 'misleading' information

Christopher Curry
The Gainesville Sun
February 12, 2009

PALATKA - Standing in the middle of the street in his Putnam County neighborhood, Haleigh Cummings' father pleaded for the 5-year-old's return and said he was there to clear up some "misleading" information circulating about her disappearance.

Ronald Cummings started with his girlfriend Misty Croslin, 17, who is the last person known to have seen 5-year-old Haleigh before she disappeared from Cummings' mobile home Monday night.

"It had nothing to do with her," Cummings said of Croslin. "She couldn't help that. She can’t help she’s the last one to see her. It could be any one of us, any one of our children."

Cummings also said he had nothing to do with Haleigh's disappearance.

Standing next to Cummings, Croslin also spoke to the press. She said she loved Haleigh like her own daughter. She refuted an earlier report that Haleigh had been sleeping in the same bed as she was before the disappearance.

Croslin said 2-year-old Ronald Jr. was in the bed but that Haleigh was in her own bed.

On Wednesday, Haleigh’s maternal grandmother, Marie Griffis, was critical of Croslin when speaking to the press, in part because of the report Haleigh had been in the same bed. Griffis said it was "ridiculous" that a child could disappear under those circumstances on the girlfriend's watch.

George Anthony - the grandfather of Caylee Anthony, a 3-year-old Orlando girl who disappeared and was found dead - also spoke to the media.

He said he showed up to support the Cummings family, just as Joshua Duckett, the father of a missing Leesburg boy did on Wednesday.

They are now members of "a unique club," Anthony said. "They need the community's support. They do not need to be judged. They do not need to be scrutinized."

Cummings' relatives and the family of Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield, have kept vigil in separate areas since early Wednesday. Sheffield’s family is just outside the neighborhood where Cummings lives.

Cummings, his family and friends are in the front yard of a home along the block leading to the dirt road where his mobile home lies. No one except law enforcement is allowed in his mobile home or on the property.

Although he did not get into specifics, Ronald Cummings said the two families had held a vigil together Tuesday night but Sheffield and her family went to a different location Wednesday.

"I feel we should come together and join forces because obviously together we could be stronger," he said.

Cummings has primary custody of Haleigh, and Crystal Sheffield has her daughter every other weekend. Cummings said he expects to keep primary custody when she is returned. He added that he also wanted to dispute any ideas about the disappearance of Haleigh being related to the custody issue.

"I just want it cleared up this is not a custody battle," he said.

During a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Putnam County sheriff's Maj. Gary Bowling also stated law enforcement did not believe custody issues had anything to do with the disappearance.

Speaking briefly to the press on Wednesday, Crystal Sheffield said she believed her two children with Cummings - Haleigh and Ronald Jr. - would have been safer with her. But she said that was because, as a mother, she always wanted her children with her.

The Putnam Sheriff's Office canceled a scheduled 2 p.m. press conference. Public information officer Capt. Steve Rose said it was because there was no new information to report. Unless something breaks, law enforcement would not address the media again until Friday morning, he said.