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Putnam hopes for a miracle; horseback riders set to join search

Larry Sullivan
Palatka Daily News
February 13, 2009

SATSUMA - The search for Haleigh Cummings enters its fourth day today.

Volunteers on horseback are expected to canvass woods not far from the missing 5-year-old's home in South Putnam County.

"We're not sure how many will participate," Rick Ryan, chief deputy of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, said Thursday night. "They're going to help us search a swampy area of preservation land."

Mounted patrols will be an added dimension to the intense search for Haleigh, a blonde-haired kindergartner missing since Tuesday.

The horsemen will join a massive effort that includes concentrated searches of woods, door-to-door canvassing of nearby homes, divers and boaters checking the St. Johns River, and officers in helicopters.

Federal and state investigators also are interviewing the 44 registered sex offenders who live within 5 miles of Haleigh's home in the Hermits Cove neighborhood.

Thursday's developments include:

Authorities said they had not found any trace of the youngster. No arrests or suspects were reported.

* Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, and his girlfriend, Misty Croslin, acknowledged taking polygraph tests.

* FBI agents, including two profilers, spent more than an hour inside the Cummings home.

* Searchers from the sheriff's office, the Palatka Police Department and Florida Highway Patrol walked shoulder-to-shoulder over a swampy area of woods and brush between the home and the river 300 yards away.

* Croslin, in an interview Thursday with a Jacksonville newspaper, denied any role in the girl's disappearance.

"I don't care what people are saying about me because I didn't do it," Croslin told the Florida Times-Union. "I was sleeping. I don't know what happened."

Haleigh's disappearance has attracted the attention of regional and national news media, with several teams of reporters, camera operators and satellite trucks staging inside the River Villas subdivision.

Ronald Cummings told television interviewers he didn't believe Haleigh had wandered away from home in the middle of the night.

"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.

Ryan said the case's high profile made people aware of the disappearance.

"The media has been very cooperative with us, which we appreciate," he said.

Haleigh was reported missing when her father returned home from work early Tuesday.

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.

Audrey Strickland, a waitress at Mema's restaurant in Satsuma, said the abduction was the talk of the town, worrying many of her customers.

"It's too weird," she said. "It's every parent's worst nightmare."

Members of the Crescent City Junior-Senior High School softball team gathered in a pregame prayer Thursday for missing Haleigh. The Raiders agreed to devote the remainder of their season to the girl, and coach Larry Corbitt said they played with a greater sense of dedication during a 14-4 victory over visiting Lighthouse Christian of DeLand.

Also Thursday, a series of rumors - termed unfounded by authorities - spread across the county. The rumors ranged from Haleigh being found alive to the discovery of a body to a murder confession from a relative.

"There was absolutely no validity to that," Ryan said of the rampant speculation.

Officials are considering establishing a rumor control hotline, Ryan said.

[Admin]

200 volunteers search for missing girl

Valerie Boey
Fox 35 Orlando
February 13, 2009


SATSUMA, Fla. - Putnam County Sheriff's Deputies are on day four of searching for Haleigh Cummings. For the first time, deputies are getting help from a private search team. Texas based Equusearch gathered 200 volunteers and headed out around 9:30 a.m. Friday.

Equusearch President Tim Miller plans to focus on the wooded area behind Haleigh's home. He could not say exactly where they would be searching because it is under investigation. He said because Haleigh has been gone for 4 days, the chances of finding her alive were not good. Still, he remains optimistic and has a feeling she's still alive.

Searchers headed out on horses, ATV's and bicycles. Volunteer Jim Bailey doesn't know Haleigh's family, but felt a need to help search. "Just out of my heart I feel sorry for the family. It's a warm feeling to help," Bailey said.

He came prepared with a hiking stick and other equipment. "This stick I have is good for searching, scratching the ground and keeping animals away," he added.

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, 25-year-old Ronald Cummings, got home from work, they realized Haleigh was gone and called 911.

Cummings said he and Mistie would never do anything to hurt Haleigh. "She had nothing to do with this, we've both, I had nothing to do with this," Ronald said.

While investigators said Croslin told them she was sleeping in the same bed with Haleigh and her baby brother, Croslin told media a different story. "I put her to bed around 8 o'clock and I woke up and she was gone and the back door was wide open. The last time I seen her was when I put her to bed. She was in her bed in front of the tv and me and junior was in, were in my bed," Croslin said.

Both Croslin and Cummings have taken polygraphs. Deputies would not release the results of those tests. When Sheriff Jeff Hardy was asked if there was a suspect, he replied, "The world is a suspect." He says they plan to interview family members again. When FOX 35 inquired about two two having a relationship that is illegal because of their ages, Hardy said it was not the focus of the investigation.

Sheriff Hardy said they have been searching for more than 88 hours and his team plans to expand his search. According to Hardy, he went up in a helicopter and saw lots of thick and dense areas that need to be searched.

Hardy has 50 law enforcement officers out searching. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is also assisting. According to Hardy, the homes of 44 sex offenders in the area have been searched. However, when asked if every single home in the quarter mile area was searched, Hardy replied, "I can't say every single property has been searched."

When FOX News used the Jessica Lunsford case as an example, Hardy replied, "I will not compare this case to any others."

Four years, 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford was kidnapped from her Homosassa home in the middle of the night, while her grandparents were sleeping. Her body was discovered a few doors down, in the same home where deputies knocked earlier, but didnt go inside. At that time convicted sex offender John Couey was hiding Jessica in a closet. Investigators say he kidnapped, raped and buried Jessica alive under the front door step. Couey was sentenced to death.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) Special Agent Dominick Pape says the FDLE is assisting in lab work. Neither Pape or Hardy would say what they were testing. While Hardy says he's had 350 leads, when FOX 35 asked if any of them were good leads, he wouldn't comment.

Haleigh is 3 feet tall and weighs 39 lbs. She has blonde hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information should call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

Anyone interested in volunteering with Equusearch should go to 194 E. Buffalo Bluff Road in Satsuma.

[Admin]

Police Grill 44 Sex Offenders in Missing Florida Girl Case, Find 'Items of Interest' During Search

Fox News
February 13, 2009

Investigators found "items of interest" in the dense woods surrounding the home of a missing Florida girl in a "productive day" of searching even as hundreds of volunteers swarmed the area Friday but found no sign of 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings.

"I can say we did discover some items of interest. I can't go into detail as to what those items were or are," said Major Steve Rose of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, who would not comment how the items were being handled for fear of revealing what they are.

The finds came hours after investigators finished questioning 44 registered sex offenders living near Haleigh's home in Satsuma.

"All the sex offenders have been interviewed and their residences have been searched," said Putnam County Sheriff Jeff Hardy. "They're cleared as far as us contacting them and speaking to them."

Rose said more than 200 volunteers from Equusearch joined over a hundred law enforcement officials in a search of the tough marshes around Haleigh's house, expanding the search area nearly four days after she reportedly vanished from her bed before dawn Tuesday.

"It was very productive, it was very successful. We were very pleased with the number of volunteers who came forward to assist us in this search," Rose said, noting that Equusearch would return again during the weekend to continue to assist.

Sheriffs haven't narrowed down their list of suspects in the case. They have gotten more than 350 leads.

"At this time, the world is a suspect and we really haven't excluded anybody," said Putnam, as he announced that family members would again be interviewed Friday.

Haleigh's father Ronald Cummings and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Misty Croslin, have been questioned by police.

They told FOX News' Greta Van Susteren that they had both submitted to polygraphs and "passed" the tests. Sheriff's officials would not release the results.

Croslin discovered Haleigh missing Tuesday morning. According to Ronald Cummings, Haleigh had gotten up to use the bathroom, and when she didn't return, Croslin went to look for her and noticed the back door of the mobile home they shared 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 has told different stories to police and the media about what happened, according to MyFOXOrlando.com.

Investigators say Croslin told them she was sleeping in the same bed with Haleigh and her little brother Junior. She told media a slightly different version of events.

"I put her to bed around 8 o'clock and I woke up and she was gone and the back door was wide open," Croslin said. "The last time I seen her was when I put her to bed. She was in her bed in front of the TV, and me and Junior was in, were in, my bed."

Croslin and Cummings called 911 after discovering the girl was missing, according to the police report.

Police have ruled out the possibility that the girl ran away after house-to-house searches of the neighborhood turned up no evidence that Haleigh wandered off.

Cummings said Croslin 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.

Police had never been called to the home in the past, but there have been prior problems with Cummings, Croslin and Haleigh and her 3-year-old brother Junior, according to Putnam County Capt. Steve Rose.

"There have been some investigations done through the department of children and family," Rose told FOX News. 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." He wouldn't offer any details, citing state confidentiality laws.

In addition to Croslin and Cummings, the child's mother, Crystal Sheffield, has been questioned in the case.

Sheriff's officials said they would continue to search for Haleigh wherever evidence leads them.

"We have actively investigated and pursued over 350 leads that have come in to date. We are not going to limit this search to Putnam County — we'll go wherever it takes us," Hardy said.

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]

Lonely little brother waiting for Haleigh
Deputies, volunteers search region; 'The world is a suspect,' sheriff says

Bridget Murphy
Florida Times-Union
Februsry 14, 2009

SATSUMA - Ronald Cummings Jr. will turn 4 years old Sunday, a birthday his family isn't sure they'll remind him about.

Valentine's Day may not mean much to a tyke like him, but today's holiday arrived early Friday morning with someone from his sister's school dropping off candy and gifts from her classmates.

"We love you Haleigh," said a card all her kindergarten classmates signed.

But how do you explain to a little boy why his 5-year-old sister wasn't home to get the gifts? How do you tell him that police suspect someone abducted Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings while the siblings were supposed to be snug in bed?

"When he's here by himself, he's a little bit lonely," his paternal grandmother, Teresa Neves, said Friday of the little boy their family calls "Junior."

"We just tell him that Haleigh's not here right now. We're not going to do doom and gloom."

But there was news later Friday that offered some hope, with authorities announcing on the fourth day of their investigation they had found new evidence. It happened after more than 100 civilian volunteers teamed with police to broaden the search for Haleigh in the thick woods around her family's Green Lane mobile home near the banks of the St. Johns River.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office wouldn't give details about the evidence or where it was found, with Capt. Steve Rose describing the findings as "items of interest." Authorities wouldn't say if the discovery hinted that Haleigh was alive.

But they said state crime lab personnel have made processing all the evidence in the abduction case their first priority.

Friday they were continuing to interview and re-interview Haleigh's family members and others they didn't identify. They said they had finished speaking with the registered sex offenders who live within 5 miles of the mobile home park in the Hermit's Cove area.

Sheriff Jeff Hardy said Friday morning that investigators hadn't zeroed in on any suspects.

"At this time, the world is a suspect and we really haven't excluded anybody," he said.

The sheriff also said law enforcement officials have chased roughly 350 leads so far.

No comment from sheriff

Hardy wouldn't comment when asked about an inconsistency that emerged Thursday in the account of the 17-year-old girlfriend of Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings.

Misty Croslin first reported that Haleigh had been in bed with her before she woke and found her gone about 3 a.m. as Cummings arrived home. On Thursday, she told reporters they were in separate beds.

She told the Times-Union on Friday that she did change her story "a little bit" because she got mixed up. There is another bed in the same room that Haleigh was sleeping in, according to Neves, Haleigh's grandmother.

Neves said the family is standing by Croslin and doesn't believe she would do Haleigh any harm. Croslin said officials advised her not to speak with the media anymore. Cummings, 25, said he and his girlfriend took lie-detector tests and believes they passed. Investigators haven't confirmed the results.

Authoritiesregularly checked in on Cummings and his family Friday, taking him at one point to meet members of Texas EquuSearch, a volunteer search group.

On Friday morning they sent 10 teams of searchers into the woods on horses, all-terrain vehicles and on foot to look for Haleigh. By day's end, Cummings was wearing a T-shirt like one many wore. "Lost is not alone," it read.

Haleigh's father and her mother, Crystal Sheffield, said they were pleased by the support of volunteers. Cummings has had custody of both Haleigh and Junior.

Family appreciates help

"I think it's wonderful that everybody's helping," said Sheffield, 23, while gathering with her family outside the mobile home park's fence.

That was one of the places where a memorial to Haleigh went up. Signs from family also appealed to anyone who passed by to please bring their baby home.

Volunteers who enlisted for that cause included horseback riders Wanda Cassidy, 58, of Green Cove Springs and Tracy Mitchell, 51, of Jacksonville's Westside.

The friends brought their horses to the area to search the grounds with other volunteers from Texas EquuSearch. The group has assisted authorities with cases like the disappearance of teen Natalee Holloway in Aruba and slain Orlando girl Caylee Anthony.

"I was so excited to be able to do something," Cassidy said before shoving off. "You hear about these things but you don't know what you can do."

Neves said her son and the rest of the family would hold a candlelight vigil Friday night, as they have every night since Haleigh disappeared.

She and her sister Tina Belcher, Haleigh's aunt, smiled when they looked at Thursday night's candles still burning below a table full of Valentines and teddy bears and photos. There also was a packet of fruit chews someone left amid the tribute for Haleigh.

That someone was Junior, Belcher said, explaining how her nephew insisted on buying his sister a treat when she took him into a convenience store.

"We've got to get one for Sissy," the almost-4-year-old told his aunt about the fruit chews. "We'll give her the candy when she gets home."

[Admin]

Girlfriend describes role with children

Cindy Swirko
Gainesville Sun
February 14, 2009

PALATKA - Misty Croslin has been the girlfriend of Haleigh Cummings' father, Ronald Cummings, for five months, lives in his house and has been the primary caretaker of Haleigh and her younger brother, Croslin told The Sun on Friday.

The 17-year-old said that she loves the children as if they were her own and that they love her.

"I always stay with the kids," she said. "I had them 24/7, except for the four days out of the month when they would go to their mom's."

Croslin is a central figure in the disappearance of Haleigh from the Cummings home on Tuesday morning.

Cummings was at work when Croslin woke up to use the bathroom and discovered Haleigh missing from the home at about 3 a.m.

The children and Croslin were asleep in the master bedroom - Haleigh on one bed close to the television set and Croslin and Ronald Cummings Jr., 3, in another bed, Croslin said Friday.

Authorities and a force of volunteers have spent the week searching the woods and rivers near Cummings' home in Satsuma in Putnam County.

Croslin said she is originally from Michigan and has lived in Florida for about seven years. Croslin has lived in various parts of the state, including Daytona Beach, where she lived with her brother.

Initial trips to Palatka were to visit her parents, and Croslin said she did not like the community.

"It's country," she said. "I'm not used to the country. I'm city."

Croslin said she has not attended school in some time, adding that she had signed up for GED classes but did not attend.

Croslin said Cummings regularly works the night shift and that she watches the children while he's at work. Haleigh was often driven to school and typically took the bus home, she said.

Croslin said that despite being 17, she has considerable experience caring for children.

"I've been baby-sitting since I was 11," she said. "I have three nieces and two nephews and one on the way, and I've watched all of them."

[Admin]

No progress from Saturday's seach

Naseem Sowti Miller
Gainesville Sun
February 14, 2009

SATSUMA — The search for missing 5-year-old Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings continued Saturday — with no apparent progress.

In fact, authorities said the “things of interest” they had found on Friday turned out to be nothing relevant to the investigation.

Still, “Right now we’re as optimistic as day one and we’re not going to stop looking for her,” said Chief Rick Ryan of the Sheriff’s Office.

“We had a good day of search,” Ryan said.

Family members say Haleigh vanished early Tuesday morning from the home she shared with her father, his girlfriend and Haleigh’s 3-year-old brother.

After the rain stopped early Saturday morning, more than 17 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, along with more than 250 volunteers, mobilized by the Texas-based EquuSearch, continued the search for Haleigh. They focused on a heavily wooded area near St. Johns River Club Adult Community, across the street from the neighborhood housing Ronald Cummings' home, where Haleigh disappeared early Tuesday morning.

Ryan said that the items of interest found on Friday in the woods have been tested and are no longer significant to the investigation. "Our philosophy is that if it doesn't grow there, we'll want to look at it," he said.

Ryan said law officers have gone to the Cummings home many times and will continue to do so to make sure they have not missed anything.

Ryan did not discuss the details of the investigation and any polygraphs administered. However, he said, "Everybody is a person of interest. We're continuing the interviews. We're talking to everybody."

The dive search in the St. Johns River is suspended for Sunday, although air and foot searches will continue.

"After tomorrow, we will sit down and evaluate all the areas of search throughout the week and make a determination as to whether we need to continue to expand or if we're satisfied with the area that we've taken a look at thoroughly," Ryan said.

Neither Ronald Cummings, Haleigh's father, nor his girlfriend, Misty Croslin, spoke to the media on Saturday. Friends and family crowded the street near Cummings' home and turned the media away.

A few blocks away, at the entrance of Cummings' neighborhood, Haleigh's maternal grandmother, mother, relatives and friends had gathered.

Maternal grandmother Marie Griffis, who lives in Baker County, said, "I know Haleigh is still here. I know she's not gone. She's still alive."

Griffis expressed regret for criticizing Cummings and Croslin earlier in the week during a TV interview.

"I'm too old to be criticizing the two, because they're still babies," she said, referring to 25-year-old Cummings and 17-year-old Croslin. "I feel maybe I've done some damage to Misty's heart, and I can't live with myself for doing that.

"The Lord knows that I want to apologize ... and I want to do it face to face," Griffis said.

Griffis' apology appears to have patched a rift between families, as the families of both Haleigh's parents attended Saturday night's vigil.

Griffis' daughter, Crystal Sheffield, is Haleigh's biological mother. Sheffield has visitation rights to Haleigh and her younger brother, 3-year-old Ronald Jr., two weekends a month. Griffis said Sheffield was dehydrated for a brief period on Friday, but after rest and nutrition, she was feeling better. Ronald Jr. is staying with Sheffield this weekend, as part of the visitation agreement.

Griffis said the last time she has seen Haleigh was two weeks ago.

She described Haleigh "like a little mama, always kissing on her little brother and taking care of him."

Griffis said Ronald Jr. is holding up well and is aware that his sister is missing. She said she hoped the family could all get together for "Junior's" birthday on Sunday. He is turning 4.

"We have to do it for Haleigh," she said.

[Admin]

Seasoned detectives on case of missing girl
Investigators retrace their steps, double and triple checking.

Lise Fisher and Cindy Swirko
Ocala Star Banner
February 15, 2009

Florida seems to have more than its share of child abduction cases, so when Haleigh Cummings was reported missing from her south Putnam County home early Tuesday, authorities had experienced resources from which to draw as they began searching.

Putnam County sheriff's officials quickly had dogs trying to trace Haleigh's scent. They have repeatedly searched the same areas close to Haleigh's home.

They have not only talked to neighbors but in some cases have gotten permission to search property. And they are working with state officials who have firsthand experience with such cases, such as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Child Abduction Response Team - known as CART.

"Our people here have either worked on missing child cases or are part of our CART team, which has been out here and which Putnam County initiated on the front end," said FDLE Special Agent Dominick D. Pape. "If they have not worked on a case, they have at least had lots of training in this to assist the sheriff."

Officers in Putnam County haven't specifically compared their ongoing investigation to other Florida missing person cases like the 2005 abduction of Jessica Lunsford. But, with Haleigh's disappearance the same week as the memorial for Caylee Anthony and the attention that was focused on these cases, comparisons are inevitable.

Caylee is the Orlando girl who disappeared last June. Her mother, Casey Anthony, has been charged with murder.

One fact was how close to their homes both Jessica and Caylee eventually were found.

The girls' bodies were discovered near their residences. A utility worker located Caylee's body less than a half-mile from where she lived, while Jessica's body was discovered about 150 yards away from her home.

Putnam County investigators have noted at news conferences that they are retracing their steps as they search for Haleigh, going back over wooded areas and to homes within a five-mile radius of her residence.

Where they can, they've gone into residences, including getting permission from owners of vacant buildings to search the premises.

And officers have indicated they've been trying to check not only the whereabouts but the homes of 44 registered sex offenders living on both sides of the St. Johns River near Haleigh's home.

Putnam County Sheriff Jeff Hardy last week said officers wanted to "double, triple check" the steps of the investigation and different locations.

Questions about the handling of the disappearance of 9-year-old Jessica sparked the filing of a notice of intent to sue the Citrus County Sheriff's Office last year. The girl's father later agreed not to move forward with a wrongful death lawsuit.

Mark Lunsford initially had wanted Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy to admit mistakes during the investigation. Some close to the case had said the lawsuit likely would have questioned why officers didn't locate the child alive at a nearby home where her abductor, John Couey, a convicted sex offender, had taken her.

Dawsy did not want to talk about Haleigh's disappearance in connection with Jessica's case, public information officer Gail Tierney said Friday.

Tierney said the sheriff did not feel commenting on the matter would be appropriate at this time. But, she said, Dawsy had offered assistance to authorities in Putnam County.

"The sheriff has reached out to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and offered any of our resources to them," Tierney said.

[Admin]

Authorities Searching for Florida Girl Notified of Missing Sex Offender

Fox News
February 15, 2009

Police searching for missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings were notified about a missing Florida sex offender, but stopped short of calling the man a suspect in the girl's disappearance, Ocala.com reports.

Chad Eugene Reynolds, 25, was last seen Feb. 1 leaving his mother's home in Ochlawaha, Fla. — about two hours from Haleigh's home — police said. He was reported missing on Feb. 4.

Reynolds reportedly borrowed a car from a friend and then later called to say the vehicle had broken down near the Marion/Lake County Lines, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office. The car was located in an undisclosed location south of Marion County, but Reynolds was nowhere to be found.

Reynolds was sentenced in Putnum County — the same county where Haleigh was reported missing Feb. 10 — to seven years in prison for armed burglary and lewd and lascivious molestation of a child younger than 12. The incident happened in September of 2002.

Maj. Chris Blair told Ocala.com that the Marion County Sheriff's Office contacted the Putnum County Sheriff's Office about Reynolds.

Authorities said their first concern is Reynolds' safety, but added that he will likely be arrested for failing to report to his probation officer.

Reynolds was released in November and is on 10 years of community supervision, Ocala.com reports.

Haleigh was discovered missing from her Satsuma, Fla. home by her father's girlfriend, Misty Croslin. The father, Ronald Cummings, said Haleigh had gotten up to use the bathroom, and when she didn't return, Croslin went to look for her and noticed the back door of the mobile home they shared was open.

Police believe the girl was abducted.

Chief Deputy Rick Ryan of the Putnam County Sheriff's Department said in a news conference investigators continue to interview family members, their friends and others. Everyone is considered a potential person of interest.

"We're frustrated, of course, but the No. 1 mission is to find the little girl and return her to her family," he said. "We haven't lost our motivation or our drive."

As a registered sexual predator, Reynolds is required to report to his mother's house everyday, according to Ocala.com.

"We're handling it like any missing and endangered person. We're concerned for his safety because his mother said he hasn't done anything like this before," Marion County Sheriff's Capt. Tommy Bibb said.

[Admin]

Sheriff scales back search for Haleigh
With 500 leads in six days, main operations move back to Sheriff's Office.

Dana Treen
Florida Times-Union
February 15, 2009

SATSUMA ­— On Sunday as investigators were deciding to close the intense ground searches for missing Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings, her father worked the woods on horseback to find his little girl.

“I tried to discourage him from going out,” said Tim Miller, founder of EquuSearch, a Texas-based group specializing in horseback and all-terrain searches that was called by investigators to look for Haleigh. “He said, 'If I get on a horse I can clear my head and feel as if I’m really out there searching for my daughter.’ ”
In a break between rides into the woods, Miller said the benefit of including Ronald Cummings in the search was weighed against concern about what he might find.

But it turned out okay.

“He literally looks like a different person,” Miller said. “I think this has done him a lot of good.”

But on the sixth day of searching there were no breakthroughs and no significant finds, said Chief Rick Ryan of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office. By the end of the day, work by Miller’s volunteer group was suspended and main investigative operations were moved back to Palatka, where detectives will be closer to the Sheriff’s Office for interviews and communications facilities are better.

A temporary command post in the South Putnam neighborhood where Haleigh disappeared was dismantled. Investigators have fielded more than 500 leads since she was reported missing at 3:27 a.m. Tuesday, Ryan said.

“They are continuing to follow up those leads,” he said. “We had some interviews today and we will have some interviews tomorrow.”

Detectives will also continue to build a 30-day timeline of who Haleigh was in contact with and follow leads. Ryan said the value of the ground searches was diminishing, although search groups will be held on standby for new developments.

“We’re not sending people out there to make a show,” he said. “At some point we knew we were going to have to scale back if we didn’t find anything.”

Ryan said Sheriff Jeff Hardy spoke to both of Haleigh’s parents, who supported the decision. Families of Ronald Cunningham and Haleigh’s mother, Crystal Sheffield, who lives in Baker County, are camped separately down the road from each other.

Ryan said the doublewide mobile home where Cummings and girlfriend Misty Croslin lived with Haleigh and Ronald Cummings Jr. would not yet be released in case new information leads back to the home.

A troubling report of a sexual predator with an arrest warrant who had vanished from Marion County and who has relatives in next-door Putnam led detectives to interview his family in Putnam.

Ryan said the interviews convinced detectives he did not have any connection to the case.

Woods within a 5-mile radius of where the 39-pound girl disappeared have been combed by volunteers including more than 170 Sunday who were joined by more than 130 law enforcement officers. Forty marine officers and divers were on the river Sunday, Ryan said.

On a cool Sunday morning as congregants of Hope Lutheran Church pulled sweaters close as they left the small Satsuma church, the Rev. Jake Brey said he had told them not to give up hope for the kindergartener’s safe return.

As an ex-cop from South Florida, the 62-year-old pastor has a perspective from his former career.

He said he has watched as investigators have interviewed and re-interviewed family and friends of the missing kindergartener.

“Don’t pre-judge,” he said. Family and friends are the first to be scrutinized. “It’s hardship enough without deciding already who’s guilty and who isn’t.”

Throughout the week, vigils have been held and one is planned for Tuesday evening at Dunns Creek Baptist Church on U.S. 17 in San Mateo north of Satsuma.

Normalcy is hard to come by in the community now. Standing outside Cummings’ canopy and tarp shelter, family friend Autumn Marchand said even her 3-year-old daughter wants to reach out.

“’Mommy I want to help Haleigh come home,” the little girl declared, Marchand said.

But Haleigh is not home, and remained gone on what would have been a special day in her family’s year. Little Ronald Jr. turned 4. Cake was bought and presents wrapped and a party was planned, Marchand said. Just when Sunday wasn’t set.

Not far away and not long after, where the horse searches were staging, searcher Tim Miller said his group is also involved in a search for a 3-year-old in Arkansas and a 14-year-old in Mississippi.

“Unfortunately, we’re losing too many children,” he said.

[Admin]

Deputies Back in Haleigh's Neighborhood

Lindy Thackston
First Coast News
February 16, 2009

SATSUMA, FL -- Donald Bard remembers the phone call early last Tuesday morning that woke him up.

His wife Phyllis answered the call.

"We were sleeping and then we received a phone call, the automated phone call that Haleigh Cummings was missing in our neighborhood," said Phyllis Bard.

The Bard's recognized the name right away.

"The home where Haleigh was taken from belonged to my parents," said Phyllis.

It sits right next door to her own home, and Phyllis began renting it out a few years ago after her father died of diabetes complications and her mother died in a car crash 80 days later.

The Bard's first met Haleigh's father, Ron Cummings, last August.

Phyllis says, "They first moved next door to us, and then they needed a bedroom for each of the children he said, and so he asked to rent that house and we rented that to him in November."

She's an adorable little girl," says Phyllis. "Just adorable. She would come over when I was hanging clothes on the line, and I would see the two of them out in the yard playing and she's just, what can I say, a beautiful, adorable little girl. It just breaks my heart that all this has happened."

The Bard's say, almost one week later, it's still so hard to believe. The FDLE Command Center is just yards from their front door, and Monday night, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office teamed up with the Florida Highway Patrol to set up a another roadblock outside the neighborhood.

Sgt. Joseph Wells of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said, "It's just a general set of questions. Were they down here last week, and then if yes, a few more questions."

"We might find that there's a paper delivery or a gas delivery company or something that comes and goes on this day and time and we'd just like to know who was down here and maybe did they see anything."

Sgt. Wells said the roadblock, which will be up until 2 a.m., is part of CART protocol, which is the Child Abduction Response Team.

Just down the road, Phyllis Bard thinks of the missing daughter, and of her own mother, and is comforted.

"I heard on the television, hold on to hope. I heard the sheriff say that, and all of a sudden it hit me, my mother's name was Hope. It's the house of hope. Because if my mother were living, my mother would say, just hang on to hope."

[Admin]

One week later: Where's Haleigh?

Larry Sullivan
Palatka Daily News
February 17, 2009

SATSUMA - Haleigh Cummings vanished a week ago.

Authorities marked that depressing anniversary about 5 p.m. Monday by imposing roadblocks and going door-to-door in the 5-year-old's South Putnam County neighborhood.

The show of force was exactly one week after Haleigh was last seen in public by neighbors in Hermits Cove.


More than 100 local, state and federal officers combined for the sweep.

"We're checking people coming in and out of the area in hopes that they might have seen something," Rick Ryan, chief deputy of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, said as officers worked in the twilight nearby.

The sweep was designed to include any residents who may have been away from home when Haleigh disappeared, Ryan said.

"There's a possibility someone who might have seen something was on vacation," he said. "There is nothing that prompted this. We didn't get any tips or anything like that today."

The sweep is part of the state Child Abduction Response Team plan the sheriff's office implemented within hours of Haleigh's disappearance, Ryan said.

Questions asked of residents and motorists included names, vehicle descriptions, how often they travel the area and what and who did they see a week ago.

"If they didn't see any of that, we're asking them if there is anything else they want to tell us about the situation," Ryan said.

At the roadblock on Buffalo Bluff Road, deputy sheriff Nicole Quintieri asked motorist Reginald Robinson the list of questions.

"If you hear anything that would help us, please call us at the sheriff's office," she said.

Robinson said deputies were "doing the right thing."

"I have two daughters of my own and I live 10 miles down the road," he said. "This is real scary, especially when you have two daughters of your own."

Meanwhile, at a press conference Monday afternoon in Palatka, Sheriff Jeff Hardy urged residents to remain positive.

"Don't lose hope. In fact right now, hope is probably the best thing that we have," Hardy said. "We have hope that we're gong to find Haleigh and bring her home alive."

He said investigators were re-interviewing people they have already questioned including Haleigh's family members "and their associates."

The reason is simple, Hardy said.

"We don't have all of our questions answered and we don't have Haleigh," he said.

Hardy, however, declined to specify where leads have taken investigators.

"This search is not limited to Putnam County, I can tell you that," he said.

Haleigh was last seen Monday night asleep at home, Misty Croslin has told authorities. Croslin, 17, is the girlfriend of Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, and was babysitting Haleigh.

Haleigh was reported missing ay 3:27 a.m. Feb. 10.

As a full week has passed since with no sign of Haleigh, the response of authorities has gone from widespread to more focused, with officers engaging in what Florida Department of Law Enforcement special agent Dominick Pape called "a tactical search" following leads.

For instance, about 60 lawmen checked an area south of Satsuma during the day Monday.

Pape described this as "the next mode" in the case.

"We don't stop searching," Pape said. "We will continue searching until she is found."

Gigantic sweeps of woods and swamp by volunteers on horses, four-wheelers and on foot have been scaled back or even stopped.

EquuSearch, the Texas-based organization of specially trained horse-borne searchers, packed up and left on Monday after several days in Putnam County

"With all the ground we covered, it's getting frustrating," Tim Miller, the group's founder, said Sunday.

Miller, who took Haleigh's father on horseback during Sunday's search, said the group had done its best.

"I guarantee you that everything is covered," Miller said. "We won't hear of a deer hunter next year finding her. We just haven't been lucky enough to find her."

Items found on the ground by searchers are being examined by crime lab specialists, but nothing related to Haleigh's disappearance has been recovered by volunteers, Hardy said.

Meanwhile, the criminal investigation launched shortly after Haleigh disappeared continued in earnest Monday.

Investigators questioned several people, including relatives of Haleigh, on Monday, Hardy said.

The investigation into Haleigh's disappearance, which Hardy has labeled an abduction, is a cooperative effort of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, FBI and FDLE.

More than 500 tips have been phoned in to the sheriff's office.

"We're continuing to receive numerous tips and we're continuing to diligently follow up on each and every one of them," Hardy said.

There have been a couple of false sightings reported to authorities, Hardy said.

"People are on edge and a bit nervous," he said.

Authorities are still asking for the public's help in finding Haleigh and identifying who took her. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (888) 277-8477.

[Admin]

County's support touches families; expressions of caring flow from kindergartners, neighbors, officials

Kristin Chamber
Palatka Daily News
February 17, 2009

SATSUMA - Pink and red handprints cut out of construction paper added to numerous expressions of support Saturday for missing kindergartner Haleigh Cummings.

Mary Johnston, Haleigh's kindergarten teacher at Browning-Pearce Elementary School, collaborated with her students to send support to the family in the form of art.

"Both Haleigh's class and the classroom next door sent cards, posters and a picture of Haleigh taken on a field trip," Teresa Neves, Haleigh's grandmother, said. "They were made by the kids and then brought over on Valentine's Day by an administrator and a teacher."

Blankets and pillows stacked near the television were placed behind the decorations, which aided in comforting the grieving family as they waited out Haleigh's return under tents set up in a neighbor's yard.

"We've been here every night since they've taken our baby," Neves said.

"As long as they let us stay, we'll be here waiting. But it gets harder every day."

With the Putnam County Sheriff's Office re-searching nearby homes, Neves remains hopeful Haleigh is close.

"If we don't find her, we will eliminate where she's not," Neves said. "But I think someone has her in a house," Neves said. "I wish they could turn (the houses) upside down is what I wish."

Marie Griffis, Haleigh's other grandmother, has other ideas.

"I still got the feeling she's in Georgia or Alabama, not around here," Griffis said. "But (authorities) are doing an excellent job. They come by and give us updates throughout the day."

Haleigh's little brother celebrated his fourth birthday on Sunday, which helped distract the family for a bit.

"It's hard to celebrate anything right now, but he's only 4, so he doesn't understand," Neves said.

Crystal Sheffield, Haleigh's mother, has received additional support from the community in the form of a 9-week-old Chihuahua named Isabella.

"She was given to us for Haleigh for when she comes home," Sheffield said. "The lady just gave it to us from the kindness of her heart."

Faith remains in Sheffield's heart that her daughter is out there.

"Just don't stop searching. I just beg them not to stop."

[Admin]

Police Have 'New Leads' in Disappearance of Missing Florida Girl Haleigh Cummings

Fox News
February 17, 2009

Police said they have several new leads in the disappearance of a 5-year-old Florida girl after interviewing people they had missed during earlier sweeps of her neighborhood.

Capt. Steve Rose, of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, declined to describe the information Tuesday in the case of Haleigh Cummings.

"We were able to come up with several good leads that we are following up on today," Rose told reporters. "At this time we cannot discuss the nature of those leads."

The news comes after an announcement earlier this week that authorities were scaling back their hunt for Haleigh, who vanished in the middle of the night from her trailer home last week.

Rose said police did a second neighborhood canvass Monday evening and got more information from people they hadn't previously talked to. They also set up a vehicle checkpoint.

"It's possible those are people we missed the first time — new people, new information," Rose said. "We’re still looking at everybody as a suspect at this time."

Rose reversed the department's weekend remarks that police were pulling away from the search for the child, which has involved several tips and about 250 volunteers — including those from Texas EquuSearch.

Putnam County Sheriff's Deputy Rick Ryan told The Gainesville Sun that police would comb through two more small patches of land Monday at the end of their ground search. The investigation, now a week old, is no longer focusing on an inspection of the surrounding area.

"This is frustrating," Ryan said in a Sunday news conference. "This is not 'CSI.' We can't wrap this up in an hour."

Haleigh was discovered missing from her home before dawn last Tuesday by her father's girlfriend, 17-year-old Misty Croslin.

The father, Ronald Cummings, said Haleigh had gotten up to use the bathroom, and when she didn't return, Croslin went to look for her and noticed that the back door of the mobile home they shared was open. Cummings said he'd just come home from work when Haleigh disappeared.

Police haven't narrowed down a list of suspects in the case, and they have received more than 350 leads.

"All the sex offenders [in the area] have been interviewed and their residences have been searched," Putnam County Sheriff Jeff Hardy said earlier. "They're cleared as far as us contacting them and speaking to them."

Cummings and Croslin told FOX News' Greta Van Susteren last week that they both had submitted to polygraphs and "passed" the tests.

Sheriff's officials would not release the results. Rose said several of those questioned have taken lie detector tests.

Croslin has told different stories to police and the media about the timing of her discovery that Haleigh was gone and where she and the child were in the mobile home the night the little girl vanished.

Rose said Tuesday that police are focusing on the timeline Croslin has given them in the case.

"We're still working on the timeline, but we're not going to divulge (specifics) at this time," he said. "We feel pretty confident about when the girlfriend last saw Haleigh. That’s the timeline we’re focusing on."

He wouldn't comment on what authorities have learned about the sequence of events before and after the child was discovered missing.

Police had never been called to the home in the past, but there have been investigations by a social services agency involving Cummings, Croslin and Haleigh and her 4-year-old brother Junior, according to Rose. He hasn't revealed the nature of those cases.

The Florida Department of Children and Families confirmed that the agency "was involved with the family," but wouldn't disclose details, citing confidentiality laws.

In addition to Croslin and Cummings, the child's mother, Crystal Sheffield, also has been questioned in the case.

[Admin]

Former Tenant Talks About Haleigh's Home

Joy Purdy
First Coast News
February 17, 2009

SATSUMA, FL -- The floor creeks, the back door sticks and makes a scraping noise, and you can feel other people walking in the house.

That's how Dr. Jessie Smallwood describes the mobile home where 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings disappeared.

Smallwood lived in it nearly a decade ago.

When we called him this morning -- 1 week since Haleigh was reported missing -- Smallwood says it "shocked" him and "chilled" him to know his old home is now at the center of a massive search that's made national headlines.

"We've been watching it on TV, and we've been saying, 'Boy, that looks so familiar,'" he recalls, "'That looks just like the house that we used to live in."

Smallwood stresses that the next owner(s) may have made upgrades to the rickety structure, but he remembers complaining often about the home to his landlord.

"If someone was even trying to creep across the house, the floor creeks," Smallwood explained by phone.

He was also so concerned about the back door not being secure, he and a friend installed a sliding lock.

"My son was a short 9," Smallwood tells us, "and we put the latch up too high for him to reach."

But when asked if the door could be opened even with the latched locked he said, "A man could [open it]."

Smallwood and his wife now live in Claxton, Georgia, but during that year they spend living at 202 Green Lane in Satsuma, Florida, Smallwood says the nights were scary for his then 9-year-old son.

"He was scared of the dark, and we had a security light put in there," Smallwood says, and goes on to describe the area around the mobile home.

"If there was no security light, it was pitch, absolutely black."

Smallwood also gave some insight to the surroundings if someone were targeting the home.

"You could park down in the trees," he explains, "if you were going to abduct someone, all you would have to do is sit back there and no one would see you watching the house."

[Admin]

Praying for Haleigh: Community turns out for vigil and prayer service

Kristin Chambers
Palatka Daily News
February 18, 2009

SAN MATEO - A minister on Tuesday emphasized a message of hope for missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings' return.

"We have a choice we have to make," Terry Wright, pastor of Dunns Creek Baptist Church, said. "We can choose to have despair, or we can choose to have hope, and that's the choice we are making tonight."

Haleigh disappeared from her Satsuma home during the night of Feb. 9-10. Efforts to locate her so far have been unsuccessful.

People lined the walls of the church as nearly every seat was filled during the service.

A vigil was hosted for Haleigh in which the community came together to support the family and pray for her safe return.

During the service, Wright preached hope and compassion for the missing child.

"If she is being held by a person, or a number of people, we ask them to soften their hearts, and let them know that she is not an object, but a precious child with numerous opportunities," Wright said.

Wright spoke highly of the community, and was very thankful for the positive assistance that has been demonstrated.

"There's been an unbelievable amount of support to the family from the school system and the sheriff's office," Wright said. "It's a hard job for [the sheriff's department] to do, but they aren't doing it without compassion for the family. There's nothing good about this, but it really shows how caring the community is."

Three Scriptures were read by Wright, each with a theme of hope.

Sheriff Jeff Hardy felt the topic was successfully conveyed.

"It was the message of hope we have been talking about," Hardy said.

Tim Campbell, a local deputy as well as the church's youth pastor, knows some of Haleigh's relatives who attend the church. He said he feels the family is handing the situation very well.

Johnny Sheffield Jr., Haleigh's uncle, says he is close to his niece and wants to be supportive of his family.

"It's tough," Sheffield said. "[Haleigh] is amazing- the greatest."

According to Campbell, the vigil received a good turnout with about half of the attendees from the community and the rest regular church members.

One church member, Kathleen Babbin, attended the service to support and pray for the family.

Even though she does not know the family personally, she has children and grandchildren, and can imagine the heartache the family is feeling, she said.

"I think the service was extremely wonderful," Babbin said. "But I think the whole community is really torn up by this."

Haleigh's family was led to an adjoining area of the church after the service where refreshments were served and the community could gather to lend support to one another.