Links for 21 April 2010

Fleur De Lawn
I love this drought resistant lawn seed mixed with strawberry clover, mini daisies, Sweet Alyssum, and other tiny flowers. It's not a high traffic lawn, but would be lovely surrounding a path. I'm trying to do something similar with bluebells and violets in my back lawn. $29.99/lb.

Haleigh's Family Told To Make Funeral Arrangements, Did Cops Find Body?
The police have told Haleigh Cummings' family how to have the girl officially declared dead. They can either wait 7 years for the State of Florida to issue a death certificate, or they can request a judge to issue a certificate before the 7 years have lapsed.

This Is Apple's Next iPhone
Apple managed to lose the next generation iPhone and Gizmodo got their hands on it. Looks like the new hardware will have a forward facing camera, and an improved back camera with flash. The back is also flat and their is an aluminum frame all around the thing. But I main uses for the phone (besides being a phone) are the camera apps.

Lauren London On The Controversy Surrounding Her Pregnancy: 'It Did Hurt My Feelings'
Lauren London discusses her pregnancy and baby boy(Whose name she has managed to keep private for 6months), and Lil' Wayne.

Haleigh Cummings Update 15 April 2010

Another high profile case may be reaching a conclusion. For the past few days divers have been searching a river for the body of Haleigh Cummings, and it looks like they have brought a handcuffed Misty Croslin to the site.

Divers and a police boat searched a Florida river Thursday as the investigation continued into the disappearance of 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings more than a year ago. A police boat in the St. Johns River appeared to be monitoring boat traffic, and a handful of divers were in the water.
The Putnam County Sheriff's office did not return phone calls Thursday.
Police searched the area twice earlier this week.
"At this point, this search has failed to yield any items of evidentiary value in the case," the Putnam County Sheriff's office said Wednesday. The office said it was acting on a "lead" but did not elaborate.

Deputies from four counties and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement began searching the St. Johns River south of Satsuma on Tuesday morning, CNN affiliate WJXT-TV in Jacksonville reported.

A helicopter videographer from CNN affiliate WKMG-TV in Orlando said he spotted witness Misty Croslin at a dock during Wednesday's search, motioning to investigators, who pointed to the murky water.

Croslin, who was Haleigh's stepmother, is in custody on drug charges. She was the last person to see Haleigh before she was reported missing.
Haleigh was 5 when she disappeared February 9, 2009, from the Satsuma mobile home where her father, Ronald Cummings, and Croslin lived. Cummings reported Haleigh missing when he returned from work at dawn.
Croslin told police she tucked Haleigh and the girl's 4-year-old brother into bed about 8 p.m. the previous night and went to sleep two hours later.
She said she awoke at 3 a.m. to find Haleigh missing and a cinder block propping open a back door.
An attorney representing Joe Overstreet, Croslin's cousin, said Florida officials questioned his client Tuesday.

Overstreet, who is from Nashville, Tennessee, was in the Satsuma area when Haleigh disappeared, said attorney Shawn Sigo. Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents flew to Nashville on Tuesday to question him, Sigo said.
Overstreet maintains he had nothing to do with Haleigh's disappearance, Sigo said, adding that he is "broken over this" and "knows he is being used by people whose story keeps changing."
Putnam County authorities said in August that "the evidence and investigatory effort has minimized the likelihood that Haleigh's disappearance is the work of a stranger." Police have said Cummings and Crystal Sheffield, the girl's mother, are not considered suspects.
Jail records show that Croslin was removed from the St. Johns County Jail, where she is being held on suspicion of drug trafficking, on Tuesday, WJXT has reported. The sheriff told the station she was brought to Putnam County for an interview.
Investigators have said they believe Croslin "continues to hold important answers in the case" but has not provided "any sort of detailed accounting of the hours during the late evening and early morning of Haleigh's disappearance." Authorities have previously said physical evidence contradicts Croslin's account of the events that night.
However, police have stopped short of naming Croslin a suspect in the case. In televised interviews, Croslin has said she does not know what happened to Haleigh but believes "the other side of the family" knows where she is.

Croslin and Cummings were both arrested in January along with three others after allegedly selling about $3,900 worth of drugs to undercover officers, authorities said. The two divorced following Haleigh's disappearance.

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Murder and Mayhem Links 13 October

Attorney: Ron Cummings Doubts Wife's Story
What took him so long to see all of the holes in Misty's story? And if the mother took Haleigh, wouldn't she have taken the little brother too. Misty just needs to come clean with the fact that she went out that night and someone took the little girl while she was out partying.

Judge: Abortion Laws Protect Girl Who Sought Pregnancy-Ending Beating
This judge is an idiot. The 17year-old was 7 month pregnant. That isn't an abortion, the odds were in favor of that baby being born alive. The $150 beating would be an illegal abortion at best if it happened during the first trimester. And the reason she did this, because her boyfriend threatened to leave her if she didn't have an abortion. If they wanted an abortion they should have had one during the first trimester. And yes, the baby was born full term and is in foster care. But the girl is seeking custody of the baby, and if unsuccessful the grandmother will try to gain custody.

DNA Leads To Suspect After 19 Years, FBI Says
Dennis Earl Bradford was arrested after 19 years for the rape and attempted murder of then 8-year-old, Jennifer Schuett. He kidnapped her from her bedroom, raped her, slashed her throat, and left her for dead. Thank God it getting harder and harder for these monsters to hide from justice.

Adorable Photos Of Celebrities Taking Their Kids To The Pumpkin Patch
Is there only one pumpkin patch in Hollywood? You know the celebs are only there with their kids because the paparazzi are there. That's Dannilynn Birkhead with Larry.

Murder and Mayhem Links 12 October

Lawyer Drops Misty Cummings As Client
First her husband dumps her, and now her lawyer has parted ways with Misty Cummings. Attorney, Robert Fields dropped Misty as a client after she didn't follow his advice and appeared on the CBS Early Show. Seems like all the rats are jumping off the sinking ship.
Cops: Husband Shot Soccer Mom As She Chatted On Webcam
You may remember Meleanie Hain as the soccer mom who made headlines last year for carrying a holstered handgun to her five year old daughter's soccer games on September 11th, but the gun did her very little good on Friday night. Her husband Scott murdered her by shooting her while she chatted with a friend online.
Dad Arrested For Shooting 4-Year-Old Son
Anthony Dunn, idiot, accidently shot his 4-year-old son in the thigh. He was only charged with child neglect and reckless handling of a gun. What do you want bet that the gun was unregistered.
Bride-to-Be Ivanka Trump: Work Before Babies
Ivanka Trump will not be rushing to have babies after she marries Jared Kushner on 25 October. Her focus will be on her career. She isn't ready for the "compromise" that parenting takes.

Victoria Beckham Joins The Other Mothers At School Fair...Wearing £11.5k Outfit
Victoria Beckham wore an £11,500 ($18,190 give or take a few cents), and still manages to look like a fashion disaster.

Misty Cummings Speaks Out

The stepmother of a missing Florida girl has said in a nationally televised interview that she believes other relatives may be responsible for the disappearance of Haleigh Cummings.
Misty Cummings made her comments Friday on CBS' "The Early Show.
Cummings told the interviewer: "I feel like it's on the other side of the family that has her."
She did not name any relatives.
Haleigh was 5 in February when she disappeared from her father's Satsuma trailer home. Misty had been baby-sitting the two children of her boyfriend, Ronald Cummings, when Haleigh was reported missing. The couple married in April but now are planning to divorce.
A call to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office was not immediately returned.

Now that Ronald has left her she is trying to divert attention away from herself. I bet you she left those children alone in the house to go party, and someone stole Haleigh. Seventeen year old girls aren't always the most responsible people. She should have been going to school and hanging out with her friends instead of playing mommy to Ron's kids.
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It's About Time

The father of Haleigh Cummings, a Florida girl who disappeared in February, plans to file for divorce from the girl's stepmother, a key witness in the case, his attorneys told HLN's "Nancy Grace.

The move follows weeks of reported tension between Ronald and Misty Cummings during the search for Haleigh, who was 5 when last seen.

In papers expected to be filed Tuesday, Ronald Cummings, 25, cites irreconcilable differences in ending his short marriage to his 17-year-old wife, said Terry Shoemaker, Ronald Cummings' attorney.

Haleigh went missing from her father's home in Satsuma, Florida, on February 9. Cummings has made several public pleas for information in her disappearance.

Misty Cummings, then known as Misty Croslin, was the last person known to have seen Haleigh the night she disappeared from the family's rented mobile home. The teenager said she tucked Haleigh and her 4-year-old brother into bed about 8 p.m. and went to sleep herself two hours later, but awoke at 3 a.m. to find the girl missing and a cinder block propping open a back door.

Ronald Cummings called police and reported his daughter missing when he returned from work at dawn.

Investigators have said they do not feel Misty Cummings has told them everything she knows.
"The police have been telling me that I've been keeping Misty under my wing and that's why she hasn't talked to the cops," Ronald Cummings told a "Nancy Grace" producer Tuesday. "So now, here you go, I divorced her. So now go find my baby."

The Putnam County Sheriff's office said in August that "the evidence and investigatory effort has minimized the likelihood that Haleigh's disappearance is the work of a stranger." Ronald Cummings and Crystal Sheffield, Haleigh's mother, are not considered suspects, police said.

"Investigators believe that Misty Croslin-Cummings continues to hold important answers in the case," the sheriff's office said in a written statement. "She has failed to provide any sort of detailed accounting of the hours during the late evening and early morning of Haleigh's disappearance. Furthermore, physical evidence at the scene contradicts Misty's sketchy account of her evening activities." Shoemaker said his client told Misty Cummings he wanted a divorce on Sunday, and that the a divorce agreement was drawn up Monday. The agreement was sent to Misty Cummings' lawyer for her signature.

"He really didn't come to us and say, 'I want to file for divorce,'" said another of Ronald Cummings' attorneys, Brandon Beardsley. "My understanding is that this is something that he and Misty have been discussing for the last few days and they're contemplating it because they ultimately feel that it is in the best interest for both of them."

Misty Cummings' attorney, Robert Fields, told CNN he has not talked with his client and doesn't know her thoughts regarding the divorce. Fields said he had received the papers via e-mail but had not had a chance to review them. Asked what he thought the divorce would mean for the search for Haleigh, he said, "Probably nothing."

"You have to understand that ever since Haleigh went missing, they have been scrutinized," Beardsley said of the Cummingses. "They can't go out to dinner, can't even go to the convenience store to get a drink. ... The pressure of everything that is going on, the allegations and speculation, has been a stress on the relationship.

The two lived together for about six months before marrying in March. The divorce agreement provides no financial terms, according to Shoemaker.

On Monday, Misty Cummings left Satsuma to stay with a friend in Orlando, 50 miles south, Shoemaker said.

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Haleigh Cummings Update 20 May

The father of missing toddler, Haleigh Cummings, wants nothing to do with the Casey Anthony media circus. Ronald Cummings has asked George and Cindy Anthony to stay away from the search for his daughter. His lawyer, Greg Kimball issued the following statement:

The family of Ronald Cummings, father of Haleigh Cummings, wishes to make it clear that they do not want any involvement by George and Cindy Anthony in the continuing search for Haleigh Cummings. The Anthonys have their own agenda, as witnessed by their recent media tour. The facts relating to the death of Caylee Anthony, which resulted in the first degree murder charges against Casey Anthony, are in no way similar to Haleigh's disappearance.

That translates to: We don't want to be a part of your dog and pony show. We have enough of our own crazy, we don't need yours.

Haleigh Cummings Update 11 May

Sunday marks 90 days since Haleigh Cummings was reported missing from her Satsuma home.

The 5-year-old's disappearance triggered a massive search and criminal investigation. It also put Putnam County into the national spotlight, often in unflattering ways, and put a fractured family's domestic issues front and center.

Now, some there months later, there are far more questions than answers.

"We don't know for sure what's happened, but we do know that somewhere down the end of the line there's going to be some type of crime involved," Capt. Dick Schauland, a spokesman for the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, said Friday.
Aside from general statements, authorities have refused to discuss what their investigators have uncovered.

"We also have to maintain a criminal investigation and we have to maintain the integrity of that," Schauland said. "Should we be able to release something that would help us locate Haleigh we would certainly do that even if it would compromise the criminal investigation."

Schauland said investigators are still on the case, even though other events have occurred since the girl went missing.

"Obviously there are other things going on in the county too, but nonetheless the investigators are still working," Schauland said. "Hundreds and hundreds of interviews have been done, and they are still doing them."

The blond-haired kindergartner was reported missing at 3:27 a.m. on Feb. 10 by Misty Croslin, who is now married to Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings.

She said she had put Haleigh and Ronald Junior, Haleigh's little brother, to bed at 10 p.m., and awoke at 3 a.m. to find Haleigh gone.

A national Amber Alert was issued for Haleigh at 8 a.m. that morning, and remains in effect.

Diving squads, ground searchers, bloodhounds and helicopters scoured the area around Satsuma throughout the week for the little girl, and horseback riders searched deep wooded areas, with nothing found.

Authorities said they believed she was abducted, since the child is afraid of the dark and does not wander off alone.

"Everybody in that whole area within a mile of the house they have interviewed at last three times, and of course with family members they've done as many as 10 times," Schauland said.

Both sides of Haleigh's family set up camps in the neighborhood and held nightly vigils, praying for her return.

By Feb. 26, cadaver dogs were sent out to search within a quarter-mile of her home, but no scent of the 5-year-old was detected. (That must be a good sign.)

The stress remains for family members.

Ronald Cummings, Haleigh's father, married Misty Croslin on March 12, and now lives at his grandmother's house in Welaka since he lost his job. (If he could find the time to marry Misty, he could of made the time to call in to work and explain that he was still searching for Haleigh.)

"Every day is a little harder," Annette Sykes, Cummings' grandmother, said Friday. "We still have candlelight vigils every night."

Teresa Neves, Cummings' mother, said the vigils are open to the public and take place on Front Street in Welaka.

"I just want to thank everyone for their prayers," Neves said.

Crystal Sheffield, Haleigh's mother, travels between her home in Baker County and the Haleighbug Center in Satsuma.

The missing girl's nickname was the inspiration for the center's name.

"Primarily what it's being used for is that we are going to pick back up some fund-raisers and keep the word out about Haleigh still being missing," Kim Picazio, Sheffield's attorney, said.

"The funds go to keeping flyers printed, T-shirts, keeping the word out in this town and surrounding towns to let them know that this child is still missing and that law enforcement needs any information that could possibly lead to finding her."

Sheffield recently had a seizure at the center, which Picazio blamed on stress.

"It's very stressful for her to sit at the Haleighbug Center," Picazio said. "I can't imagine after this long as a mom."

Picazio now has a full-time employee at the building, which she pays for herself.

Sykes said the family has faith Haleigh is alive.

"Whoever has her, bring her home," Sykes said.

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Haleigh Cummings Update 6 May

Saturday marks three months since Haleigh Cummings, 5, disappeared from her home in Putnam County. Investigators say leads are not coming in as fast as they once did.

James Batchelor moved to the back woods of Satsuma for the peace and quite. All that changed Feb. 9 when the little girl who played with her brother down the street just vanished in the middle of the night..

"I look down there and they'd be out there and just having a big time and all -- BAM -- all this happened," said Batchelor, a neighbor of the Cummings family.

Batchelor was referring to the night that Putnam Sheriff's investigators say Haleigh Cummings was snatched from her home.

An intense search followed for several weeks by ground, water and air. Active searching has been abandoned with few clues leading to her whereabouts.

"It's frustrating for investigators. It's frustrating for the family. It's frustrating for the community down there," said Capt. Dick Shauland of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

Two tents where Haleigh's parents held round-the-clock vigils are gone.

Even Haleigh's father moved from the home she disappeared from. They lived a short distance from where authorities set up a command center. The command center is also gone, moved from Satsuma to Palatka.

The Haleigh Cummings command center is no longer located at the Putnam County emergency operations center. Tips and leads have dwindled from several thousand to just a few.

"They dropped off from several hundred a day to just several a day now," Shauland said.

Haleigh's house is quiet. The landlord says no one has been around for days. Only pictures, prayers and words of hope are left behind.

"She'll be found one way or another, and I hope to God it'll be alive because the little angel didn't deserve -- she didn't deserve it," Batchelor said.

It must be a horrible feeling to know that the search for your missing child has gone cold. Even though it seemed like her parents gave up that search a long time ago in favor of bickering over custody of Haleigh's little brother.

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Haleigh Cummings Update 1 May

No arrests have been made in the disappearance of Haleigh Cummings and none are anticipated, a Putnam County Sheriff's Office spokesman said Tuesday.

The 5-year-old, blond-haired kindergartner was reported missing from her Satsuma home Feb. 10, prompting a massive search of South Putnam and an intensive criminal investigation involving local, state and federal agencies.

No suspects in the girl's disappearance have been identified by detectives, said Johnny Green-wood, a sheriff's lieutenant who serves as a spokesman for the department.

Speculation that an arrest had been made swept the community Tuesday.

Telephone calls from Haleigh's relatives, curious residents and the news media flooded the sheriff's office Tuesday afternoon, Greenwood said.

The trigger appeared to be a report from an Ocala radio station that linked a drug suspect's return to jail to the Haleigh case.

"They are unrelated," Greenwood said. "It's not linked to the Haleigh Cummings case."

The subject of the radio station's report was 18-year-old Kristina Renee Prevatt, who was arrested on a cocaine charge April 20 and bonded out of jail about 10 hours later by William Staubs, a bounty hunter and private investigator who says he is working on the Haleigh case.


Staubs returned Prevatt to jail Tuesday afternoon and invited T. J. Hart, program director of WSKY in Ocala, to come along.

Hart did a live broadcast from outside the county jail in Palatka reporting "a person of interest" was being "brought in."

Interviewed by telephone later, Hart said Prevatt "has been cited as a person of interest to the case by some people" he said were "other investigators."

Hart said he was specific with his report.

"We never used the word arrest," he said.

The report sparked a flurry of activity at the sheriff's office, Greenwood said.

"We've had all kinds of people calling down here," Greenwood said. "As soon as they made that comment, it just got crazy."

Staubs also bonded out 20-year-old Amber Brooks, who was arrested the same day as Prevatt on similar charges.

Hart said Staubs' efforts were made to help solve Haleigh's disappearance.

"He thought if he showed some mind of compassion and kindness he could get some information out of them," Hart said.

Staubs, 51, who calls himself "Cobra," has been accused of illegally detaining a Putnam County man who was free on bail on a sex abuse charge.

Last month, deputies say Staubs apprehended and handcuffed William Snodgrass, 55, who in 2007 was charged with capital sexual battery of a 9-year-old girl. Snodgrass was held for an hour, deputies added.

The allegation is being reviewed by local prosecutors.

Snodgrass is free on bail and under electronic supervision until his trial this summer.

Nearly 4,000 leads have been forwarded to investigators since Haleigh vanished, authorities say.

Misty Cummings told authorities she last saw Haleigh about 10 p.m. on Feb. 9 and the child's bed was empty when she awoke the next day about 3 a.m. At the time, she was dating Haleigh's father, Ronald. They have since married.

Both Ronald and Misty Cummings have been questioned repeatedly by investigators.

Recently, a high-ranking sheriff's official said detectives were unsatisfied with answers provided by Misty and declined to rule her out as a suspect.

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Haleigh Cummings Update 30 April

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office fielded rumors Tuesday about a possible arrest in the Haleigh Cummings case.

The agency received calls from Florida media outlets asking about reports there had been a break in the case of the missing girl, last seen at her Satsuma home in February.

Capt. Dick Schauland said investigators continue to work on leads and reports of an arrest in the case were false. He didn’t know how the rumors started.

The sheriff’s office did verify another report that the child’s mother Crystal Sheffield had a seizure, which her attorney has The woman was taken to the Putnam Community Medical Center Monday after she fell, reportedly after a seizure, and hit her head on a crate.

The incident occurred at Haleigh Bug Headquarters off of U.S. 17 that serves as a command post for some waiting for news about Haleigh.

Last month Sheffield was involved in a minor vehicle accident that apparently also involved a seizure.

The seizures reportedly are linked to stress, according to comments from relatives and others who know Sheffield.

There have been no reports from the sheriff’s office of any progress in locating the child who vanished more than two months ago. Officers have called the case a possible abduction but have not named any suspects.

People just want Haleigh returned one of the pair of freaks that are her parents, or they want whoever took her punished. That is probably how the rumor started. The sad thing is that Haleigh will probably never make it home, and it looks like someone will be getting away with a terrible crime.

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Haleigh Cummings 16 April

After waiting two months to hear from the father of still missing 5-year-old Putnam County kindergartner Haleigh Cummings, the Palatka plant where he worked has fired him for abandoning the job, the company said.

Cummings’ employment was a factor in his being granted custody of his daughter and son in 2005 because he was in a better position to pay for health insurance. Following Haleigh’s disappearance, the long estranged mother of the children has said she wants custody of their son, 4-year-old Ronald Cummings Jr.

Tony McCauley, director of human resources for PDM Bridge, said Cummings’ bosses never heard from him following Haleigh’s disappearance Feb. 10. McCauley said Cummings could have asked for a leave of absence.

“That never happened,” he said from company headquarters in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. “Without that happening, at some point they filled his position. He was released.”

(He found the time to get down on one knee to propose to Misty, and then to marry him. He could have made the time to call in to work and say, "My daughter is missing and I'm not going to be able to make it today." Poor Haleigh's parents don't seem to have their priorities straight. Dad is busy with his cheating, teen bride. And Mom is busy slinging mud at Dad. The search for Haleigh has become secondary to all the muck.)
Cummings operated a rolling crane at the plant north of Palatka. He was not a longtime employee.
“We still have a great deal of sympathy for Mr. Cummings and his family and certainly hope for the best,” McCauley said.

Haleigh was reported missing just as Cummings was arriving home from work about 3 a.m. on Feb. 10 and his girlfriend said the youngster was gone. The girl has not been found despite an intense search and investigation that is still continuing.

Earlier McCauley said the company was willing to hold the job open but wouldn’t discuss if it was doing anything else to assist the family. But Wednesday he said a decision had to be made that was consistent and fair regarding other employees.

This week PDM asked Putnam County deputies to monitor shift changes at the plant that employs about 120 people and manufactures structural sections for steel bridges. McCauley would not say if the company had a specific reason for the request but only that it is done in some cases.

“It’s just a judgment call you make from employee to employee based on what might happen,” he said.

Lt. Johnny Greenwood of the Sheriff’s Office said deputies were stationed at the plant during the two daily shift changes beginning Monday. They wanted to make sure there were no disruptions in case Cummings was upset.

Officers did not encounter any either day, Greenwood said.

Calls to Palatka attorney Greg Kimball, who is representing Cummings, were not returned Wednesday.

Since his daughter’s disappearance, Cummings has had access to money donated for family expenses but which can only be released under state rules for such accounts.

Other Haleigh Cummings Updates

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Haleigh Cummings Update 7 April

The black guy known as "Greg" who may or may not be the same person as the mysterious "man in black" seen by Haleigh Cummings' little brother, Ronald, has talked with investigators, both in law enforcement and with private investigators. William "Cobra" Staubs and investigating authorities say that he is not a person of interest. (Who is William Staubs to say who is and isn't a person of interest. He is just following in the footsteps of Leonard Padilla.) However, he did shed some light on the Haleigh Cummings investigation, especially concerning Misty Croslin Cummings.

According to an interview with Art Harris, Gregory Page, 28, is the black man that many witnesses have referred to as "Greg" in the investigation. He admitted to Harris that he had had a sexual fling with Misty Croslin the weekend before Haleigh went missing (February 9 - 10). They had partied together, doing drugs and consuming copious amounts of alcohol.

Gregory Page also admitted to having an extensive arrest record, but almost all of the charges (many drug related) had been dropped. "I'm light-complected, had a white father and my mother is black, so they call me 'White Boy' on the street," Page said in his interview.

But he insists that he was not with Misty Croslin the night Haleigh Cummings disappeared.

For what it is worth, Art Harris said that police and private investigators believe him.

So if the black person who was the "man in black" was not Gregory Page, and by not being with Misty Croslin on that night could not be the man that made the couch "bounce" in 4-year-old Ronald Cummings' recollection of the events of that night, then who is the African-American that visited that night? Or was there anyone at all, the police chasing down dead leads because the "man in black" never existed in the first place, simply the overly helpful suggestions of an impressionable young boy simply wanting to help his parents and the police find his missing 5-year-old sister.

Harris' sources told him that Misty had also admitted that she and Gregory Page had been together.

Page said that she had wanted to go back and patch up her relationship with Ronald Cummings. And that was the end of it.

So where does that leave the police on the Haleigh Cummings investigation?

Back where it all began, with Misty Croslin and the story she has altered a few times about how she woke in the middle of the night to find little Haleigh Cummings gone from her bed, which was located only a few feet from where she herself was supposedly sleeping. The police have treated the missing girl's case as an abduction almost from the beginning, having investigated the scene and found a back door propped open.

But there is only her word that the events happened the way she said they did. There were no witnesses. Ronald Cummings was at work. Some say that Misty wasn't even home most of the night, that the story was something she dreamed up on the spot when she discovered that Haleigh Cummings was missing.

But what about Ronald Cummings? Does he know more than he's saying? Could something have happened to Haleigh, then he and Misty Croslin cooked up a cover story? Was he part of it or was he simply covering? Or could it be that he just married Misty Croslin to keep her close, as has been suggested, because he suspects her? The 17-year-old was infatuated with Cummings, according to several sources, and it seems that Ronald Cummings may not have been above using her feelings for him if he felt it to be in his best interest.

The Haleigh Cummings investigation is nearly one month old. And every major lead that the police have that has been made public has led back to the 17-year-old Croslin. Yet, unlike the Caylee Anthony case in Orlando, there was no vehicle with decomposing matter or a month of suspicious behaviors and lies to help implicate a suspect. Nor have they found the remains of little Haleigh Cummings. There has been nearly no helpful forensic evidence to lead them in a certain direction.

The worst case scenario, of course, is that Haleigh Cummings is already dead. And the sad truth of the matter may be that Haleigh Cummings may be telling the truth to some degree. She may truly not know where Haleigh Cummings is or how she came to be missing or who might have taken her in the middle of the night. But it is highly doubtful that it happened with her in the same room.

It is more likely that Misty Croslin Cummings was either not at the mobile home at all when the 5-year-old disappeared or she was there but distracted by something she was involved in, such as an activity that would make a couch "bounce."

Or she knows exactly where Haleigh might be, what happened to her, and who took her, all of which makes her culpable, and she is intelligent enough, scared enough, or lucky enough to have said just enough to keep investigators guessing but not enough to get her arrested.

Looks like Ronald Cummings was an idiot to marry Misty. She's not mature enough to be married. She was out cheating with another man just weeks before she married him. Oh, and there is the little fact that she may be covering up what really happened to his daughter. Or even worse, that her irresponsibility may have led to her disappearance.

Other Haleigh Cummings Updates
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Haleigh Cummings Update 6 April

The parents of a missing 5-year-old Florida girl have resumed trading accusations as the search for their daughter, Haleigh Cummings, goes on, officials said.

The feud between Ronald Cummings, 25, and the girl's mother, Crystal Sheffield, 23, is proving distracting to authorities who are searching for Haleigh -- who has been missing for two months. Cummings' 17-year-old girlfriend called police at the time to report the child missing from her Satsuma, Fla., home, the (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union reported Sunday.



"It's not helping," Putnam County Sheriff Jeff Hardy said of the squabbling. "Now we've got lawyers involved. Lines of communication don't seem as accessible."

The argument, which reportedly has roots stretching back years, has put the future of Haleigh's 4-year-old brother Ronald Cummings Jr., in question. Police say the boy was at home with his sister and their father's girlfriend, Misty Croslin, the night Haleigh disappeared.

Croslin has since married Cummings Sr., the newspaper said.

The feuding parents came together the day after Haleigh vanished and later at a church prayer service, but have since stopped communicating, the Times-Union said.

Other Haleigh Cummings Updates
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Haleigh Cummings Update 3 April

Almost two months after 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings disappeared, Putnam County Sheriff Jeff Hardy still has staff dedicated to the case.

However, Hardy said the number of daily tips coming in about the case have decreased and he called that disappointing.

Thursday, Hardy spoke to First Coast News about the investigation.

He said while tips have declined, his office still receives information and all it will take is one good tip to break the case.

Hardy also said Misty Croslin Cummings is the key to the investigation because she was the last one who saw Haleigh on February 9.
Hardy said there are still inconsistencies in Misty's story about that night.

He said some of the brightest minds in law enforcement have spoken to Misty and still have not been able to get a clear understanding of what happened Feb. 9th.

Haleigh's mother's attorney, Kim Picazio, told First Coast News she and her staff have talked to eyewitnesses who saw Misty partying outside of the home that night.

Misty has told reporters she was at home the entire night and put Haleigh and Haleigh's little brother to bed. She said she went to bed as well, woke up and noticed Haleigh was gone.

Hardy said his office has received information from Picazio.

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Haleigh Cummings Update 2 April

For the first time since its doors have been opened, the Haleigh Bug Foundation is missing one of its prime components. Crystal Sheffield, Haleigh Cummings' mother, was forced to stay home and rest after suffering her second seizure in less than 24 hours.

“It’s lonely kind of, without her cause we’re always with her, but we want her to stay home and get her rest because she needs it,” says family friend Melissa Baumgarener.

Crystal Sheffield suffered the second seizure shortly after being discharged from the Putnam Community Medical Center Monday. Her fiancé picked her up and the two were on their way to her father’s house to pick up their 11 month old daughter. During that car ride, Crystal suffered her seizure and was taken to Flagler Hospital.

Her first seizure happened Monday afternoon. Sheffield was behind the wheel when it happened, and her SUV collided with a car in front of her. No one was injured.

Family friends tell us the stress of not knowing where her daughter has been for the past 50 days are catching up with her health.

“A lot of people down here that have been here from day one have gotten sick, and have been stressed out, and it’s taken a toll on everybody,” said Baumgarener.

Sheffield is expected to be fine. Family friends tell us she’s going to see specialists soon who can help her with aftercare.

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Haleigh Cummings Update 1 April

It may have been dumb luck that Crystal Sheffield’s father was driving along State Road 20 in Palatka early Monday afternoon. He says he spotted his daughter’s white SUV on the side of the road with a crowd of people around it. When he got out, he says he ran up to the vehicle and saw his daughter in the middle of a seizure.

Family friends said early Monday morning, Crystal called volunteers at the Haleigh Bug Foundation to tell them she was going to a local phone store to buy a landline for the foundation. Crystal stopped at a local Burger King for lunch, then while driving along State Road 20 suffered a seizure and bumped the rear bumper of the vehicle in front of her.

Sheffield was taken by ambulance to the Putnam Community Medical Center along with her 11-month-old daughter. Sheffield was admitted, hooked up to oxygen and monitored. Her daughter was looked after and was immediately released suffering no injuries.

Friends of the family said both Crystal and her daughter were wearing seatbelts and the 11-month-old was strapped into a child seat. The only visible damage on the outside of Sheffield’s SUV was a slight dent in the front bumper. Witnesses said the other car suffered no damage.

Sheffield’s family says this is the second seizure Crystal has ever gone through. She suffered her first two days before Haleigh was taken. Family members said she did go to the doctor then, but hasn’t been able to do any follow-up visits since her daughter’s disappearance.

Sheffield is expected to be okay and should be released from the hospital after minimal supervision. Her father was by her side the entire time she was in the hospital. Her mother was stuck at a different hospital in Jacksonville sitting with another family member, but was in constant contact by phone with her daughter.


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Haleigh Cummings Update 31 March

Haleigh's mom is getting closer and closer to saying that Misty was having an affair and that the other man is responsible for Haleigh's disappearance. It seems like a plausible theory to me. There is something about her story that just doesn't add up.

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Haleigh Cummings Update 30 March

Ronald Cummings' defense team continues to fight back against Crystal Sheffield as the search for their missing 5-year-old daughter Haleigh continues.

Yesterday, the lawyers from Kimball & Snider, P.A., fought back against Sheffield's allegations of child abuse.

Today, the legal team is refuting statements attributed to Ronald Cummings, Jr., Haleigh's younger brother.

Citing an interview with Crystal and Junior conducted in early March by Craig Rivera, the lawyers say "shabby journalism" is what led to reports of 'Junior' saying a black man came into the house the night Haleigh disappeared.

They say the statements were made by the young boy while he was in his mother's arms, and that she coaxed his answers by putting them in her questions, and that the boy's response was "mystification and/or passive agreement" to what he was being asked.

Specifically, the lawyers say terms used by the 4-year-old such as "squeaking shoes" and "dressed in black" are not normal language for a child of that age.

Kimball & Snider also say that they have heard speculation that Crystal Sheffield received "a substantial amount of money" from Geraldo at Large, the show for which Craig Rivera conducted the interview. They add that they do not know any of that to be fact.

Have these people forgotten that their daughter is missing?

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Haleigh Cummings Update 27 March

New photos have been released in the Haleigh Cummings case by Haleigh's father's attorney.

The pictures come in response to allegations of child abuse against Ronald Cummings, Haleigh's father.

The law office of Kimball & Snider, P.A., is representing Ronald Cummings.

It released Thursday, via email, a press release and time-stamped photos of Haleigh -- before and after she fell at a school playground in November 2008.

Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield has said she believes Ronald Cummings abused their 5-year-old daughter, Haleigh, and their 4-year-old son, Ronald Jr.

A couple weeks ago, Sheffield's attorney, Kim Picazio, released pictures of Haleigh with a black eye and scratches on her face and her little brother with marks on his leg. Picazio said the photo she released was of Haleigh during a visit with her mother on November 16, ten days after the playground incident.

In Thursday's press release, Cummings' attorneys said on November 6th, according to Haleigh's school records, she was injured on the playground and cut her nose.

The attorneys provided a photo taken by Haleigh's paternal grandmother the day before the playground incident. The attorneys say it shows no injuries.

In the next photo provided, time-stamped almost two hours after the playground incident, Haleigh has scrapes on her nose and face.

Cummings' attorneys said Haleigh's paternal grandmother, Teresa Neves, took Haleigh to the hospital for the injury and that the staff there reported the girl had swelling and superficial abrasions. Cummings' attorneys wrote, "emergency room physicians and staff are extensively trained in recognizing, treating and reporting child abuse and it is clear there were no such concerns."

The next day, November 7th, a photo shows Haleigh's injuries were getting worse and a black eye was developing.

Two days later, November 9th, a photo shows a black eye which appeared to be worse and scrapes still on Haleigh's nose and face. Cummings attorneys wrote that the photos "show the natural progression and continuation of her response to the injury."

Then there are two pictures dated November 14th, five days later. Haleigh's injuries appeared better. Cummings' attorneys wrote, "all the swelling had subsided, with no visible lacerations or bruises."

Cummings' attorneys say he is unaware of the injury to Ronald Jr. shown in the photos released by Picazio.

Ronald Cummings' lawyers say, "The biological mother's assertion the injuries depicted exist due to abuse by Ronald Cummings is false and unsubstantiated, made recklessly without any effort to obtain all relevant information. The result has been the slander and libel of Ronald Cummings."

Cummings' lawyers also are fighting back against Crystal Sheffield's credibility, saying she had falsely accused Cummings of violence previously, but it was thrown out by the judge due to lack of credibility.

Concluding their argument, Cummings lawyers say, "Most importantly, the focus has been taken off the search for Haleigh by this tawdry and inexcusable publicity stunt."

Sheffield's attorney, Picazio, responded to the press release and photos released by Cummings' attorneys.

Picazio told First Coast News that Ronald Cummings may be able to "explain away" one incident or injury, but he will not be able to explain away all the other injuries and eyewitness accounts she has learned about.

Picazio reiterated that she has provided the Florida Department of Children and Families all of the information given to her by Sheffield and people in the community.

DCF confirms it is investigation the allegations of abuse.

Haleigh disappeared from her home February 9th in Satsuma.

If you know anything that could help find her, call CrimeStoppers at 1-888-277-TIPS (8477).

The mother does seem more interested in smearing the father than finding her daughter. Now isn't the time to be airing dirty laundry in the press. If she believes her children she should go to the police. They can help her, last time I checked Nancy Grace couldn't.

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