Haleigh Cummings Update 20 February

The Putnam County Sheriff's Department questioned a man in Tennessee about the disappearance of missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings.

Putnam County Sheriff Jeff Hardy said the man questioned is a relative of Misty Croslin. Croslin is Haleigh's father's 17-year-old girlfriend. She was supposed to be watching Haleigh at the time of the girl's disappearance.

The Sheriff's department would not reveal what kind of relative the man is to Croslin.

Haleigh's paternal grandmother, Teresa Neves, said Croslin's cousin visited Putnam County days before Haleigh's disappearance. Neves said the cousin and Haleigh's dad, Ronald Cummings, got into a fight about a gun during that visit. She also said the cousin left town the same day Haleigh disappeared.

Ronald Cummings denies that fight ever happened.

"There was no fight with no cousin over a gun," said Ronald Cummings.

Someone spotted a girl they thought was Haleigh in Croslin's cousin's home state- Tennessee. The spotting was in a Knoxville Carrabba's Restaurant parking lot Sunday at 2 p.m. The Knoxville Police department said that person called them and said they spotted Haleigh in a red, Toyota RAV4. The caller said she was with a white man and white woman and they looked like they were trying to shield the girl's face.

Knoxville police responded, but never found anyone matching the description.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement seized a vehicle as evidence in this case, but they will not describe it.

Haleigh Cummings disappeared from her bedroom February 9. She has blond hair, brown eyes and a birthmark near her left ear.

Did the police not think to question the cousin when he disappeared the day Haleigh disappeared. Anybody with common sense would have made sure that he was one of the first people they questioned.

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Casey Anthony Update 20 February

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An ABC producer paid for George Anthony and Cindy Anthony to stay at one of Central Florida's most expensive hotels for three days in December after their missing granddaughter's remains were found, according to newly released testimony.

The couple stayed at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes from Dec. 11 to 14 after Caylee's remains were found near their home. The company that footed the bill is owned by Disney.

The new details were part of an interview of Anthony family private investigator Dominic Casey taken Jan. 7 by Orange County sheriff's Sgt. John Allen and FBI Agent Nick Savage.

The producer, a woman named Kaitlyn Folmer, made arrangements with then-Anthony spokeswoman Michelle Bart to put up the couple and two of their investigators at the hotel. Rooms at the hotel can cost $249 to $739 per night, depending on the level of luxury.


The judge overseeing the case against Casey Anthony released Dominic Casey's 80-page transcript. He once worked for attorney Jose Baez.

Judge Stan Strickland reviewed the transcript and found it contained no privileged information.

Included in the transcript were details of the Anthony family's activities in the hours and days after the discovery of Caylee's remains.

Jeffrey Schneider, an ABC senior vice president for communications, said the network does not discuss its booking activities.

The Ritz-Carlton stay came at a time when reporters from across the country were trying to find and talk with the Anthonys. Various experts have told the newspaper that networks and other media organizations frequently put up interview subjects in hotels to secure access while keeping them away from competitors.

According to the transcript, the Anthonys dined at a restaurant inside the hotel the night of the discovery. Meanwhile, dozens of Orange County sheriff's investigators, FBI agents and crime-scene technicians sifted through dirt, leaves and underbrush for Caylee's skeletal remains.

George and Cindy dined with Lee Anthony, his girlfriend Mallory Parker, private investigators Dominic Casey and James Hoover and the ABC producer.

At one point, Casey Anthony's attorney Baez joined the group, according to the private investigator's statement. It's unclear who paid for the meal.

Lee Anthony ordered a steak for Baez, who joined them for about a half-hour, the document said. He had just visited Casey Anthony in jail and wanted to speak with the family, Dominic Casey said. The dinner was somber, he said.

Folmer allegedly told the Anthonys and the private investigators that she was not there to get a story. During an interview Dominic Casey told Sgt. John Allen and FBI agent Nick Savage that he didn't believe the woman.

"She never talked about money. She never talked about pictures, videos. She did make the point to say …, 'You know there's no ulterior motive here. We're, we're just doing this,'" Dominic Casey said. "I'm like, 'Yeah, right. I can believe that one.' "

Later that night while Orange County detectives were executing a search warrant at the home on Hopespring Drive, Cindy Anthony sat outside the entrance to the hotel with Dominic Casey, records show. Private investigator Hoover was sent to the house to lock it up after the first search warrant was executed.

The following day, while investigators continued to scour the woods for remains, Dominic Casey joined George and Cindy Anthony as they walked around the golf course at the hotel, reports show.

Dominic Casey said the Anthonys were distraught.

They were distraught (I would be if I were in their shoes.), but they still found time to arrange interviews so that someone would pay for them to go into hiding. And no matter what reporters say they are always trying to get the story. I'm inclined to believe that this was just a case of a reporter trying to take advantage of desperate people in their time of need.

And no matter what they say the heart sticker from the house matches that they found at the scene. And it doesn't look super common like a plain red heart sticker.

Link to Dominic Casey Transcripts


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Tom and Connor Cruise

Am I the only person who is starting to think that Connor Cruise looks suspiciously like his father? Looking at Connor is like looking a black Tom Cruise.

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Coolest Birth Announcements Ever

These birth announcements by Holmberg Design are so cool. They are actually printed on dry gum stock (the stuff they used to print stamps on).

Holmberg Design from here and here.

Octuplet Update 20 February -Home About To Go In Foreclosure

There appears no shortage of people offering guidance to the Whittier octuplets' mom.

Attorney Gloria Allred lobbed a huge offer to Nadya Suleman on Thursday: round-the-clock nursing care, physical therapy, occupational therapy and a home for the super-sized Whittier family.

Now all Suleman has to do is call and accept the help from Allred and Angels in Waiting, a nonprofit charity founded by Kaiser nurse Linda West Conforti.

"This is something where she can still be a mom," Conforti said. "We’re not trying to rip these children away. We’re trying to give her a support system."

So far, Suleman has not responded to the offer, which was issued last week through her former publicists, her now-defunct website and Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Bellfower, where the octuplets were born on Jan. 26, Conforti said.

Volunteer nurses would help care for the babies in eight-hour shifts, Conforti said. In all, she said it would probably take about 14 trained professionals to provide stability and care for the octuplets while also assisting Suleman with her other special-needs children.

Allred said she filed a complaint on Feb. 12 with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services requesting an investigation into whether Suleman’s 14 children might be endangered if left in her care and custody. Her complaint also asked that the children be temporarily removed from Suleman’s care if it is warranted.

Although Suleman has reportedly earned money from interviews with U.S. and British tabloids, it is unclear how the single mother plans to support the large family long-term. The small Whittier home she is sharing with her own mother is in pre-foreclosure. Suleman is also not employed, receiving about $490 a month in food stamps, with three of her children receiving federal supplement security income. Sources have said that Kaiser filed for Medi-Cal reimbursement for the octuplets.

The offer from Angels in Waiting would keep the family together without use of taxpayer funds, Allred said.

It gets a little worse everyday. Maybe she should have been thinking about saving the home instead of paying for fertility treatment. The $2000 a month she spends on a "nanny" probably would be better spent on making those mortgage payments.

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Caylee Anthony Updates 19 February

The duct tape wrapped around Caylee Marie Anthony's skull could have come from the home she shared with her mother and grandparents -- or from the homes of thousands of other people.

Investigators also found no fingerprints on the tape that would reveal who sealed the dead child's mouth.

These details emerged from more than 500 pages of documents and hundreds of pictures released Wednesday by the State Attorney's Office.

The reports contained no apparent bombshells for Casey Anthony, the mother accused of killing 2-year-old Caylee. But they reveal more examples of Anthony's emotional woes and family troubles.

The records also illustrate the tedious work involved in sifting through garbage, vegetation and other debris in the thick wooded lot off Suburban Drive where Caylee's remains were found Dec. 11.

"Evidence on the body suggests that the child's death was not accidental but an intentional act," Orange County Sheriff's Detective Yuri Melich wrote on a Feb. 5 report included among the documents. "As of this writing, there is nothing to suggest that anyone but Casey Anthony is responsible for the death and disposal of Caylee Anthony."

Casey Anthony's defense team released a statement later that attacked the forensic analysis that pointed out similarities - including the duct tape and a canvas laundry bag found with the remains - in some of the evidence collected at the Suburban Drive lot and items found in the Anthony house. The team noted that no fingerprints were found on the duct tape.

"The state's forensic report on duct tape, plastic bags and other items is a one-sided law enforcement-generated report and is biased and speculative," spokeswoman Marti Mackenzie said in an e-mail.

Among the pictures released are several taken of a handwritten diary entry that talked about being happy, having no regrets and hoping "the end justifies the means."

It's unclear who wrote the entry and what the writer was talking about. The page is dated June 21, but the facing page has '03 written in the corner.

Mackenzie said it's obvious the writing was done in 2003. She said it's an "appalling use of pre-trial release of documents to misrepresent" Casey Anthony's state of mind.

The documents show Anthony's relationship with her family was strained long before Caylee was reported missing in July.

One friend told investigators that 22-year-old Anthony complained about having a bad relationship with her father, George Anthony. And her parents had considered getting custody of Caylee, the report said.

Anthony even considered herself a bad mother but didn't explain why, the friend told authorities. Anthony told the same friend that she was feeling "crazy" and considered committing herself to an institution, the report said.

Another friend revealed something similar -- Casey Anthony told her in 2006 or 2007 that she felt like she was having a breakdown.

In February 2007, Anthony admitted she had a miscarriage. None of her friends believed it was true, according to the report.

After Caylee vanished and Anthony was initially released from jail, the family turmoil continued. Anthony once caught her mother, Cindy Anthony, sending e-mails under her daughter's name.

The two argued about it, but Cindy Anthony told her daughter, "if this can find us Caylee, then you know I'm going to do whatever I can."

Caylee's remains were found blocks from the Anthony home by a meter reader.

Local, state and federal crime-scene investigators worked with a forensic anthropologist and a forensic entomologist as they scoured the scene for days. Evidence reports showed that Caylee's remains were scattered in at least 40 spots on the property. Investigators marked her bones with flags -- even her teeth were scattered.

The duct tape wrapped the skull was examined by the FBI lab in Quantico, Va. While the FBI's latent print unit was examining the duct tape, analysts found "residue in the perfect shape of a heart."

A picture of the crime scene showed a pink heart stuck to what appeared to be a cardboard mat.

After the toddler's remains were found, investigators took dozens of items from the grandparents' home, including Caylee's shoes, clothes and two pairs of white children's sunglasses.

Detectives removed a stained rug on the porch, along with a jug and bottles of pool chemicals. A gasoline can with a piece of duct tape stuck to it the same brand as found on Caylee -- also was seized. Tape by that manufacturer can be purchased at Walmart or Ace Hardware stores.

They found a Whitney Design canvas laundry bag wrapped in a black plastic bag on the top shelf above the laundry machine in the Anthony home. That was the same kind the recovered from the crime scene.

Various kinds of heart-shaped stickers were taken from Casey Anthony's room.

The sheriff's office asked the FBI to compare a number of items taken from the home -- including material in vacuum cleaners -- with evidence seized in the wood.

Anthony's defense attorney Jose Baez said in a statement: "It is just as important to focus on the fact that there are no fingerprints on the duct tape and there never was any red sticker of any shape or size found on the tape."

Not the bombshell that everyone was expecting. So what if there was no sticker on the tape. Can the cardboard be traced to the Anthony home or to the remains? And we all knew that Casey wasn't getting along with her parents. Parents do tend to get angry with adult children who freeload.

But this does prove that Leonard Padilla was wrong again.


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Haleigh Cummings Update 19 February

As the search for Haleigh Cummings enters its eighth day, authorities are following up on a tip disputing the story of the 17-year-old girlfriend in the case, MyFOXOrlando.com reported.

Investigators on Wednesday told the station that they're looking into a report that Misty Croslin, the girlfriend of Haleigh's father Ronald Cummings, was not home when the girl disappeared last Tuesday.

The tip is one of 1,200 leads pouring in. The sheriff's office dispatch center is overloaded, and callers are now being referred to Crime Stoppers, Capt. Dick Schauland said in a Wednesday news conference, adding that investigators are looking into the report.

"We're not prepared to release information about what we’re following up on because we’re concerned about the safety of this child," Capt. Schauland said

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.

Capt. Steve Rose of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office 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."

Schauland said that investigators are following up on the leads as well as they're able and speaking with the missing girl's family "as warranted."

Ronald Cummings, 24, 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.

Rose 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.

Maybe now that the story is more scandalous more effort will be exerted in the search to find little Haleigh. And maybe social services were investigating the fact that 24 year old Cummings was openly living with a 17 year old girl. If I were the little girl's mom I would have called. We don't know if that is what happened, but someone has to have questioned this.

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