Search For Haleigh Enters Ninth Week
5-Year-Old Last Seen In Bed At Home
POSTED: Wednesday, April 8, 2009
PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. -- The search for missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings has entered its ninth week after Tuesday marked the two-month anniversary of the girl's disappearance.
The kindergartener was last seen sleeping in her bed inside her Satsuma home. Despite hundreds of leads, Putnam County investigators have found no trace of the girl.
On the first day Haleigh was missing, more than 130 law enforcement personnel from several local and state agencies began searching for her, WJXT-TV reported.
Investigators proclaimed everyone -- family members, neighbors and associates -- as a suspect in the girl's disappearance.
"I will give up everything I own. All I want is my child, please," said Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings.
Night after night, family members held vigils and prayed for Haleigh's safe return.
The search for Haleigh made national headlines, and it spread far and wide on the ground, in the air and on horseback.
The ground search for Haleigh continued into a second week. Investigators went door-to-door and stopped cars along main road. Hundreds of tips poured in to investigators but none led to Haleigh.
The focus began to turn toward Haleigh's parents when a heated interview on national television put Ronald Cummings on the defensive.
In week three, search dog activity around a large garbage receptacle in Haleigh's neighborhood prompted a frantic search. Still, nothing was found.
Police tape was removed from around Haleigh's home, which investigators said was no longer considered a crime scene. The home, however, remained vacant as Haleigh's father refused to move back home without his daughter.
A few days later, in week four of the investigation, Cummings tattooed his daughter's image on his calf.
He also made his first public statement in several days, saying simply, "Haleigh, I love you. That's all."
In week five of the search for Haleigh, Cummings and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Misty Croslin, got engaged. A few days later, they wed.
The newlyweds were interviewed on the "Today Show," where Croslin was unable to explain her inconsistent accounts to police.
The tents in Haleigh's community where family members had taken up residence during the search were vacated six weeks after the child's disappearance.
Signs asking about Haleigh's whereabouts remain throughout Putnam County, eight weeks after the girl disappeared.
Two months into the search, friends and neighbors said Haleigh is still on their minds.
"This is a small community. Everybody's hearts are going out to the family. And, we all still have hope. You have to have hope," said one resident.
Anyone who has any information that could help find Haleigh is asked to call Crimestoppers at 888-277-TIPS.
Last Edited: Friday, 10 Apr 2009, 11:27 AM EDT
Created On: Friday, 10 Apr 2009, 11:27 AM EDT
By MIKE TOLBERT | FOX 30 Jacksonville
SATSUMA, Fla. - - While acknowledging on Thursday her daughter has been gone for exactly two months hasn’t been easy for Crystal Sheffield, Friday might be a tougher day. It would have been the start of Haleigh’s spring break. “It’s going to be hard without her. Her little sister’s birthday is April 15th and [Haleigh’s] not going to be here.
Since the girl’s disappearance, work continues to bring Haleigh back. Sheffield family attorney Kim Picazio said they have recently met with top investigators in the case and came away impressed.
“I am confident that they have followed every lead to the greatest extent,” said Picazio.
Investigators have said they have no new leads in the case. Representatives from Ronald Cummings’ family declined to comment for this story.
Last edited by Obscuregawdess on Tue Feb 09, 2010 6:08 am; edited 1 time in total
Bratty Mama
Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 14084
gwenPosted:
Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:40 pm
Missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings' father loses his job
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.
Ronald 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."
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.
Press release issued by attorney of Ronald Cummings
April 16, 2009
In response to today's story in the Florida Times-Union, Greg Kimball, the attorney representing the father of Haleigh Cummings, Ronald Cummings, issued the following press release:
April 16, 2009
This press release is in response to the Florida Times-Union article of today's date.
Ronald Cummings in the last two months has had to deal not only with the disappearance of his daughter Haleigh, but also false muckraking allegations by attorney Kim Picazio, representing Crystal Sheffield, and Picazio's personal friend "Cobra."
From the time of Haleigh's disappearance, Ronald Cummings was told that his employer was holding his job open. He was told by his employer that he could start back to work on Monday, April 6, 2009. Ronald agreed to this date and was prepared to go into work when he was told on Friday, April 3, 2009 that the offer to return to work was being withdrawn for "abandoning his job."
Ronald expressed his displeasure with the company for going back on its word, but at no time threatened anyone.
This office has referred Ronald to a Daytona Beach law firm that handles labor and employment law.
It should be noted that Crystal Sheffield is currently thousands of dollars in arrears for child support. She has not been gainfully employed in approximately two years. When Crystal and Ronald lived together it was mainly Ronald's grandmother that cared for their children since Crystal was usually watching TV.
This office anticipates providing Department of Children and Families (DCF) with new information on a confidential basis in the near future.
It is ironic that the last Florida Times Union article by Dana Treen on April 5, 2009 bemoaned that the squabbles and personal differences of Haleigh's parents have distracted from the search for Haleigh. The article blamed both sides equally. The article was rebutted in a press release from this office (which is being re-printed and follows this release).
Now Dana Treen wants to wade into personal matters on the side of Crystal Sheffield. Which is it, Mr. Treen?
(Signed)
Greg Kimball
PRESS RELEASE
April 6, 2009
This press release is in response to the Sunday, April 5, 2009 Florida Times Union article on the Haleigh Cummings case.
The headline of the article was "Family Feud Takes Focus off Search for Haleigh." Both Ronald Cummings, the father of Haleigh, and Crystal Sheffield, the mother of Haleigh, were blamed equally.
The reporter for the Florida Times Union failed to give a proper perspective on this issue.
A few facts need to be clarified:
1. It was Crystal Sheffield who chose to launch a Department of Children and Families (DCF) investigation about Ronald Cummings, as part of preparation for a custody battle over Ronald Cummings, Jr., rather than focus on the search for Haleigh.
2. Crystal Sheffield got attorney Kim Picazio from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to represent her. Attorney Picazio has been on television at every opportunity seeking publicity for herself and about family law issues.
3. Attorney Kim Picazio has admitted on television that the so-called investigator William E. Staubs, who refers to himself as "COBRA," is a personal friend. Cobra arrived in Putnam County from Ft. Lauderdale [sic] shortly after Haleigh went missing and has been feeding information to Picazio and some media.
4. Ronald Cummings had to obtain legal counsel in self defense of the public allegations by Sheffield-Picazio, and also regarding Sheffield-Picazio allegations to DCF.
5. That Kimball & Snider, P.A. only got involved in this case on March 18, 2009, approximately five weeks after Haleigh went missing. Our initial press release (a copy of which follows) of March 19, 2009, in paragraph three (3) stated that Sheffield-Picazio allegations about family law manners were detracting from the search for Haleigh.
6. That Kimball & Snider, P.A. got involved in this case because Ronald Cummings, at the urging of a family member, called our Palatka office. Palatka is about five miles from Satsuma where Ronald resided.
7. Kimball & Snider, P.A. has responded through press releases to rebut and correct Sheffield-Picazio allegations. We have not appeared on national tv or even given any interviews to local media.
8. Kimball & Snider, P.A. has provided information on a confidential basis to DCF and Putnam County Sheriff's Office (PCSO) about this case, and will continue to act responsibly to assist DCF and PCSO.
Human Remains Found In Apopka
Police Say Body May Belong To Missing Elderly Man
POSTED: Tuesday, April 21, 2009
UPDATED: 4:15 pm EDT April 21, 2009
APOPKA, Fla. -- The Apopka Police Department has confirmed that human remains have been found in a wooded area.
A pair of teenage boys found the decomposing remains about 400 feet into the woods near Tilden Avenue and Apopka Boulevard, police said.
Police said they may know the identity of the body. An elderly man disappeared from an assisted living facility near the area where the remains were found about a year ago and he was never found.
"A human skull was located along with numerous bones. At this time we are unable to identify the age or gender," officer Steven Popp said.
Investigators said it looks like animals may have scattered some of the bones over time.
Police said they plan to search all night for the scattered bones.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating. It plans to use dental records to identify the body.
Joined: 23 Mar 2006
Posts: 29016
Location: The Hague, The Netherlands
gwenPosted:
Sun May 17, 2009 8:49 pm
Vigil Held For Missing Haleigh Cummings
Caylee Anthony's Grandparents Attend Evening Vigil
LAKE MARY, Fla. -- It's been more than three months since 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings disappeared from her home in Putnam County.
Sunday night, friends and supporters of Haleigh's family were in Central Florida for a vigil in the missing child's honor.
Her family has been pleading for the public's help in finding the girl, but keeping constant media attention on Haleigh and many other missing children has proven difficult for families nationwide.
That's why there's a group called the National Coalition to Bring Awareness to Missing Children and Adults that has chosen to have an annual event at locations throughout the country to spotlight these cases.
The group picked Lake Mary because of it's proximity for committee members, as opposed to Satsuma, where Haleigh disappeared from.
Her biological mother, Crystal Sheffield, was scheduled to speak.
In March, Sheffield said on WESH 2 News, "Haleigh, if you're watching, I love you and I miss you."
Haleigh's father's side of the family did not attend, but slain toddler Caylee Anthony's grandparents, Cindy and George Anthony, were there.
Ronald Cummings to Casey Anthony family: Stay away
Ronald Cummings, father of missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings, said he wants help from everyone except Cindy and George Anthony.
Bianca Prieto | Sentinel Staff Writer
3:08 PM EDT, May 19, 2009
Ronald Cummings begged the public for help to find his missing 5-year-old daughter Haleigh Cummings in a video released last week on his lawyer's web site.
But today he amends that message -- he wants help from everyone except Cindy and George Anthony.
"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," according to a press release issued by the Kimball & Snider Law Firm, which represents Cummings.
"The Anthony's have their own agenda, as witnessed by their recent media tour. The facts relating to the death of Calee (sic) Anthony, which resulted in the first degree murder charges against Casey Anthony, are in no way similar to Haleigh's disappearance," the press release said.
Joined: 13 Jun 2006
Posts: 1632
Location: United Kingdom
gwenPosted:
Fri May 22, 2009 7:54 pm
Bounty hunter in Haleigh Cummings case arrested
Police say the bounty hunter, who was investigating the Haleigh Cummings case, tried to revoke a man's bond.
A bounty hunter trying investigate the disappearance of missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings was arrested today on false-imprisonment charges.
William E. Staubs, 51, also known as "Cobra," tried to revoke the bond of a man facing sexual-battery charges when he didn't have authority to do so, said Lt. Johnny Greenwood of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.
The incident took place March 20, after Staubs obtained a list of people out on bond in Putnam County in an attempt to perform his own investigation after Haleigh disappeared from her bed in February, Greenwood said. Daniel Everett Snodgrass, 55, who was awaiting trial in a sex battery case involving a child under 12, was one of them.
Staubs called Snodgrass' bondsman to see if he had violated terms of his pre-trial release. Snodgrass had not, and the owner of Snodgrass' bail bond company warned Staubs not to pick him up, Greenwood said.
Staubs pulled up to Snodgrass' Satsuma house anyway, Greenwood said. He activated a siren on his vehicle and used a loudspeaker to summon Snodgrass to him, witnesses said.
The bondsman said he was revoking Snodgrass' bond, threw him onto the ground, handcuffed him and forced him into his vehicle.
But the sexual battery suspect's bondsman said he didn't have the right to do that, and Snodgrass was released.
"I guess he just tried to take the law into his own hands," Greenwood said of Staubs.
Staubs is in Putnam County Jail being held on $5,004.00 bail.
A bounty hunter trying investigate the disappearance of missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings was arrested today on false-imprisonment charges.
William E. Staubs, also known as "Cobra," tried to revoke the bond of a man facing sexual-battery charges when he didn't have authority to do so, said Lt. Johnny Greenwood of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office. (May 22, 2009)
Thousands of leads in Haleigh Cummings case
Authorities: 4,000 leads need to be followed up on in the case of missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings
The Associated Press
3:23 PM EDT, June 5, 2009
SATSUMA - Authorities say they are more than 4,000 leads that need to be followed up on in the case of 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings who disappeared from her north Florida home.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement hosted a round-table to discuss the case Thursday. Sheriff's Captain Dick Schauland says some of the evidence collected by crime scene technicians still needs to be analyzed. He said there are also some interviews that need to be re-conducted.
Haleigh Cummings was being watched by her father's 17-year-old girlfriend, Misty Croslin, when she vanished from his home in February. Authorities are treating the case as an abduction. No on has been named as a suspect
Agencies Review Status Of Missing Girl
5-Year-Old Haleigh Cummings Disappeared On Feb. 9
POSTED: Friday, June 5, 2009
UPDATED: 12:59 pm EDT June 5, 2009
PALATKA, Fla. -- Nearly four months after 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings disappeared, local, state and federal investigators met to discuss the status of the case.
About 40 people representing the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the state attorney's office and the FBI gathered in Palatka for a roundtable discussion.
They reviewed the initial call, searches that were done, interviews conducted, evidence gathered and lab analysis.
Investigators said more than 4,000 leads that have come in since Haleigh disappeared on Feb. 10. Some of those leads still nees to be followed and some evidence has yet to be analyzed.
No suspects were identified during the meeting, but nobody was eliminated.
And investigators emphasized that the Cummings search remains active and it is not a cold case.
"There were a lot of new ideas and a lot of things that we've looked at that we're going to look at again," Putnam County Sheriff Jeff Hardy said. "We are going to follow this through to the end."
The group intends to meet again in 30 days if the case has not yet been solved.
Haliegh Cummings Info Center Closed
Mother Closes Center Due To Illness
POSTED: Tuesday, June 9, 2009
UPDATED: 7:24 am EDT June 9, 2009
SATSUMA, Fla. -- The mother of a missing north Florida girl has closed the small building she hoped would be a headquarters for clues in the case.
According to an attorney helping her, Crystal Sheffield closed the "Haleighbug Center" in Satsuma because of a medical issue. Kim Picazio said most of the informing coming to Sheffield recently were rumors and gossip.
Sheffield's 5-year-old daughter Haleigh Cummings disappeared in February from her father's mobile home, where she was being watched by the man's girlfriend. Authorities are treating the case as an abduction and say they're still sifting through more than 4,000 leads. No one has been named as a suspect.
Picazio says Sheffield will establish a new headquarters on her family's property in Baker County.
Investigators Search Haleigh's Family Property
New Search Of Relatives' Homes Conducted In Baker County
GLEN ST. MARY, Fla. -- Investigators searched the property and a lake of Haleigh Cummings' maternal grandmother in Baker County west of Jacksonville on Friday.
About 40 investigators, including the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office dive team and cadaver dogs, searched a small pond on Marie Griffis' 30-acre property and dug up several areas with a bulldozer, according to a report on the Web site of First Coast News.
The area was searched about a week after 5-year-old Haleigh was reported missing from her home in Putnam County in February. But police told First Coast News that they recently were told the family buries animals on the property, so a new search was ordered.
Police said they have no reason to doubt the family's assertion about animals but want to be thorough. Only animal remains were found on Friday, but the search continues on the property of another relative who lives nearby.
Haliegh's mother, Crystal Sheffield, lives on the property. Haleigh lived with her father, Ronald Cummings, at the time she went missing.
Attorney: Ronald Cummings Cleared In DCF Inquiry
Cummings' Daughter Haleigh Has Been Missing Since February
SATSUMA, Fla. -- The Florida Department of Children and Families found no evidence that the father of missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings physically abused his children, an attorney representing Ronald Cummings said.
The law firm of Kimball & Snider said DCF has advised it that the investigation is closed and 25-year-old Cummings will keep custody of his son, Ronald Jr.
In March, an attorney representing the children's mother, Crystal Sheffield, said there was evidence of abuse in the household.
Haleigh went missing from her Satsuma home in Putnam County in February. Her father's then-girlfriend, 17-year-old Misty Croslin, said she put Haleigh to bed Monday night and realized the girl was missing right before Ronald Cummings got home from work several hours later.
SATSUMA, Fla. -- For Haleigh Cummings' grandmother, it's not knowing what happened to the 5-year-old girl that tears her apart.
Is Haleigh alive or dead? Did someone take her from her father's doublewide mobile home early Feb. 10 or did she wander away in the middle of the night?
"If she is alive, are they taking care of her, feeding her? We wonder if we are going to ever see her again," Marie Griffis said.
Since Day One, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said it believes the girl was abducted from the home hidden beneath towering trees near the end of a sparsely populated rural dirt street.
Ironically, Haleigh was reported missing just hours before a memorial service was held in Orlando for 2-year-old Caylee Anthony, whose body had been found after months of searching. The victim's mother, Casey Anthony, has been charged with first-degree murder. That case has somewhat overshadowed Haleigh's disappearance because of the heavy news media coverage in the Orlando area.
After searching thousands of acres on foot, on horseback and from the air and following hundreds of leads, digging through trash bins and interviewing dozens of people, the sheriff's office still doesn't have a suspect in Haleigh disappearance. A reward of $35,000 has not broken the case.
"We have to operate on several theories. Stranger abduction is one of them," Maj. Gary Bowling said. "We are investigating every possibility. There any number of things that could have happened."
Investigators quickly contacted all the sexual predators living in the area, about 60 miles southwest of Jacksonville, to eliminate them as possible suspects.
"We are working on it every day," Bowling said. "There has been a high level of frustration from the beginning of not being able to get to the logical conclusion, solve the case and return Haleigh to her family."
Authorities first learned of Haleigh's disappearance in a 911 call from Misty Croslin, the 17-year-old live-in girlfriend of Ronald Cummings, the girl's father. She told investigators Haleigh was missing when she awoke at about 3 a.m. and noticed the back door was propped open with a brick. Cummings, who worked a night shift at a bridge manufacturing company, arrived home about that time.
Investigators sealed off the area, searching it on foot with dogs and later horses. Airplanes and helicopters looked from the air, while boats plied the nearby St. Johns River.
After a round-table discussion in early June with the sheriff's office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the FBI and the State Attorney's Office, it was announced that there were still more than 4,000 leads being followed.
"We are not ruling out any possibility," Bowling said. Another meeting is expected soon.
While the search continued, a soap opera developed. Haleigh's parents never married, and bad blood developed after they split. Cummings, who had a job, was given custody of Haleigh and her brother.
Cummings' family was barred from the mobile home for several weeks, so they set up a camp down the street, sleeping on cots, watching a big-screen television. About a half-mile away, Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield, and Griffis erected a large tent. Both camps catered to the growing media crowd.
The Sheffield-Griffis family believe Cummings and Croslin have been inconsistent in their stories to authorities. In a TV interview Sheffield also accused Cummings of physically and verbally abusing her while she was pregnant with Haleigh and of hitting the girl. But in another TV interview, she said Cummings is a good father who would not hurt the girl.
About a month after the little girl disappeared, Cummings and Croslin married and then appeared on NBC's "Today" show while on their honeymoon.
After questions developed over the care of Haleigh and her little brother, both Sheffield and Cummings obtained free legal counsel.
A call to Gregory Kimball, an attorney representing Haleigh's father, was not returned and a woman who answered the telephone at the office said Cummings was no longer doing interviews.
Deputies recently searched the property near Glen St. Mary in north Florida where Griffis and Sheffield live. They found nothing.
Griffis believes the case will eventually be solved.
"I still think the police have something. They just haven't put it all together yet. When they get all this evidence in and they can put all this stuff in one big pile, they will tell the people what they have and make an arrest," she said.
Ernie Allen, president and CEO of The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, said while speed is important, someone knows what happened to Haleigh and law enforcement just needs their information to solve the case.
"There is hope that Haleigh Cummings is alive and she is recoverable," Allen said, adding that only a third of stranger abductions result in death.
NeJame, EquuSearch Join Search For Haleigh Cumming
Local Attorney Says Family Asked For Help
POSTED: 4:32 pm EDT August 14, 2009
UPDATED: 4:46 pm EDT August 14, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Prominent Orlando attorney Mark NeJame is getting involved in the search for Haleigh Cummings.
NeJame said the missing girl's family asked him to help, and he then asked missing child advocate Tim Miller of Texas EquuSearch to work with him.
NeJame and Miller also were involved in the search for Caylee Anthony, whose remains were found in December 2008 in Orange County. Caylee's mother, Casey Anthony, is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death.
Haleigh Cummings, 5, was reported missing from her home in Satsuma in February, and no trace of the girl has been found. A $35,000 reward remains available for her return.
In a news release, NeJame said he plans a news conference on Monday with Miller and the family.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
