Amber Alert issued for Haleigh Cummings, 4

[Sister Iroz]

An Amber Alert has been issued for a missing Putnam County girl.

Haleigh Cummings, 4, was last seen at 10 p.m. Monday in the bedroom of her Satsuma home. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing a pink shirt and underwear.

Haleigh is three feet tall, weighs 39 pounds, and has blonde hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0808.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...,5657004.story

[SoUncool]

FDLE is now reporting that she is actually 5 years 5 mos old and the neighborhood is not "Hermus" but "Hermit's".

There are conflicting reports about what she is wearing as well. One report says a pink shirt and underwear, the other says pink shorts and a beige shirt.

http://www.cbs47.com/news/local/stor...Ks5TmAHvw.cspx

FDLE Updated Flyer

[ineedanap]

who lives with her father and his girlfriend in Putnam County.

after her father's girlfriend discovered the child wasn't in her bed about 3:30 a.m.,

I have a bad feeling about this one.

[Peeperann]

Yeah, I have a bad feeling too. No signs of forced entry. Points to someone in the house. God help this little girl................

[Shizz]

Sending my positive thoughts for a safe return home.

[totallytoddler]

OOps...we were talking about this in the Caylee chat! Sorry....We are queens of off topic!
yes..I agree...story sounds fishy...no forced entry...back door "open"...who leaves doors unlocked THESE days???
Certainly NOT me...and I live in a gated community....that means nothing.
Somethings up...lets get the polygraphs of the dad and girlfriend out of the way, shall we?

[Sister Iroz]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Haleigh was reported missing after her father's girlfriend told police she discovered the child wasn't in her bed about 3 a.m.

The woman said the back door to the home was not locked at the time. Police found the door to the residence unlocked when they arrived at the house, according to Donaway.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,490466,00.html

[Peeperann]

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

Well, that's never good new either................

[angela]

It's hard to assume the parents when it's in FL. There seems to be so many sex offenders in clusters down there...remember that girl that was abducted and everyone thought her father and it ended up being a molester that lived across the "highway" from them...Damn what was her name?

[angela]

Jessica was her name

[Unamused Cat]

Jessica was her name

Jessica Lunsford

[solange82200]

I cant help having a bad feeling about the parents as well. It definitely has to be foul play of some sort (kidnapper, parents, etc.), a child doesnt just wander off like that in the middle of the night... I hope to God she is found safely, but the odds dont seem too good for that....

[SoUncool]

http://www.news4jax.com/news/18690324/detail.html

Her disappearance is now considered an abduction...

SATSUMA, Fla. -- One day after a 5-year-old girl disappeared from the bedroom of her Satsuma home, Putnam County authorities said they are now treating the case as an abduction.

The active search for Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings was scaled back Wednesday morning as Putnam County deputies, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI focused on an investigation into what happened to the girl, according to lead detective John Merchant.

Haleigh was last seen at 10 p.m. Monday in bed at her home in the Hermet's Cove mobile home park where she lived with her father, his 17-year-old girlfriend and her 2-year-old brother.

Investigators were told the last person to see Haleigh was her father's girlfriend, Misty Croslin, who told investigators that she saw the girl in her bed at 10 p.m. Monday night. She told police Tuesday that when she awoke at 3 a.m. to use the bathroom, Haleigh was missing and the back door of the home was open.

Channel 4 learned that the FBI was interviewing Croslin at midday Wednesday.

Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, said he came home from work at 3:30 a.m. and Croslin and their son were the only other people in the house. He is convinced his daughter was abducted.

Putnam County investigators, joined by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the FBI and officers from surrounding counties, searched for Haleigh on the ground, in the air and from boats until nightfall on Tuesday. They went door to door in the neighborhood, stopped and searched cars leaving the area and contacted every registered sex offender nearby.

They said there was no sign of forced entry to the Cummings' mobile home, but they still don't know what happened to Haleigh.

Haleigh's mother, who lives in Baker County, made an emotional plea Wednesday morning for her daughter's return.

Sheffield's mother described the relationship between Haleigh's parents as "rocky." She said the kindergartner was scheduled to spend this coming weekend with her mother.

While 130 personnel from 25 agencies were involved in the search on Tuesday, Putnam authorities believe that number was down to 60 or 70 on Wednesday, including 16 members of the FBI.

Divers were scouring the nearby St. Johns River, bloodhounds and cadaver dogs were being used in the neighborhood around the Cummings' home.

[Sister Iroz]

Haleigh's father and grandmother are pleading for the safe return of their little girl. The 5-year-old girl is described as having blond hair and brown eyes, is 3 feet tall and weighs 39 pounds.


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,490466,00.html

[SoUncool]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,490466,00.html

Special, I posted just before you did. They announced a few minutes ago that it is now considered an abduction. There will be another update at 2:00 pm on the Jacksonville link in my previous post.

[Ruby]

17-year-old girlfriend???? Wowzer.

[Peeperann]

The girlfriend is only 17???

God help this little girl, please let her be found safe. Although we all the first 36 hours are the most important. I have an awful feeling about this.

[Courtney]

I was just about to comment on the 17 year old girlfriend-wow!

Anyone know how old the Father is-I looked but I must have missed seeing that part.

[Sister Iroz]

Crystal Sheffield
Misty Croslin Girlfriend
The case is being investigated as both a missing person's case and as a child abduction. "Until we get new information, we're putting every resource, every detective on it from both angles," said Putnam County Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Johnny Greenwood. "It could be that Haleigh wandered off or she was taken. We just don't know right now."

As of early Wednesday afternoon, police do not have any suspects, he added.

Ronald Cummings' girlfriend, 17-year-old Misty Croslin, was watching Haleigh and her 4-year-old brother, he said.

Croslin told a 911 dispatcher that she had gone to the bathroom in the middle of the night Tuesday and returned to find the girl gone and a brick on the floor, according to CNN affiliate WJXT-TV.

The station's Web site printed the text of the 911 call, which included this exchange:

Dispatch: OK. All right, you said your back door was wide open?

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

The brick was actually holding open the door to the trailer, Greenwood said.

"There was no reason to believe someone had broken in, no windows were broken, the door wasn't broken," he told CNN.

Croslin, Haleigh's brother and Haleigh were apparently sleeping in the same bed in the double-wide that they share with Cummins, Greenwood said.

Police said Croslin had put Haleigh to bed at 8 p.m. and then went to bed herself at 10 p.m. Three hours later, Croslin made the discovery that the little girl was not tucked in.

On Wednesday, Haleigh's grandmother Marie Griffis told reporters that she feared the worst.

"She's out there somewhere, I can feel her. I can feel her presence," Griffis told CNN affiliate WFTV-TV. "She's screaming." Video Watch grandparents plead for girl's return »

Haleigh's mother Crystal Sheffield wept as she stood in front of reporters.

"I just want whoever's got her to bring her home," the girl's mother said. "That's all I want, is my baby home." Video Watch mother's tearful plea »

Griffis said that her daughter and Ronald Cummings had a "rocky relationship" and that the two took turns spending every other weekend with their daughter. Crystal Sheffield lives on the Florida/Georgia line and has been interviewed by law enforcement, according to police.

Investigators are looking into various angles of the case, including finding out the location of 44 registered sexual offenders who live within a five-mile radius of the Cummings home, Greenwood said.
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Though that number may sound high, it encompasses both Putnam and Palatka counties which are separated by the St. Johns River, the law enforcement spokesman told CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/11/mis...irl/index.html

[Unamused Cat]

Misty Croslin MySpace: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...ndID=412920159

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Misty Croslin MySpace: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...ndID=412920159

Sure is pretty for a naked MySpace.

[DamagedGoods]

I usually deal with fear and disgust by hiding behind humour, it works well for me most of the time. As I read about missing Florida girl, Haleigh Cummings, I feel a chill that no humour can mask. This makes writing far more difficult for me, no emotional buffers.

At approximately 3:30 am yesterday morning, 5 year old Haleigh Cummings of Hermit's Cove, FL was not in her bed when her father's girlfriend checked on her shortly before her father arrived home from work, infact, she was nowhere to be found at all. By 11:00 am that same day an Amber Alert had been issued by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Putnam County Detective, John Merchant states, "Whoever Has The Child Is Not Supposed To Have The Child." Wow, really? Alright, alright... I probably wouldn't be on top of my communicational game in his shoes either.
I want to say that something feels incredibly wrong here, but that what could possibly feel right? Still, things don't add up in my head, I feel as though I am being fed a maggot infested diseased shit sandwich disguised as a simple cow patty. What makes it worse is that the facts seem to be different depending on the time and the news source.

Here are the facts as I can best discern them:

3:00 - 3:30 am, Ronald Cumming's 17 year old live-in girlfriend, Misty Croslin awoke to use the washroom, and discovered that Mr. Cumming's daughter Haleigh missing from her bed.

3:30 am, approximately: Miss Croslin calls 911 to report, in a state of panic, during the call, Mr Cummings can be heard to enter the home, having arrived from work. He sounds enraged and slightly irrational (and who wouldn't be?)



Still working on it, but i want it up asap!

[DamagedGoods]

Police currently have no definite suspects, however they are of course investigating those closest to Haleigh, as well as the 45 registered sexual offenders listed as living within a 5 mile radius. (Perhaps its past time to move?)

Haleigh Cummings, nicknamed Doodlebug, is 5 years and 5 months old, she is white with dirty blonde hair, she has brown eyes, weighs 39 lbs, is 3 feet tall and was last seen in her bedroom with her 2 year old brother, wearing a pink shirt and underwear. I'd also like to point out that she has the sweetest smile.

Police have also been searching the local area with helicopters, boats and search dogs, the case is currently considered an abduction and at this point Texas Equusearch has also joined the hunt. Police have also spoken with Haleigh's mother, 23 year old Crystal Sheffield who was at home in MacClenny, FL at the time of the abduction. She is not considered a suspect, and as all family members in this case has been co-operative with investigators.

[DamagedGoods]

There is something about this that has burrowed itself into my brain, like an alarm going off, "WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, WRONG" I think I can feel it physically...

[Sister Iroz]

SATSUMA - Five-year-old Haleigh Cummings is afraid of the dark and would not have wandered off into the night, her family told the Orlando Sentinel today as investigators stepped up a massive search for the Putnam County girl.

The girl's disappearance was classified as an abduction today.

Haleigh, who is nicknamed Doodlebug, lives with her father and his girlfriend in this rural county about 80 miles north of Orlando. Her father, Ronald Cummings, 25, put Haleigh to bed about 10 p.m. Monday before he left for work. His 17-year-old girlfriend, Misty Croslin, noticed Haleigh was missing about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday.

"Haleigh is a very indoor-type child," Haleigh's maternal grandmother, Marie Griffis, said today. "If she goes outside, she wants you to be with her -- she would never go outside by herself in the dark."

Griffis said Haleigh is bright and loves drawing, makeup and playing with gadgets. She said that if someone has abducted Haleigh, she hopes the person will release the girl.

"Just bring her back," Griffis said. "There are plenty of places you can drop off a kid, no questions asked."

Detective John Merchant of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said that a screen door on the side of the couple's Satsuma home had been propped open with a block, but authorities found no obvious signs of forced entry.

"I just woke up and my back door is open, and I can't find my daughter," Croslin told a 911 dispatcher. She told the dispatcher she had been sleeping and the door was not open when she went to sleep.

Merchant said 44 sex offenders live in a 5-mile radius of Cummings' home, but all have been contacted by law enforcement since Haleigh disappeared.

"Right now, we don't have a lot of clues indicating where she's at," Merchant said. "I'm always positive, though -- we want to find her alive."

In addition to Putnam County deputies, officers from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Volusia, Marion and Flagler Sheriff's Offices are searching for Haleigh.

Search dogs are combing through woods in the area, and divers are searching the nearby St. Johns River.

Officials said Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield, 23, was in Baker County near the Florida-Georgia state line at the time of her daughter's disappearance. Sheffield was talking with investigators today in Putnam County.

In the 911 call originally placed by Croslin, Haleigh's father told officials he needed their help immediately.

"I just got home from work, and my 5-year-old daughter is gone," he said, seeming to become more agitated as the call progressed. "I need somebody to be here now, I'm telling you.

"If I find whoever has my daughter before you do, I'm killing them," he said. "I don't care if I have to spend the rest of my life in prison."

He apparently hung up on the dispatcher, who then called back, trying to get additional information from Croslin, while constantly assuring her that deputies were on the way.

Joshua Duckett, father of missing Lake County toddler Trenton Duckett, said he was acting as a family spokesman and would try to find additional photos of Haleigh to help with the search.

Meanwhile, a volunteer group from Houston that helped look for Caylee Marie Anthony in Orlando last year said it is gearing up to help in the search for Haleigh. Caylee's remains were found in December, and her public memorial was Tuesday.

Tim Miller, the founder of Texas EquuSearch, said his organization has been in contact with Putnam County officials. Some volunteers may drive and others may fly to Florida today or tomorrow, he said.

"It's pretty ironic. We have another child disappear seven hours before Caylee's memorial," he said.

Bounty hunter Leonard Padilla is joining the ranks headed for Putnam County. He and his crew -- including bounty hunter Rob Dick -- plan to drive 80 miles north where the command center has been set up to search for the missing girl.

Padilla said he's going to see what's happening up there and will help if needed.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...0,947501.story

[DarkPrincess]

Something's not right with this story. Correct me if I misunderstood this completely. There was no forced entry because it wasn't necessary. It sounds like they had the door open or unlocked at least, it just wasn't propped open with a brick like it was later?

[SoUncool]

Story is up on the Front Page folks...

http://www.dreamindemon.com/2009/02/...#comment-87619

[Sister Iroz]

"Bring my baby home," Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield, pleaded on Wednesday morning. "That's all I want is my baby home."


SATSUMA, Fla. -- One day after a 5-year-old girl disappeared from the bedroom of her Satsuma home, Putnam County authorities said they are now treating the case as an abduction.

The active search for Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings was scaled back Wednesday morning as Putnam County deputies, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI focused on the investigation into what happened to the girl, according to lead Detective John Merchant.

"The evidence that it's an abduction is that there's no reason to believe that the child wandered off," PCSO Maj. Gary Bowling said in briefing Wednesday afternoon. "She's a 5-year-old child and she's afraid of the dark."

Haleigh was last seen at 10 p.m. Monday in bed at her home in the Hermet's Cove mobile home park where she lived with her father, his 17-year-old girlfriend and her 2-year-old brother.

Investigators were told the last person to see Haleigh was her father's girlfriend, Misty Croslin, who told investigators that she saw the girl in her bed at 10 p.m. Monday. She told police Tuesday that when she awoke at 3 a.m. to use the bathroom, Haleigh was missing and the back door of the home was open.

Channel 4 was told that that Croslin was interviewed for a second time at midday Wednesday, but authorities said Croslin -- and everyone connected with the family -- was cooperating with authorities.

"She's a 17-year-old child herself and so ... we have to be very sensitive to who she is and what she is," said Bowling, volunteering that the investigation was not focused on Croslin.

"All the world's a suspect," Bowling said. "We're going to treat everybody, every family member, every associate, every neighbor as a suspect until we can eliminate them."

Haleigh's mother, who lives in Baker County, made an emotional plea Wednesday morning for her daughter's return.

Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield
"Bring my baby home," Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield, pleaded on Wednesday morning. "That's all I want is my baby home."
"I just want them to bring her back," Crystal Sheffield said. "I just want her home."

Sheffield's mother described the relationship between Haleigh's parents as "rocky." She said the kindergartner was scheduled to spend this weekend with her mother.

Celebrity bounty hunter Leonard Padilla, who was involved in the search for 2-year-old Caylee Anthony who when missing in Orlando last summer, arrived in Satsuma on Wednesday and offered a $25,000 reward if Haleigh is returned before midnight Saturday.

While 130 personnel from 25 agencies were involved in the search on Tuesday, Putnam authorities believe that number was down to 60 or 70 on Wednesday, including 16 members of the FBI.

While divers were scouring the nearby St. Johns River, bloodhounds and cadaver dogs were being used in the neighborhood around the Cummings' home.

The FBI was trying to contact the 44 known sexual offenders who live within five miles of the Cummings' home.

Officials said that helicopters with infrared sensing equipment would begin scanning the area after dark Wednesday and a group of volunteers would begin a new search of the area on Thursday, retracing the neighborhood in case Tuesday's search overlooked something.

Authorities said lots of tips have come in already and they continue to ask anyone with any information about Haleigh's disappearance to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0808 or the FDLE's Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse at 888-FL-MISSING.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/18690324/detail.html

[SoUncool]

Misty Croslin's MySpace

Not much on there...



Crystal Sheffield's MySpace



Crystal - Not trying to diss Mom but I had to post the MySpace pout pic.

Haleigh pics:








Sorry, just realized somebody posted the MySpace links before!

[SoUncool]

The sex offender registry came up in chat and I thought I'd post some national database links.

One is through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement which lists each state's registry:

State by State Links to Sex Offender Registries

Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website

One more: Family Watchdog