Media Links

[Grande]

Amber Alert issued for 4 year old Putnam County girl
By Karen Voyles
Staff Writer
Last Modified: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 9:54 a.m.

An Amber Alert has been issued for a missing 4-year-old Putnam County girl.

According to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, Haleigh Ann Marie Cummings was last seen at 10 p.m. Monday in her bed at the Buffalo Bluff, Satsuma area home where she lived with her father and his girlfriend.

The last person to see Haleigh was her father's girlfriend, who told investigators that she saw the child in her bed. Haleigh's father was reportedly at work Monday night and his girlfriend was the only other person in the house when Haleigh apparently disappeared.

Haleigh is approximately 3 feet tall, with dirty blond hair and pierced ears and was last seen wearing pink shorts and a tan shirt. Sheriff's Capt. Steve Rose said there were no signs that the house had been broken into but he did not know whether the doors and windows were locked.

"We have an extensive search underway involving 50 people and that number is growing," Rose said Tuesday morning. Rose also said his agency was workign to get a current photograph of Haleigh posted on the Internet.

The Amber Alert was issued nationwide before 9:30 a.m. The alerts are distributed in multiple ways to the public and law enforcement agencies to heighten awareness about the missing child.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at (386)329-0800.

http://www.ocala.com/article/20090210/ARTICLES/902100299?Title=Amber_Alert_issued_for_4_year_old_ Putnam_County_girl

[Grande]

Alert Issued For 4-Year-Old Girl Missing From Southern Putnam County
UPDATED: 9:18 am EST February 10, 2009

http://i42.tinypic.com/2ecfaqx.jpg
Haleigh Cummings

A statewide alert was issued early Tuesday for a 4-year-old girl missing from Satsuma.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office said Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings was last seen at 10 p.m. Monday at her home on Green Lane.

Deputies were notified of her disappearance overnight and began a search a 3:30 a.m. The circumstances were not released, but the Florida Department of Law Enforcement called her endangered.

Haleigh was described as having blonde hair and brown eyes, is 3 feet tall and weighs 39 pounds. She was last seen in the Hermus Cove area of Satsuma wearing a pink shirt and underwear.

Authorities ask anyone with any information 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/18680086/detail.html

[Grande]

Putnam issues missing-child alert
4-year-old girl considered endangered
By Dana Treen
Story updated at 10:22 AM on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009

Law enforcement officers with boats and aircraft are searching an area of southern Putnam County for a 4-year-old girl last seen at home about 10 p.m. Monday, authorities said.

A missing and endangered child alert has been issued for Haleigh Cummings, last seen in the Hermit's Cove area of Satsuma when she was in bed. About 3 a.m. the girl's father came home and saw her missing, said Lt. Johnny Greenwood of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office. A woman believed to be the father's wife or girlfriend was also asleep in the residence.

Greenwood said the father noticed Haleigh missing and woke the woman.

Greenwood said there is no immediate evidence of foul play but that the home off Seven Sisters Road is very near the St. Johns River and that there are canals reaching into the neighborhood.

Haleigh was wearing a pink shirt and underwear, according the Missing Child Alert.

She is described as 3 feet tall, white with blonde hair and blue eyes, weighing 39 pounds.

Authorities said Haleigh's father returned home and, though there was another person in the residence, discovered that his daughter was missing.

If you have any information concerning the whereabouts of this endangered child, contact the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at (386) 329-0808.

Please continue to check jacksonville.com and Wednesday's Times-Union for future developments.

http://www.jacksonville.com/news/metro/crime/2009-02-10/story/putnam_issues_missing_child_alert

[Grande]

Missing Child Alert
Last Updated: 9:56 AM Feb 10, 2009

Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse:

HALEIGH CUMMINGS

Date Missing: 2/10/2009
Missing From: Satsuma,FL
County: PUTNAM
Birth Date: 8/16/2004
Age Disappeared: 4 yrs 5 months

Height: 3' 00"
Race: White
Hair: Blonde

Weight: 039
Sex: Female
Eyes: Brown

Narrative: A Florida MISSING CHILD Alert has been issued for Haleigh Cummings,who was last seen in the area of Hermus Cove in Satsuma, wearing a pink shirt and underwear.

A photo will soon be available.

http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/39365427.html

[TigressPen]

My mind automatically went ut-ohh with the girlfriend being in the home and dad working. I pray Haleigh is okay and they find her soon! Thoughts and prayers go out to her and her father.

[Micky_Spill]

AMBER ALERT: 5-Year-Old Girl Missing From Southern Putnam County

POSTED: Tuesday, February 10, 2009
UPDATED: 11:22 am EST February 10, 2009
http://www.news4jax.com/2009/0210/18680273_171X240.jpgHaleigh Cummings





SATSUMA, Fla. -- A statewide alert was issued early Tuesday for a 5-year-old girl missing from Satsuma has been upgraded to an Amber Alert.The Putnam County Sheriff's Office said Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings was last seen at 10 p.m. Monday at her home on Green Lane.Deputies were notified of her disappearance overnight and began a search a 3:30 a.m.The Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued an endangered/missing alert before 9 a.m. Less than two hours later, authorities upgraded it to an Amber Alert.Haleigh is described as having blonde hair and brown eyes, is 3 feet tall and weighs 39 pounds. She was last seen in the Hermus Cove area of Satsuma wearing a pink shirt and underwear.Channel 4 learned that the girl was put to bed by her father's girlfriend. Two other young girls in the home at the time are accounted for, authorities said.Haleigh's mother, who lives in Georgia, is en route to Putnam County.Authorities ask anyone with any information to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0800 or the FDLE's Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse at 888-FL-MISSING.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/18680086/detail.html#-

Article is somewhat misleading, maybe not, but it seems like the father's girlfriend may be leading to the Amber Alert et al suspect and suspect vehicle.

http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/mcicsearch/FlyerNewPerson.asp?Case_Id=28474&case_nbr=

Actual Image
http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/MCICSearch/GetImage.asp?FIN=362254 (http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/MCICSearch/GetImage.asp?FIN=362254)

Printable Format (http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/mcicsearch/%5CMCICSearch%5CFlyerPrintableFormat.asp?Case_Id=2 8474) http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/MCICSearch/images/MEPICLOGOsmall.jpg Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/MCICSearch/images/Smallbadge.jpg AMBER ALERT
ENDANGERED HALEIGH CUMMINGS Date Missing: 2/10/2009 Missing From: Satsuma,FL County: PUTNAM Birth Date: 8/17/2003 Age Disappeared: 5 yrs 5 months Height: 3' 00" Race: White Hair: Blonde Weight: 039 Sex: Female Eyes: Brown Narrative: ***UPDATE The child's age and her last known location have been updated. UPDATE*** A Florida AMBER Alert has been issued for Haleigh Cummings,who was last seen in the area of Hermit's Cove in Satsuma, FL. She was last seen wearing a pink shirt and underwear. FDLE MISSING ENDANGERED PERSONS
INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE
1-888-FL MISSING
http://www.fdle.state.fl.us (http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/) If you have any information concerning the whereabouts of
this endangered person, please contact the
Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0808 or 911

[Grande]

Amber Alert issued for 4 year old Putnam County girl
By Karen Voyles
Staff Writer
Last Modified: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 11:28 a.m.

An Amber Alert has been issued for a missing 4-year-old Putnam County girl.

According to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings was last seen at 10 p.m. Monday in her bed. The girl lived with her father and his girlfriend on Green Lane in the Hermit Cove area of the Buffalo Bluff community.

The last person to see Haleigh was her father's girlfriend, who told investigators that she saw the child in her bed. Haleigh's father was reportedly at work Monday night and his girlfriend was the only other person in the house when Haleigh apparently disappeared.

Haleigh is approximately 3 feet tall, with dirty blond hair, brown eyes, pierced ears and weighing about 39 pounds and was last seen wearing pink shorts and a tan shirt. Sheriff's Capt. Steve Rose said there were no signs that the house had been broken into but he did not know whether the doors and windows were locked.

"We have an extensive search underway involving 50 people and that number is growing," Rose said Tuesday morning. Rose also said his agency was workign to get a current photograph of Haleigh posted on the Internet.

The Amber Alert was issued nationwide before 9:30 a.m. The alerts are distributed in multiple ways to the public and law enforcement agencies to heighten awareness about the missing child.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at (386)329-0800.

http://www.ocala.com/article/20090210/ARTICLES/902100299

[Grande]

February 10, 2009
Amber Alert issued for 5-year-old girl

SATSUMA -- Bloodhounds, a helicopter and deputies from several precincts are searching for a 5-year-old girl who disappeared from her home overnight, according to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

Haleigh Cummings was last seen when her father's girlfriend put her to bed about 10 p.m. Monday, Sgt. Jason Nettles said. When Haleigh's father returned from work about 3 a.m., she was missing and his home's back door open.

Police dogs and officers have been investigating around the home, in a rural subdivision near the north tip of the Ocala National Forest called Hermit's Cove, since the father called police, Nettles said.

Haleigh was described as 3 feet tall with blond hair and brown eyes. She was last seen in a pink shirt and underwear.

Law enforcement upgraded the search to an Amber Alert a few hours after the missing-child report was released this morning. Nettles said he was unsure why the change was made. Amber Alert guidelines mandate that "there must be a clear indication of an abduction" of a child younger than 18 or that the child's life may be in danger.

Deputies have asked anyone with information to contact them at (386) 329-0808.

Drew Harwell, Times Staff Writer

http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingnews/2009/02/dont-post-unles.html

[Grande]

Amber Alert Issued for Florida Girl, 5
Tuesday, February 10, 2009

SATSUMA, Fla. — Authorities in northeast Florida are searching for a 5-year-old girl who disappeared early Tuesday morning.

An Amber Alert was issued for Haleigh Cummings, who lives with her father and his girlfriend in Putnam County. She was reported missing after the girlfriend discovered the little girl was not in her bed. The girlfriend told police that the door to the home was not locked at the time, according to Sgt. Jason Nettles of the Putnam County Sheriff's Department.

At least 25 registered sex offenders live near the missing girl's home in Satsuma.

Haleigh is 3 feet tall with blonde hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information about the girl is urged to contact the Putnam County Sheriff's Office or call 911.

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

[Grande]

Amber Alert: 5 Year Old Girl Missing From Putnam County
By Jared Halpern, Reporter@ February 10, 2009 10:55 AM

An Amber Alert has been issued for a five-year-old girl last seen near Hermit's Cove in Satsuma, south of Palatka.

Haleigh Ann Marie Cummings (pictured at right) was last seen wearing a pink shirt and underwear. The five year old is three feet tall and 39 pounds.

Investigators tell media that the child was put to bed last night by her father's girlfriend. At 3:30 this morning the Haleigh was reported missing.

Police tell channel 4 that the girl's mother lives in Georgia and is making her way to Putnam County.

Channel 4 is also told two other children were in the home at the time of the disappearance, but they have been accounted for.

Amber Alerts are only issued if a child is believed to be abducted and/or in danger.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0800.

Stay with WOKV and wokv.com for the latest on the search for Haleigh.

http://wokv.com/localnews/2009/02/amber-alert-5-year-old-girl-mi.html

[texanne]

Oh, I hope this child is found safe. So many questions...was the door locked or not? Where is the mother? Prayers for this little angel.

[Faith]

Oh I just heard about this child. I pray she is safe.

[annalyzer]

http://www.news4jax.com/news/18680086/detail.html

AMBER ALERT: Intense Search On For 5-Year-Old Missing From Southern Putnam County

POSTED: Tuesday, February 10, 2009
UPDATED: 1:13 pm EST February 10, 2009

http://www.news4jax.com/2009/0210/18680273_171X240.jpg
Haleigh Cummings
VIDEO:
100s Search For Missing Satsuma Girl

SATSUMA, Fla. -- More than 100 law enforcement personnel from several local and state agencies are searching for a 5-year-old girl who disappeared from her home in Satsuma before dawn Tuesday.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office said Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings was last seen at 10 p.m. Monday when her father's girlfriend put her to bed at their home on Green Lane, off Buffalo Bluff Road.

Deputies began a search of the area at 3:30 a.m. after the father came home from work and found the door of the girl's bedroom open and Haleigh missing. St. Johns and Volusia county have also sent resources to help and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has contributed two boats and a helicopter to the search.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued an endangered/missing alert before 9 a.m. Less than two hours later, authorities upgraded it to an Amber Alert.

While Putnam County deputies said there was no sign of forced entry in the residence, they requested that the FDLE elevate the incident to an Amber Alert.

"When you're dealing with a child of this young of an age along with the time frame that the child has been gone, that elevates it to a higher level and that causes us a little more of a concern for the welfare and safety of the child," Putnam County Sheriff's Office Capt. Steve Rose said.

Rose said that while they have no reason to suspect foul play, deputies were contacting known sex offenders in the area to establish their whereabouts.

Haleigh is described as having blonde hair and brown eyes, is 3 feet tall and weighs 39 pounds. She was last seen in the Hermus Cove area of Satsuma wearing a pink shirt and underwear.

Channel 4 learned that a 2-year-old girl sleeping in the same bedroom Monday night is safe.

Haleigh's mother, who lives in south Georgia, was en route to Putnam County.

Law enforcement authorities have not talked with reporters, but were expected to release more information later in the day.

Authorities ask anyone with any information to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0800 or the FDLE's Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse at 888-FL-MISSING.

[Trailblazer]

Oh I sure hope they find her safe and sound...This is terrible...

[Grande]

Updated: 26 minutes ago
From Orlando Sentinel
Five-year-old girl disappears from bedroom
Helen Eckinger | Sentinel Staff Writer
1:40 PM EST, February 10, 2009

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

Haleigh Cummings, 5, was last seen at 10 p.m. Monday in the bedroom of the Satsuma home where she lives with her father, Ronald Cummings and his girlfriend, Misty Croslin.

Ronald Cummings was working Monday night, and Croslin woke up and realized Haleigh was missing just before he returned home at about 3:30 a.m. this morning, according to Lt. Johnny Greenwood of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office. Croslin alerted authorities while Ronald Cumming searched for his daughter, Greenwood said.

Haleigh's mother was in Georgia, where she lives, when Haleigh went missing, Greenwood said.

Greenwood said that deputies are searching the area near Haleigh's home and speaking with her family members. It's too soon to know whether she was abducted by a stranger, and there were no signs that her home had been broken into he said.

"At this point, all we know is that we have a missing little girl," he said.

Haleigh is three feet tall, weighs 39 pounds, and has blonde hair and brown eyes. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing a pink shirt and underwear. Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to contact the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0808.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-bk-missing-girl-021009,0,6189346.story

[Isabella]

Oh I sure hope they find her safe and sound...This is terrible...
I agree, I just heard on FOX news.
I will Pray they find her soon and safe.

[annalyzer]

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090210/ARTICLES/902100984/1002?Title=Amber_Alert_issued_for_Putnam_County_gi rl

Amber Alert issued for 5-year-old Putnam County girl


http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=GS&Date=20090210&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=902100984&Ref=AR&MaxW=600&border=0
Putnam County deputy Christopher Gay takes down vehicle information as other officers search cars driving along Buffalo Bluff Road in hopes of finding clues on the missing 5-year-old in Putnam County, on Feb. 10, 2009. The girl was last seen around 10 p.m. on Feb. 9, 2009.

Published: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 8:28 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 11:11 a.m.

An Amber Alert has been issued for a missing 5-year-old Putnam County girl.

According to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings was last seen at 10 p.m. Monday in her bed. The girl lived with her father and his girlfriend on Green Lane in the Hermit Cove area of the Buffalo Bluff community.

The last person to see Haleigh was her father's girlfriend, who told investigators that she saw the child in her bed. Haleigh's father was reportedly at work Monday night and his girlfriend was the only other person in the house when Haleigh apparently disappeared.

Haleigh is approximately 3 feet tall, with dirty blond hair, brown eyes, pierced ears and weighing about 39 pounds and was last seen wearing pink shorts and a tan shirt. Sheriff's Capt. Steve Rose said there were no signs that the house had been broken into but he did not know whether the doors and windows were locked.

"We have an extensive search underway involving 50 people and that number is growing," Rose said Tuesday morning. Rose also said his agency was workign to get a current photograph of Haleigh posted on the Internet.

The Amber Alert was issued nationwide before 9:30 a.m. The alerts are distributed in multiple ways to the public and law enforcement agencies to heighten awareness about the missing child.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at (386)329-0800.

[Grande]

The g/f and caregiver at the time of Haleigh's disappearance is very young IMO;

http://i43.tinypic.com/106kg85.jpg

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=412920159

[annalyzer]

This story changes with every post. Now the father's girlfriend was the only other person in the house when the child disappeared?

[Isabella]

This story changes with every post. Now the father's girlfriend was the only other person in the house when the child disappeared?
I was struck by what was said on FOX, that the GF went to check on the little girl around 3:30 AM IIRC, seems like an odd time to ck on a chiild unless maybe she went to bed sick or a sound was heard.
FOX also said LE was checking video from the father's work.

Of course they also said there were many sex offenders right in her area.

[Grande]

I was struck by what was said on FOX, that the GF went to check on the little girl around 3:30 AM IIRC, seems like an odd time to ck on a chiild unless maybe she went to bed sick or a sound was heard.
FOX also said LE was checking video from the father's work.

Of course they also said there were many sex offenders right in her area.

My understanding is that the father came home at 3am from work and found his daughter missing. Apparently there was another child in the same room Haleigh slept in and she has been accounted for. The initial search began at 3:30am.

[Grande]

This story changes with every post. Now the father's girlfriend was the only other person in the house when the child disappeared?

G/F and two other children. G/F is only 19 according to her MS profile...

[Isabella]

My understanding is that the father came home at 3am from work and found his daughter missing. Apparently there was another child in the same room Haleigh slept in and she has been accounted for. The initial search began at 3:30am.
Thanks Grande, that sounds familiar to Jessica Lunsford, I pray it is not.

[Grande]

http://i42.tinypic.com/2najl6p.jpg

[annalyzer]

G/F and two other children. G/F is only 19 according to her MS profile...


Not according to news story I last posted ~ "Haleigh's father was reportedly at work Monday night and his girlfriend was the only other person in the house when Haleigh apparently disappeared. "

eta: maybe they meant adult person.

[Grande]

Not according to news story I last posted ~ "Haleigh's father was reportedly at work Monday night and his girlfriend was the only other person in the house when Haleigh apparently disappeared. "

eta: maybe they meant adult person.

FWIW;

<Snipped>

Channel 4 is also told two other children were in the home at the time of the disappearance, but they have been accounted for.

http://wokv.com/localnews/2009/02/am...d-girl-mi.html

[annalyzer]

FWIW;

<Snipped>

Channel 4 is also told two other children were in the home at the time of the disappearance, but they have been accounted for.

http://wokv.com/localnews/2009/02/am...d-girl-mi.html

I hope this little girl is okay. :1222423:

[Grande]

Amber Alert Issued for Haleigh Cummings of Putnam County
Posted By: Jonathan Feldmann
Updated: 2/10/2009 2:58:23 PM

SATSUMA, FL -- A massive search is underway in Putnam County for a missing 5-year-old girl.

An Amber Alert has been issued for Haleigh Cummings of Satsuma.

She hasn't been seen since 10 p.m. Monday when she went to bed.

Haleigh lives in a mobile home community called River Villa. It's on Green Lane in the Hermits Cove area of Satsuma, just off Buffalo Bluff Road and U.S. 17.

The little girl was home with her father's girlfriend and a 2-year-old sibling. The Putnam County Sheriff's Office says the girl's father was at work in Palatka until about 3 a.m.

Haleigh's father told First Coast News he came home from work and discovered his daughter missing.

"She's afraid of the dark," said Ronald Cummings. "She didn't leave my house. Somebody came in my back door and stole my child while I was at work."

Mr. Cummings said when he came home he found signs of forced entry to his home, but investigators with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said they didn't find anything to suggest a break-in.

The sheriff's office said Haleigh's bedroom door was open when her father's girlfriend woke up to go check on her at about 3:45 a.m.

Investigators haven't said what stirred the father's girlfriend at that hour, but authorities say she called 911 when she discovered Haleigh missing from her room.

"It's unspeakable," said Marie Griffis, Haleigh's grandmother. "You see it on TV and then it happens to you."

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says Haleigh had on a pink shirt and underwear.

She is three feet tall and weighs 39 pounds.

The girl's mother drove in from where she lives in Glen St Mary to Putnam County to talk with authorities.

If you have any information on where Cummings is, call 911 or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-277-TIPS. You will remain anonymous and you could receive a cash reward of up to $1,000.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/breaking/news-article.aspx?storyid=130972&catid=17

[Faith]

Police Question Father of Missing Florida Girl, 5

Authorities in northeast Florida are questioning 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.

But he said he believed they were being questioned by police. The child lived with the couple in Putnam County, Fla.

Investigators were also questioning others in the case, according to Nettles.

An Amber Alert was issued Tuesday for Haleigh, and authorities with dogs were hunting for signs of the girl, who apparently disappeared before dawn.

Haleigh was reported missing after her father's girlfriend told police she discovered the child wasn't in her bed about 3:30 a.m.

The woman said the door to the home was not locked at the time, Nettles said.

Several registered sex offenders reportedly live in the vicinity of the missing girl's home in Satsuma, Fla.

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 said.

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.

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

[annalyzer]

Now they're saying one other child was also in the home.

This is weird, "The sheriff's office said Haleigh's bedroom door was open when her father's girlfriend woke up to go check on her at about 3:45 a.m. "

Woke up to go check on her?

[Grande]

I hope this little girl is okay. :1222423:

Me too!!

Now it appears as though there may have only been one other child in the home at the time. There are multiple different versions of the details as you can tell. The latest PR I posted states it was the G/F that discovered Haleigh missing @ 3:45. In time it will all get sorted out.

I can't imagine how difficult it must be for Haleigh's mother to keep her composure as she travels from GA to Putnam County, FL.

[Grande]

Now they're saying one other child was also in the home.

This is weird, "The sheriff's office said Haleigh's bedroom door was open when her father's girlfriend woke up to go check on her at about 3:45 a.m. "

Woke up to go check on her?

What a mess that article is IMO. First they claim the father came home to find what appeared to be signs of forced entry and then later they stated it was, as you said, the G/F that discovered her missing.

Regardless, this is a very BAD situation IMO. There are ALOT of offenders in that area.

Type in Green Ln. Satsuma FL in the 'search by location' query here >
http://www.familywatchdog.us/

[annalyzer]

What a mess that article is IMO. First they claim the father came home to find what appeared to be signs of forced entry and then later they stated it was, as you said, the G/F that discovered her missing.

Regardless, this is a very BAD situation IMO. There are ALOT of offenders in that area.

Type in Green Ln. Satsuma FL in the 'search by location' query here >
http://www.familywatchdog.us/


Good lord. And the gf said the door wasn't locked.

[Faith]

http://missingchild.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/satsuma-fl.jpg?w=300&h=213

[Pandabear]

I pray this child is found safe. So many questions about the reports on this.

[Faith]

How old is the father?

[Battnt]

Oh Lord not another one....Please God let Haleigh come back safe...Please....:cray:

[Grande]

How old is the father?

Not sure, I've checked Putnam County, there are no associated records. It appears as though he may have recently relocated there in PC, perhaps from Georgia??

[packy]

Hope they're knocking on a lot of doors in the area.

[Grande]

Hope they're knocking on a lot of doors in the area.

Every RSO in the area will be getting a visit if they haven't already, IMO.

[Faith]

I looked for sex offenders in the area- the correct town is PUTNAM or Satsuma?

[Faith]

Missing From: Satsuma, FL
Missing Date: 02/10/2009 12:00 AM
Issued for: Florida: Statewide
Contact: If you have information, please contact Putnam County Sheriff's Office, 386-329-0808, 911
Circumstances: Update: Added child's photo The 5 year-old child was last seen in the area of Hermit's Cove in Satsuma, FL. She was last seen wearing a pink shirt and underwear.

http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/AmberServlet

[Grande]

http://www.news4jax.com/video/18682465/index.html

[Faith]

Ok so it's Satsuma, Fl which is in Putman County. I was confused.

[Faith]

This is the road- not the exact location of the house.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll116/helpfindthemissing/map-6.jpg

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll116/helpfindthemissing/map1-2.jpg

[Grande]

I believe the Mobile Home is actually on Green Lane, West of Buffalo Bluff Rd.

[Faith]

I believe the Mobile Home is actually on Green Lane, West of Buffalo Bluff Rd.

Oh my gosh, look at all that water.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll116/helpfindthemissing/map3-2.jpg

[Trailblazer]

Press conference on HLN right now

[Faith]

HLN now having a press conference

[Grande]

Amber Alert issued for 5-year-old Putnam County girl
By Karen Voyles
Staff Writer
Last Modified: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 3:45 p.m.

More than 100 officers from at least seven county, state and federal law enforcement agencies continued the search for a missing 5-year-old Putnam County girl Tuesday afternoon.

On foot, in helicopters and with blood hounds, the search for Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings, 5, has been expanded since she was reported missing at about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday from her east Putnam County home. An Amber Alert was issued nationwide before 9:30 a.m.

The girl was last seen in her bed at 10 p.m. Monday. Haliegh lived with her father and his girlfriend at 202 Green Lane in the Hermit Cove area of the Buffalo Bluff community, according to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

Officers with Florida Fish and Wildlife and other agencies are searching the banks of the St. Johns River with blood hounds. Among the agencies involved in the search are the FBI, Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Palatka Police Dept., and Sheriff's offices from Flagler, Volusia, St. Johns and Putnam counties.

The heightened investigation is an effort to engage every resource available early in the search, said Putnam Sheriff's Capt. Steve Rose.

"They always tell you when you have a case of this magnitude, it's always better to flood your resources up front," said Rose. "We are looking at everything because at this point we don't know" what we have.

Haleigh is approximately 3 feet tall, with dirty blond hair, brown eyes, pierced ears and weighing about 39 pounds and was last seen wearing pink shorts and a tan shirt.

Rose said there were no initial signs of forced entry, but officers found a door in the house ajar. He could not confirm whether the doors where locked.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at (386)329-0800.

There will be a 4 p.m. press briefing held near the neighborhood where the girl lives.

http://www.ocala.com/article/20090210/ARTICLES/902100299/1001/NEWS01?Title=Amber_Alert_issued_for_5_year_old_Put nam_County_girl

[Faith]

Sex offenders in the area

PROXIMITY
PICTURE
NAME
STATUS
ADDRESS
ADDRESS SOURCE INFORMATION
0.1 Mile N http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/CallImage?imgID=791487

JOHNS, KYLE S.

View Flyer (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:flyerOpener%28%278989%27%29)

Track Offender (http://www.floridaoffenderalert.com/index.php?offenderkey=8989&offenderfirstname=KYLE&offenderlastname=JOHNS)

Released - Required to Register (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:popLegalStatusListNew%28%29) 212 MONROE AVE
SATSUMA FL 32189
Show Map Source: Registration
Received: 09/05/2007

Type of Address: Permanent 0.5 Mile N

http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/CallImage?imgID=739474

LOUCAKIS, TIMOTHY R.

(Predator)

View Flyer (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:flyerOpener%28%2727045%27%29)

Track Offender (http://www.floridaoffenderalert.com/index.php?offenderkey=27045&offenderfirstname=TIMOTHY&offenderlastname=LOUCAKIS)
Supervised - FL Dept of Corrections (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:popLegalStatusListNew%28%29)
100 CAMELLIA DR

SATSUMA FL 32189
Show Map Source: Dept. of Corrections
Received: 12/22/2004
Type of Address: Permanent Top (http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/searchNeighborhood.do#MainEditable)

[Grande]

This character lives on Monroe, about 200 feet north of the Cummings residence

http://i44.tinypic.com/120gy1s.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/200zork.jpg

Conviction date: 2/28/1995
LEWD LASCIVIOUS CHILD U/16; F.S. 800.04 (PRINCIPAL)
Offender's age at conviction: 24

[Faith]

This character lives on Monroe, about 200 feet north of the Cummings residence

http://i44.tinypic.com/120gy1s.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/200zork.jpg

Conviction date: 2/28/1995
LEWD LASCIVIOUS CHILD U/16; F.S. 800.04 (PRINCIPAL)
Offender's age at conviction: 24

This guy lives 0.1 Mile N of 202 Green Lane.

[Grande]

This guy lives 0.1 Mile N of 202 Green Lane.

Yep, less than 100 yards...

[Faith]

This guy lives 0.5 Mile N of 202 Green lane

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll116/helpfindthemissing/map4-2.jpg

[Faith]

FWIW- this guy's profile says.

Supervised - FL Dept of Corrections (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:popLegalStatusListNew%28%29)



This guy lives 0.5 Mile N of 202 Green lane

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll116/helpfindthemissing/map4-2.jpg

[Faith]

FWIW- this guys profile says-

Released - Required to Register (javascript:popLegalStatusListNew())

This character lives on Monroe, about 200 feet north of the Cummings residence

http://i44.tinypic.com/120gy1s.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/200zork.jpg

Conviction date: 2/28/1995
LEWD LASCIVIOUS CHILD U/16; F.S. 800.04 (PRINCIPAL)
Offender's age at conviction: 24

[Isabella]

Press conference on HLN right now
I'm sorry I missed it, any leads?

[texanne]

So, still no word on this child. My heart is sinking.

[Micky_Spill]

FWIW- this guys profile says-

Released - Required to Register (http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:popLegalStatusListNew%28%29)

and that means this.

No longer under any form of confinement, supervision or any other court imposed sanction. Still required to register in accordance with Florida law.

[Isabella]

and that means this.

No longer under any form of confinement, supervision or any other court imposed sanction. Still required to register in accordance with Florida law.
That's scary, they no longer have to check in with anyone?

[Grande]

I believe this is Haleigh's mother;

http://www.myspace.com/crystalsheffield

[Micky_Spill]

I believe this is Haleigh's mother;

http://www.myspace.com/crystalsheffield


her baby is Chloe?

[Grande]

her baby is Chloe?

Haleigh ~ 5, Ronald aka butterbean ~ 3, and Chloe ~ 9.

[Micky_Spill]

Haleigh ~ 5, Ronald aka butterbean ~ 3, and Chloe ~ 9.
yeah I did not at her MS but a second.

[texanne]

Fox News Houston just flashed her picture on the screen. They will have the story in the next few moments..It just came on. Well that was disappointing...it was just a blurb with no details other than the fact that 25 registered sex offenders live near her home...OMG.

[TigressPen]

I sure hope this baby is okay. Was praying that when I was able to get back online today to read Haleigh had been found safe.

I see media has varying stories of her disappearing. That is so frustrating. They don't bother to check their facts.

[AmyE]

Is this girl 4 or 5.... the first few articles are saying 4 and the rest are 5.....I am confused.

[TigressPen]

Fox News Houston just flashed her picture on the screen. They will have the story in the next few moments..It just came on. Well that was disappointing...it was just a blurb with no details other than the fact that 25 registered sex offenders live near her home...OMG.


OMG! Predator haven! I hope LE is checking each and every home of all them.

[nanabillie]

It always seems strange to me when a child disappears from home. I know it happens.

[Faith]

Night Search Underway for Missing Girl

SATSUMA, FL -- The search for missing Haleigh Cummings will continue under the cover of darkness in the neighborhood where she disappeared early Tuesday morning.

Cummings was reported missing by her father when he returned home from work in Palatka after 3 a.m.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office says a rear door to the trailer was found open. The girl's father, Ronald Cummings, told First Coast News the door was forced open.

Law enforcement from neighboring counties and the FBI assisted in the search with helicopters and boats. Search teams combed the woods and divers worked the waters of the nearby St. Johns River.

Nancy Bump lives on the neighborhood and knew something had happened when she heard a helicopter circling overhead before sunrise.

Bump says search dogs led investigators to the river near her home.

"They walked right down to the end of the dock and ever since then they have been looking in the water," said Bump.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement first issued a Missing Child Alert before upgrading it to an Amber Alert for the missing girl. Haleigh was last seen wearing a pink shirt and underwear. Call 911 or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-277-TIPS. You'll remain anonymous and could receive a cash reward of up to $1,000 if your information leads to an arrest.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=131034&catid=3

[Faith]

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/genthumb.ashx?e=3&h=240&w=320&i=/assetpool/images/090210041421_021009_roger6.JPG

[texanne]

The water? Oh no,...I hope that was a false hit. I am praying that this baby is found safe. Please, God!

[annalyzer]

OMG! Predator haven! I hope LE is checking each and every home of all them.


I doubt a predator would take her straight down to the water though.

[Faith]

Video

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/video/default.aspx?maven_playerId=articleplayer&maven_referralPlaylistId=playlist&maven_referralObject=1029487341

[Faith]

The water? Oh no,...I hope that was a false hit. I am praying that this baby is found safe. Please, God!

They were searching in the water this afternoon when I first posted.

ETA- it was 11:40am when I first posted. heard it on Tv they were searching te water.

[Faith]

Greta is talking about the case now.

[Faith]

nothing new- Greta is talking to the sheriff now.

[Faith]

The father is holding a photo of Haleigh. They played the 911 call.

[Faith]

44 known offenders within a 5 mile radius.

[TigressPen]

nothing new- Greta is talking to the sheriff now.



Nothing new gives a bad feeling inside. :( I was sure hoping she'd been found today. Safe.

[annalyzer]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29119083

5-Year-Old Vanishes From Bedroom; Father Says She Was 'Stolen'

http://images.ibsys.com/2009/0210//18683653_200X112.jpg

Detective: 'Whoever Has The Child Is Not Supposed To Have The Child'

updated 5:56 p.m. ET, Tues., Feb. 10, 2009

SATSUMA, Fla. - More than 130 law enforcement personnel from several local and state agencies are searching for a 5-year-old girl who disappeared from her home in Satsuma before dawn Tuesday.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office said Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings was last seen at 10 p.m. Monday when her father's girlfriend put her to bed at their home on Green Lane, off Buffalo Bluff Road.

While deputies and state officers from at least five agencies searched the area and the nearby St. Johns River, Haleigh's grieving father told Channel 4 there is no doubt in his mind that she was abducted and he'll do anything to get her back.

Ronald Cummings said Haleigh is afraid of the dark and there's no way she would have gone out in the middle of the night by herself.

"I came home this morning to find that I didn't have a child," Cummings. "Somebody stole my child."

Putnam County deputies began a search of the area at 3:30 a.m. after the mother found the girl missing and Cummings came home from working a night shift and found back door of their mobile home open and called 911.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued an endangered/missing alert before 9 a.m. Less than two hours later, authorities upgraded it to an Amber Alert.

While Putnam County deputies said there was no sign of forced entry in the residence, they requested that the FDLE elevate the incident to an Amber Alert.


"When you're dealing with a child of this young of an age along with the time frame that the child has been gone, that elevates it to a higher level and that causes us a little more of a concern for the welfare and safety of the child," Putnam County Sheriff's Office Capt. Steve Rose said.

Rose said that while they have no reason to suspect foul play, deputies went door to door and searched cars leaving the neighborhood and contacted known sex offenders in the area to establish their whereabouts. They also brought K-9 unit in to track any leads.

"Whoever has the child is not supposed to have the child at this point," Putnam County Detective John Murch said during an afternoon news conference.

St. Johns and Volusia counties sent resources to help and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has contributed two boats and a helicopter to the search. A Jacksonville Sheriff's Office search boat is also helping out.

Late afternoon, authorities announced that the FBI was sending a team to join the investigation.

Haleigh is described as having blond hair and brown eyes, is 3 feet tall and weighs 39 pounds. She was last seen in the Hermit's Cove area of Satsuma wearing a pink shirt and underwear.


Channel 4 learned that a 2-year-old and a 17-year-old cousin were sleeping in the same bedroom as Haleigh. They are both safe and detectives said the teenager had no information about what happened to Haleigh.

Haleigh's mother, who lives in south Georgia, went to Satsuma on Tuesday and was cooperating in the search.

Authorities ask anyone with any information to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0800 or the FDLE's Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse at 888-FL-MISSING.

"Please call and give (information) to the police department," Cummings said. "J just want my child back."

[annalyzer]

Now they're reporting that a 17 year old was sleeping in the same room as the child. From above link ~ "Channel 4 learned that a 2-year-old and a 17-year-old cousin were sleeping in the same bedroom as Haleigh. They are both safe and detectives said the teenager had no information about what happened to Haleigh."

[Faith]

Video- Father pleads for Haleigh

http://www.news4jax.com/video/18684460/index.html


http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll116/helpfindthemissing/father.jpg

[ChildrenFirst]

My heart broke when I saw this story on the news. My prayers are with her and her father. I just can't believe there are people in this world that are capable of things like this. I will constantly pray that God will perform a miracle and bring this little girl home to her father unharmed. I cannot believe the amount of sex offenders in the area. It is unreal. What is wrong with our country? I am appalled. I can't even imagine the horror of losing a child. God be with this family. May God bring her home.

[Faith]

My heart broke when I saw this story on the news. My prayers are with her and her father. I just can't believe there are people in this world that are capable of things like this. I will constantly pray that God will perform a miracle and bring this little girl home to her father unharmed. I cannot believe the amount of sex offenders in the area. It is unreal. What is wrong with our country? I am appalled. I can't even imagine the horror of losing a child. God be with this family. May God bring her home.

Hi & Welcome to HFTM, ChildrenFirst. I Pray Haleigh is alive and safe.

[Faith]

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll116/helpfindthemissing/flyer-1.jpg

[Faith]

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/genthumb.ashx?e=3&h=240&w=320&i=/assetpool/images/090210054426_021009_haleighnew.jpg
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/genthumb.ashx?e=3&h=240&w=320&i=/assetpool/images/090210020538_021009_roger4.JPG
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/genthumb.ashx?e=3&h=240&w=320&i=/assetpool/images/090210041429_021009_roger7.JPG
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/genthumb.ashx?e=3&h=240&w=320&i=/assetpool/images/090210114252_021009_amber2.jpg
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/genthumb.ashx?e=3&h=240&w=320&i=/assetpool/images/090210041437_021009_roger8.JPG

[Faith]

Another Video

http://www.tampabays10.com/video/default.aspx?maven_playerId=articleplayer&maven_referralPlaylistId=playlist&maven_referralObject=1029142478&maven_referrer=staf

[AmyE]

What is she last seen in? I have read this whole thread and there have been different articles with different information.

I pray she is safe and alive.

[AmyE]

She was last seen in the Hermit's Cove area of Satsuma wearing a pink shirt and underwear.

Taken from post 82

---------------------------------------------------------

wearing pink shorts and a tan shirt.

Taken from post 7

[Faith]

Search for missing Florida girl

February 10, 2009 - 10:22 PM
Liz Quirantes

An intensive search in on Tuesday evening in the northwestern section of Florida as authorities look for a missing 5-year old Putnam County girl.

More than 100 officers have been deployed through a seven county area as they look for Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings. The little 3-foot tall, 39 pound tyke went missing from her home around 3:30 AM.

Haleigh, who lives with her dad and his girlfriend, was put to bed late Monday night around 10 PM, but her dad did not find her this morning when he arrived home from his 3rd shift job.

Local, state and federal agents set up a command post in the town of Satsuma earlier today after an Amber Alert was issued. This evening a news briefing was held to explain the latest on the search.

Officials have used helicopters in the air, as well as blood hounds on the ground, as they methodically searched the banks of the nearby St. Johns River.

Putnam County Sheriffs Investigator John Merchant says a decision was made early on in this missing case to deploy a massive amount of manpower to scour the area as much as possible to find the little girl.

Officials say there are no signs the child was forcefully removed from her bedroom, but arriving police did find a slightly opened door at the home.

http://www.cbs12.com/news/search_4714327___article.html/tuesday_florida.html

[annalyzer]

Search for missing Florida girl
snipped ~

Haleigh, who lives with her dad and his girlfriend, was put to bed late Monday night around 10 PM, but her dad did not find her this morning when he arrived home from his 3rd shift job.



In the video he says his gf found her missing when she had got up to use the bathroom and found the door open and checked on her.

[ChildrenFirst]

What about the mother? Does anyone know if they heard from her yet?

[Faith]

What about the mother? Does anyone know if they heard from her yet?

The mother is there now and helping in the search.

[Faith]

She was last seen in the Hermit's Cove area of Satsuma wearing a pink shirt and underwear.

Taken from post 82

---------------------------------------------------------

wearing pink shorts and a tan shirt.

Taken from post 7

Haleigh lives in a mobile home community called River Villa. It's on Green Lane in the Hermits Cove area of Satsuma, just off Buffalo Bluff Road and U.S. 17.

She was last seen wearing a pink shirt and underwear.

[Faith]

Now they're reporting that a 17 year old was sleeping in the same room as the child. From above link ~ "Channel 4 learned that a 2-year-old and a 17-year-old cousin were sleeping in the same bedroom as Haleigh. They are both safe and detectives said the teenager had no information about what happened to Haleigh."

I wonder if the cousin is male or female.

[annalyzer]

http://www.news4jax.com/news/18686639/detail.html

Family, Friends Pray As Search For Missing 5-Year-Old Continues

POSTED: Tuesday, February 10, 2009
UPDATED: 11:50 pm EST February 10, 2009

SATSUMA, Fla. -- After the sun set on Tuesday, the bright lights came on at the Putnam County Command Center near the home where 5-year-old Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings was last seen.

Local detectives and even investigators with the FBI remained at the scene and said they would continue to feverishly work the case throughout the night.

According to detectives, when dealing with missing children, the first 24 hours are crucial. At 10 p.m. on Tuesday, investigators said they were very aware that it had been a full day since Haleigh was last seen and they were working hard to make every minute count toward finding the missing girl.

"We feel good about what we're doing, but we feel really desperate that 24 hours have passed now and we don’t have a clue where this child is," said PCSO Major Gary Bowling.

Haleigh was last seen in her Satsuma home on Green Lane with her 2-year-old brother and her father's 17-year-old girlfriend. The girlfriend told police she put the children to bed at 10 p.m. Monday but when she awoke at 3 a.m. to use the bathroom Haleigh was missing and the back door of the home was open.

The 17-year-old called 911 for help as Haleigh's father returned home from an overnight shift at work:

CALLER: I just woke up and my back door was all open and I can't find my daughter.

DISPATCH: Can't find what?

CALLER: My daughter.

DISPATCH:Ok. When did you last see her?

CALLER: Um, we just like, you know, it was about 10 o'clock. She was sleeping (inaudible).

DISPATCH: Ok. How old is your daughter?

CALLER: She's 5.

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.

DISPATCH: OK. What was she last seen wearing, Ma'am?

CALLER: She was in her pajamas. We were sleeping.

DISPATCH: OK. Alright, 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.

DISPATCH: Was your back door locked do you know?

CALLER: Yes. The back door always stays locked.

FATHER: I just got home from work, my 5-year-old daughter is gone. I need someone to be here now. I'm telling you. If I find whoever has my daughter before you all do, I'm killing him. I don't care. I'll spend the rest of my life in prison.

DISPATCH: It's OK sir, we got them on the way. Can you give me a description of the pajamas she was wearing?

FATHER: I don't (expletive) know I was at work.

"We have no suspect information. We're not focusing on any person as a person of interest right now. It is truly still a 'who done it,' meaning whether it's an abduction or a homicide or if she just wandered out," said Bowling.

Since the search for Haleigh began, there have been boats out on the nearby St. Johns River, a helicopter in the sky and search dogs on the ground all in hopes of finding a clue to the girl's whereabouts.

Still there has been no sign of the missing child.

Community Gathers, Prays For Missing Girl

As the search for Haleigh continued to get more desperate with each passing hour, friends and neighbors in the area came together for support.

Twenty-four hours after the girl was last seen, her family members, friends and neighbors gathered to hold a candlelight vigil to pray Haleigh's safe return.

"Father, we're asking that she's going to be released tonight, so we can go home and celebrate your goodness and bring her back," said one neighbor as he led the group in prayer.

"She's the most precious thing in our life. We want her to come home," said Haleigh's grandmother, Teresa Neves. "Please bring my baby home. She's an angel, she's never done anything bad. She is such a good girl and she does not deserve this. I know she has to be scared to death without her daddy … let her go. Bring her home."

"Please call and giver her to the police department so I can get my daughter back, please. All we want is my child, that's it. I just want my daughter back," said the child's father, Ronald Cummings. "Somebody has her. They have her hidden. I just want my daughter back, that's it. That's all I want."

Friends and neighbors have been offering their support, but all the family really wants is answered prayers.

Authorities ask anyone with any information to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0800 or the FDLE's Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse at 888-FL-MISSING.

[annalyzer]

omg this story changes with every post. Now it's the gf who is the 17 year old. Hope it's a case of bad reporting and not inconsistent stories.

[annalyzer]

911 call http://www.news4jax.com/download/2009/0211/18686377.mp3

from above link

[Faith]

Florida Amber Alert - A little 4-year-old girl by the name of Haleigh Ann Marie Cummings has gone missing from her Florida home.

Haleigh Cummings, who lives with her father and his girlfriend in the home in Florida, was in her bedroom sleeping while her father was at work and his girlfriend slept in the next room.

Apparently the girlfriend was awakened by a loud noise around 3:30 am and went to check on little Haleigh when she discovered the girl was missing.

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_212207051.shtml

[Faith]

omg this story changes with every post. Now it's the gf who is the 17 year old. Hope it's a case of bad reporting and not inconsistent stories.

All the articles are different. It's very confusing. I wonder why the gf wasn't on video with him.

The article makes it sounds like the gf is the cousin.

[Faith]

http://www.news4jax.com/news/18686639/detail.html

Family, Friends Pray As Search For Missing 5-Year-Old Continues

POSTED: Tuesday, February 10, 2009
UPDATED: 11:50 pm EST February 10, 2009

SATSUMA, Fla. -- After the sun set on Tuesday, the bright lights came on at the Putnam County Command Center near the home where 5-year-old Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings was last seen.

Local detectives and even investigators with the FBI remained at the scene and said they would continue to feverishly work the case throughout the night.

According to detectives, when dealing with missing children, the first 24 hours are crucial. At 10 p.m. on Tuesday, investigators said they were very aware that it had been a full day since Haleigh was last seen and they were working hard to make every minute count toward finding the missing girl.

"We feel good about what we're doing, but we feel really desperate that 24 hours have passed now and we don’t have a clue where this child is," said PCSO Major Gary Bowling.

Haleigh was last seen in her Satsuma home on Green Lane with her 2-year-old brother and her father's 17-year-old girlfriend. The girlfriend told police she put the children to bed at 10 p.m. Monday but when she awoke at 3 a.m. to use the bathroom Haleigh was missing and the back door of the home was open.

The 17-year-old called 911 for help as Haleigh's father returned home from an overnight shift at work:

CALLER: I just woke up and my back door was all open and I can't find my daughter.

DISPATCH: Can't find what?

CALLER: My daughter.

DISPATCH:Ok. When did you last see her?

CALLER: Um, we just like, you know, it was about 10 o'clock. She was sleeping (inaudible).

DISPATCH: Ok. How old is your daughter?

CALLER: She's 5.

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.

DISPATCH: OK. What was she last seen wearing, Ma'am?

CALLER: She was in her pajamas. We were sleeping.

DISPATCH: OK. Alright, 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.

DISPATCH: Was your back door locked do you know?

CALLER: Yes. The back door always stays locked.

FATHER: I just got home from work, my 5-year-old daughter is gone. I need someone to be here now. I'm telling you. If I find whoever has my daughter before you all do, I'm killing him. I don't care. I'll spend the rest of my life in prison.

DISPATCH: It's OK sir, we got them on the way. Can you give me a description of the pajamas she was wearing?

FATHER: I don't (expletive) know I was at work.

"We have no suspect information. We're not focusing on any person as a person of interest right now. It is truly still a 'who done it,' meaning whether it's an abduction or a homicide or if she just wandered out," said Bowling.

Since the search for Haleigh began, there have been boats out on the nearby St. Johns River, a helicopter in the sky and search dogs on the ground all in hopes of finding a clue to the girl's whereabouts.

Still there has been no sign of the missing child.

Community Gathers, Prays For Missing Girl

As the search for Haleigh continued to get more desperate with each passing hour, friends and neighbors in the area came together for support.

Twenty-four hours after the girl was last seen, her family members, friends and neighbors gathered to hold a candlelight vigil to pray Haleigh's safe return.

"Father, we're asking that she's going to be released tonight, so we can go home and celebrate your goodness and bring her back," said one neighbor as he led the group in prayer.

"She's the most precious thing in our life. We want her to come home," said Haleigh's grandmother, Teresa Neves. "Please bring my baby home. She's an angel, she's never done anything bad. She is such a good girl and she does not deserve this. I know she has to be scared to death without her daddy … let her go. Bring her home."

"Please call and giver her to the police department so I can get my daughter back, please. All we want is my child, that's it. I just want my daughter back," said the child's father, Ronald Cummings. "Somebody has her. They have her hidden. I just want my daughter back, that's it. That's all I want."

Friends and neighbors have been offering their support, but all the family really wants is answered prayers.

Authorities ask anyone with any information to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0800 or the FDLE's Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse at 888-FL-MISSING.


The dispatcher called back. Talked to the girl- after a few minutes the father grabs the phone and HANGS IT UP! :faintTHUD:

[Faith]

Authorities: No suspects in case of missing Putnam girl

http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=GS&Date=20090210&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=902100984&Ref=AR&Profile=1002&MaxW=600&border=0

Palatka, Fla. -- 021009 -- Ronald Cummings (center), father of 5-year-old Haleigh Ann-Marie who was reported missing late last night, is comforted by his mother, Teresa Neves, as he talks to reporters Tuesday afternoon.



PALATKA --- More than 130 officers from at least 10 county, state and federal law enforcement agencies continued the search for a missing 5-year-old Putnam County girl Tuesday afternoon.

On foot, in helicopters and with blood hounds, the search for Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings has been expanded since she was reported missing at about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday from her east Putnam County home. An Amber Alert was issued nationwide before 9:30 a.m.

The girl was last seen in her bed at 10 p.m. Monday. Haleigh lived with her father and his girlfriend at 202 Green Lane in the Hermit Cove area of the Buffalo Bluff community, according to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office. Authorities said that the girlfriend, identified as Misty Croslin, 17, is helping "100 percent" with law enforcement. The same is true for Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, 24, who was at work Monday night when the girl went missing. He works for PDM Bridge, which builds steel girders for bridges.

During a 4 p.m. news conference, authorities said a back door at the home had been found ajar. There are no suspects in the case, which law officers said could be an abduction or just the case of a missing child.

Officers with Florida Fish and Wildlife and other agencies were searching the banks of the St. Johns River with blood hounds. Among the agencies involved in the search are the FBI, Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Palatka Police Dept., and Sheriff's offices from Flagler, Volusia, St. Johns and Putnam counties.

The heightened investigation is an effort to engage every resource available early in the search, said Putnam Sheriff's Capt. Steve Rose.

"They always tell you when you have a case of this magnitude, it's always better to flood your resources up front," said Rose. "We are looking at everything because at this point we don't know" what we have.

Haleigh is approximately 3 feet tall, with dirty blond hair, brown eyes, pierced ears and weighing about 39 pounds and was last seen wearing pink shorts and a tan shirt.

Rose said there were no initial signs of forced entry, but officers found a door in the house ajar. He could not confirm whether the doors where locked.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at (386)329-0800.

"I want them (people in the community) to know we have a missing 5-year-old girl. We want to find her. We don't know where she is at this point," said Putnam Detective John Merchant, the lead detective on the case, during the news conference.

Cummings and Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield, 23, were near the home on Tuesday while the search was happening. Sheffield lives in Baker County.

Haleigh was "stolen out of my home," Cummings said. "Somebody came in my back door and stole my child. I came home from work and my daughter was not at home."

The girl's maternal grandmother, Marie Griffis, said this: "It's unspeakable. She's not going to get up and wander through the house and get up and wander through the back door."

She asked people for their prayers and for anyone with information to contact authorities immediately.

Video on page

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090210/ARTICLES/902100984&tc=email_newsletter

[Faith]

Putnam County Amber Alert

Last Update: 11:18 pm

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. -- An Amber Alert has been issued for a missing Putnam County girl. Haleigh Cummings, 5, was last seen in the Hermit's Cove area of Satsuma. She was last seen wearing a pink shirt and underwear. She's described as being 3' tall, and about 39 pounds. She has blond hair, and brown eyes. Police believe Cummings may be endangered.

Cummings was last seen Monday night when she was put to bed around 10 p.m. by her father's girlfriend. At 3 a.m. Tuesday, her father returned to the residence, 202 Green Ln., and noticed she was missing.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office says Cummings was not home alone. The father's girlfriend, and another 2-year-old child were also in the mobile home at the time.

Cummings' biological mother is traveling from Georgia to aid in the search.

Putnam, Flagler, St. Johns County Sheriff's Offices along with Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are on scene.

If you have any information about Haleigh Cummings' whereabouts, you are asked to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at (386) 329-0808 or 1-888-FL-MISSING.

http://www.cbs47.com/content/topstories/story/Putnam-County-Amber-Alert/ImB0FElGT0WVtKs5TmAHvw.cspx

[annalyzer]

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=131043&catid=3

Search Suspended Until Morning For Missing Girl

Created: 2/10/2009 11:10:53 PM
Updated: 2/11/2009 12:11:49 AM

SATSUMA, FL -- As the last few hours of searching wind down, a helicopter equipped with infrared does its last few sweeps looking for any signs of Haleigh Cummings

"This is my heart and somebody stole my heart from me," says Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings.

Detectives say they are covering all bases, from interviewing sex offenders and predators, to searching with blood hounds. Still, no leads have surfaced as to what actually happened with Haleigh.

"We don't where Haleigh's at. We have no suspect, information, we're not focusing on any person of interest now. It is truly a who-done-it. That means whether it's an abduction, or homicide, or if she wandered off ," says Major Gary Bowling with the Putnam Co. Sheriff's Office.

Investigators say the best thing on their side was time. Getting an early start allowed law enforcement to cover lots of ground with several resources, but as the hours pass, time is no longer a friend.

"We know that the first 24 hours are a critical time. We haven't lost any ground, but we haven't gained any ground either," says Major Bowling.

"Somebody came in the back door, broke in the back door and stole my child while I was at work," says Cummings.

The National Child Abduction Response Team has been activated to help with the investigation.

Volusia, St. Johns, Duval, and Flagler County are all assisting Putnam County in the investigation.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the FBI are also helping. Putnam detectives say the FBI will help with questioning sex predators and offenders in the area.

Investigators say there are 44 sexual offenders that live within the five square mile search area.

[annalyzer]

I just posted that authorities would be working throughout the night and then a new story comes out that the search is suspended until morning. Good grief I've never seen such screwed up reporting.

[Faith]

Misty Croslin (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=412920159)

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll116/helpfindthemissing/MistyCroslin.jpg

http://www.truecrimereport.com/2009/02/missing_in_florida_haleigh_cum.php

[annalyzer]

The dispatcher called back. Talked to the girl- after a few minutes the father grabs the phone and HANGS IT UP! :faintTHUD:


In that news interview video you posted did you hear him being asked something like, "But the two year old child (boy) was okay?" and he said ," Yeah, imagine that". That was strange.

[Faith]

This is what scares the hell out of me. snip from previous article.



Bump says search dogs led investigators to the river near her home.

"They walked right down to the end of the dock and ever since then they have been looking in the water," said Bump.

[Faith]

In that news interview video you posted did you hear him being asked something like, "But the two year old child (boy) was okay?" and he said ," Yeah, imagine that". That was strange.

YES, very strange, something is not adding up.

[Faith]

I honestly don't think I have seen such inconsistent reporting, ever. Each article says something different.

[Faith]

Tuesday, February 10, 2009
New FL Amber Alert!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_81xCdUzOu0s/SZG0GOq2YXI/AAAAAAAAAEI/amLzf6zdebQ/s320/6848_68480-Bulletin.jpg

Within minutes of being issued, this Amber Alert notification was sent out to Clear Channel's Digital Outdoor Network in Tampa. It is the billboard company's policy to suspend all other advertising for one hour, showing only the Amber Alert, after which the design is placed into a rotation with the paid advertisements. Here's a webcam shot of the board, which went up literally 10 minutes ago...

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_81xCdUzOu0s/SZG1PS5K2RI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/OE1QRHF-GWw/s320/Amber1.bmp

http://tampadigitalbillboards.blogspot.com/2009/02/new-fl-amber-alert.html

[nanabillie]

That same statement made me think, WHAT? What did he mean by that? I agree.

[sarahhod]

Searchers scour remote area north of Orlando for missing 5-year-old girl

Helen Eckinger |Sentinel Staff Writer February 11, 2009

About 10 p.m. Monday, the girlfriend of Haleigh Cummings' father put 5-year-old Haleigh to bed.

Sometime during the next few hours the child from Putnam County vanished.

Authorities launched a massive search for Haleigh in this rural county about 80 miles north of Orlando but had found no trace of the little girl by Tuesday evening.

Ronald Cummings, who is in his 20s, was working Monday night for a company that builds bridges, and his girlfriend, Misty Croslin, 17, woke up and realized Haleigh was missing just before he returned home about 3:30 a.m., according to Lt. Johnny Greenwood of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.Croslin alerted authorities while Ronald Cummings began to search for his daughter. He was soon joined by 130 officers from several law-enforcement agencies withbloodhounds and helicopters. The double-wide trailer on Green Lane (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/us/pennsylvania/montgomery-county-%28pennsylvania%29/green-lane-PLGEO100101020020000.topic) where Haleigh lived with her father, Croslin and a 2-year-old brother showed no sign of forced entry, according to Lt. Johnny Greenwood of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office. A back door was ajar, sheriff's Capt. Steve Rose said.

The girl's mother was at her home in Georgia when Haleigh disappeared. It's too early, Greenwood said, to say whether a stranger kidnapped Haleigh.

"At this point, all we know is that we have a missing little girl," he said.

Satsuma is a sparsely inhabited area of Putnam County northwest of Ocala National Forest (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/environmental-issues/natural-resources/forests/ocala-national-forest-PLREC000081.topic), according to Wes Larson, president of the Putnam County Chamber of Commerce.

Larson said there's just one convenience-type store in the area and that many of the area's residents are retirees, along with smatterings of weekend vacationers and "regular working folks."

"This is very sad," Larson said. "We just hope it ends well."

Haleigh is 3-foot-3, weighs 39 pounds, and has blond hair and brown eyes. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing a pink shirt and underwear.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0808.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-amberalert1109feb11,0,6960865.story


Just hearing this news. OMG I am praying this little girl is safe.:innocent0001:

[Roamer]

Is anyone checking out the girlfriend? These articles are crazy.

[sarahhod]

Putnam girl missing

By CHAD SMITH
Posted: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 ; Updated: 1:09 AM on Wednesday, February 11, 2009

At about 3 a.m. Tuesday, a Putnam County man reported his 5-year-old daughter missing.
By nightfall, she still hadn't been found by the 100 or so officers dispatched from more than a dozen police agencies.
At about 10 p.m. Monday, Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings went to bed with her father's girlfriend and her 4-year-old sibling.
That was the last time she was seen, said Putnam County Sheriff's Office Capt. Steve Rose.
Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, got back to his Satsuma home from a night on the late shift in Palatka at about 3 a.m., roughly the same time his girlfriend woke up and realized Haleigh wasn't in bed.
Rose said Cummings' girlfriend found the rear door to the Green Lane residence ajar. Other than that, there were few clues as to what happened to Haleigh or where she could be.
"We don't have any idea at this point," Rose said.
She was last seen wearing a pink shirt and underwear. She is 3 feet tall, weighs 39 pounds, and has blond hair and brown eyes.
Officers from about 15 agencies, including two detectives from the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, converged on Satsuma, an unincorporated community about 12 miles south of Palatka on U.S. 17.
They interviewed members of Haleigh's family as well as the sexual predators who live in the area, Rose said.
Three men listed as sexual predators and 20 listed as sexual offenders live in Satsuma, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The Sheriff's Office planned to send up a helicopter to search the heavily wooded area for Haleigh.
Rose said that, if she was in the woods, at least there was not supposed to be harsh weather overnight.
"We're still optimistic that, if she is in the custody of somebody else, she still stands that chance of being recovered," he said.
The Sheriff's Office issued a statewide Amber Alert for Haleigh. Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call (386) 329-0808.

http://www.staugustine.com/stories/021109/news_021109_021.shtml

[sarahhod]

(http://www.rightpundits.com/?p=2864)
Haleigh Cummings is Missing 5 year old (http://www.rightpundits.com/?p=2864)

By JoAnne Thomas

Florida issued a statewide Amber Alert this morning for Haleigh Cummings, discovered missing from her bedroom at 3:37 am this morning in Putnam County, Florida. Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings age 5, was last seen (http://www.tampabays10.com/news/mostpop/story.aspx?storyid=100138&provider=top) at 10:00pm last night by her fathers live-in girlfriend, 19 year old Misty Croslin. Haleigh’s father, Ronald Cummings, is alleged to have been at work during this time.
Haleigh is 3 feet tall with blond hair and brown eyes. Her ears are pierced and she was last seen wearing a pink shirt and underwear. Her birth date is 8/17/2003. Her younger brother was asleep in the same room at the time Haleigh went missing. Ms. Croslin said she awakened around 3:30 a.m. and discovered Haleigh missing when she checked on the children. She stated the bedroom door was open, and that the home had not been locked.
She is considered missing/endangered.

The family lives in a mobile home community in Florida called River Villa. An estimated 25 registered sex offenders live in the immediate vicinity of the Cummings home.
A massive search that began this morning is still underway.“The girlfriend and the father are cooperating with police,” Special Agent Steve Donaway of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement told an afternoon news conference.
Mr. Cummings believed he saw signs of a force entry into the home but the police have ruled that out. Police also stated that Haleigh Cummings biological mother is cooperating with them.
Cummings says Haleigh is afraid of the dark and would not venture out alone.
While this sounds ominous folks, let’s not forget that miracles happen, and that its entirely possible that little Haleigh will be found soon and reunited with her family.
If you have any information about this child, please contact Putnam County Sheriff’s Office at (386) 329-0800. (http://www.fdle.state.fl.us/mcicsearch/FlyerNewPerson.asp?Case_Id=28474&case_nbr=)
This will be updated as more information becomes available.


http://www.rightpundits.com/wp-content/photos/Haleigh_Cummings.jpg (http://www.rightpundits.com/?pp_album=main&pp_cat=&pp_image=Haleigh_Cummings.jpg)

[sarahhod]

Massive search targets woods, river in South Putnam for missing girl


BY LARRY SULLIVAN

Published: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 11:48 PM EST
Palatka Daily News

SATSUMA - A young girl was reported missing, and possibly abducted, from her South Putnam County home early Tuesday.

The disappearance of 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings triggered a massive search on land, water and in the air as more than 130 officers from agencies across Northeast Florida responded to the Satsuma area.

"We would hope that she is safe," Detective John Merchant said Tuesday. "And we're hoping for the best outcome."

The nightmare began about 3 a.m.

Haleigh wasn't in bed. The back door of a blue doublewide mobile home was open, and a blanket and sheets were scattered on the wooden ramp leading from the door.

Authorities said they were told Haleigh's father, Ronald, had just ended his shift at PDM Bridge in Palatka. His girlfriend, Misty Croslin, said she had been sleeping next to Haleigh, but when she awoke, the blonde-haired girl was gone.

"She was sleeping right next to me," Croslin told the Daily News while distributing flyers bearing Haleigh's photo. "I can't believe I didn't hear anything."

A 911 call at 3:27 a.m. resulted in Putnam County sheriff's deputies being sent to the home, which is on a dirt road in the Hermit's Cove neighborhood.

By daybreak, a Child Abduction Regional Team response was implemented by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement at Putnam County's request. A nearly constant convoy of vehicles and personnel from a wide spectrum of agencies rolled into the otherwise quiet neighborhood.

A roadblock was set up on the only road out of the neighborhood and deputies thoroughly searched every vehicle that left.

Helicopters from Volusia County and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission flew over the neighborhood and a section of the nearby St. Johns River. Those flights continued into Tuesday night.

Boats from the FWC and Jacksonville Sheriff's Office joined Putnam County deputies seeking clues from the river, while divers searched below the surface.

And, several search teams scoured woods adjacent to the Cummings home.

Some searchers were led by specially trained bloodhounds from the Tomoka Correctional Institution and nearly 30 workers at the state prison in East Palatka joined the effort.

Some officers rode all-terrain vehicles while others walked carefully side-by-side through brush hoping to find some sign of the missing child.

At the same time, authorities went door-to-door asking neighbors if they saw or heard anything that could help find Haleigh.

"Right now, our leads are minimal," Merchant said.

He asked the public to report possible leads to the sheriff's office by calling 329-0800.

"We are doing everything possible," Chief Deputy Rick Ryan said.

Haleigh's 4-year-old brother also was in the home Tuesday night, authorities said.

Haleigh does not have a history of wandering from home.

"That would be abnormal for the child," Merchant said.

Investigators questioned family members for much of Tuesday.

In an interview Tuesday night, Sheriff Jeff Hardy said the FBI had dispatched 16 agents to assist the investigation.

"They'll be on the ground with us Wednesday," he said.

In addition, Hardy said the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was sending a team to help authorities.

Hardy said he appreciated the fast response and he was hopeful.

"I am optimistic this case will have a positive outcome," he said. "This is a missing, endangered child at this point."

An Amber Alert was issued for Haleigh on Tuesday morning, prompting many tips to be called in to the sheriff's office, Hardy said.

"We're adding to our dispatch staff to handle the calls," he said.

There are no plans at this time to bolster the ranks of searchers with volunteers from the general public Hardy said.

"We have what we consider to be adequate law enforcement resources at this point," he said.

Investigators are pursuing "several different angles" on the case, including the whereabouts of 44 registered sexual offenders who live within a five-mile radius of the Cummings home, Hardy said.

He said "less than 10" were registered sexual predators with a more serious past.

Hardy also said there were no signs of forced entry into the Cummings house.

http://www.palatkadailynews.com/articles/2009/02/11/news/news01.txt

[packy]

They all have to be so worried and upset that they may have given inconsistent statements to the press or after thoughts come up as time goes by. Hope some neighbor remembers hearing something or seeing anything that might be helpful. My prayers go up for Harleigh and her family.

[sarahhod]

Aunt: Haleigh timid around strangers

BY KRISTIN CHAMBERS

Published: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 11:49 PM EST
Palatka Daily News

SATSUMA - Like most 5-year olds, Haleigh Cummings is afraid of the dark.

Because of that, Katrina Belcher, Haleigh's aunt, knows her niece would not leave the house unattended for no reason, especially at 3 a.m.

"She gets scared when she's not with her family - and she's not one to talk to strangers," Belcher said.

Search teams began combing the area immediately when the report was filed, and an Amber Alert was issued throughout Florida. As of late Tuesday, no signs of the missing girl had been found.

Family gathered among the River Villas neighborhood, showing support for each other.

"I just want whoever has her to bring her home," Belcher said.

As a kindergarten student at Browning-Pearce Elementary School, Haleigh's peers were sent home with newsletters informing families of the missing child.

"All of us are doing anything we can in our role of returning her home, and we will assist in any way possible," School Superintendent Tom Townsend said. "We just hope and pray that she'll be returned safely to her family soon."

Copies of the missing person report made by the Putnam County Sheriff's Office were distributed with the newsletter.

Selena Grim, a neighbor of the Cummingses, did not know the family personally, but said she can relate to what they must be feeling.

"I have grandchildren around the same age, and just to think that someone could take a little girl, it's enough to break your heart," Grim said.

http://www.palatkadailynews.com/articles/2009/02/11/news/news02.txt

[sarahhod]

http://m1.2mdn.net/viewad/817-grey.gif (http://ad.doubleclick.net/click;h=v8/37d1/0/0/%2a/g;44306;0-0;0;12928628;31-1/1;0/0/0;;%7Eokv=;ptype=s;slug=orl-amberalert1109feb11;rg=ur;ref=googlecouk;pos=s;sz= 1x1;tile=2;at=Ocala%20National%20Forest;at=Georgia ;at=Heavy%20Engineering;at=Forestry%20and%20Timber ;at=Green%20Lane;%7Eaopt=2/0/ff/1;%7Esscs=%3f) http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/trb.sunsentinel/hp;ptype=s;slug=orl-amberalert1109feb11;rg=ur;ref=googlecouk;pos=s;sz= 1x1;tile=2;at=Ocala%20National%20Forest;at=Georgia ;at=Heavy%20Engineering;at=Forestry%20and%20Timber ;at=Green%20Lane;ord=54343119? (http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/trb.sunsentinel/hp;ptype=s;slug=orl-amberalert1109feb11;rg=ur;ref=googlecouk;pos=s;sz= 1x1;tile=2;at=Ocala%20National%20Forest;at=Georgia ;at=Heavy%20Engineering;at=Forestry%20and%20Timber ;at=Green%20Lane;ord=54343119?) Searchers scour area north of Orlando for missing 5-year-old girl (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-amberalert1109feb11,0,6960865.story)

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/media/photo/2009-02/44982776.jpg
Haleigh Cummings, 5, was last seen at 10 p.m. Monday in the bedroom of her Satsuma home. (MISSINGKIDS.COM / February 10, 2009)


About 10 p.m. Monday, the girlfriend of Haleigh Cummings' father put 5-year-old Haleigh to bed.

Sometime during the next few hours the child from Putnam County vanished.

Authorities launched a massive search for Haleigh in this rural county about 80 miles north of Orlando but had found no trace of the little girl by Tuesday evening.

Ronald Cummings, who is in his 20s, was working Monday night for a company that builds bridges, and his girlfriend, Misty Croslin, 17, woke up and realized Haleigh was missing just before he returned home about 3:30 a.m., according to Lt. Johnny Greenwood of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.Croslin alerted authorities while Ronald Cummings began to search for his daughter. He was soon joined by 130 officers from several law-enforcement agencies withbloodhounds and helicopters.



The double-wide trailer on Green Lane (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/us/pennsylvania/montgomery-county-%28pennsylvania%29/green-lane-PLGEO100101020020000.topic) where Haleigh lived with her father, Croslin and a 2-year-old brother showed no sign of forced entry, according to Lt. Johnny Greenwood of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office. A back door was ajar, sheriff's Capt. Steve Rose said.

The girl's mother was at her home in Georgia when Haleigh disappeared. It's too early, Greenwood said, to say whether a stranger kidnapped Haleigh.

"At this point, all we know is that we have a missing little girl," he said.

Satsuma is a sparsely inhabited area of Putnam County northwest of Ocala National Forest (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/environmental-issues/natural-resources/forests/ocala-national-forest-PLREC000081.topic), according to Wes Larson, president of the Putnam County Chamber of Commerce.

Larson said there's just one convenience-type store in the area and that many of the area's residents are retirees, along with smatterings of weekend vacationers and "regular working folks."

"This is very sad," Larson said. "We just hope it ends well."

Haleigh is 3-foot-3, weighs 39 pounds, and has blond hair and brown eyes. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing a pink shirt and underwear.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0808.

[Faith]

Is anyone checking out the girlfriend? These articles are crazy.

She has been questioned. That's all I have read about her.

[lost indie]

What is up with this story?

The gf is 17 (is that legal) or the gf is 19.

The little girl was wearing panties and a pink top. The little girl was wearing panties and a tan top. There was no one else besides the two of them in the house. There was a seventeen year old cousin and another child in the house.
Maybe the COUSIN is nineteen and babysitting the gf...

The door was locked...the door was unlocked....the door was propped open with a brick.

The gf woke up at 3:30 and discovered her missing. The dad came home from work at 3:30 and found the girl missing.

Too many conflicting stories here....

[grneyez]

Yes it definitely is strange, I know on the 911 call I heard the father in the background screaming at the girlfriend asking how can you let someone take my daughter...or words to that affect.

He was definitely not happy at all with the girlfriend and seemed to think it was her fault, or lack of care...that led to it happening. As of right now I dont suspect the father just based on the 911 call reaction from him.

The girlfriend seemed from her voice on the 911 call, kinda scared of his reaction or just thinking to herself oh crap he is mad...

[grneyez]

What is up with this story?

The gf is 17 (is that legal) or the gf is 19.

The little girl was wearing panties and a pink top. The little girl was wearing panties and a tan top. There was no one else besides the two of them in the house. There was a seventeen year old cousin and another child in the house.
Maybe the COUSIN is nineteen and babysitting the gf...

The door was locked...the door was unlocked....the door was propped open with a brick.

The gf woke up at 3:30 and discovered her missing. The dad came home from work at 3:30 and found the girl missing.

Too many conflicting stories here....



:22wink:

That part I highlighted was funny....very very conflicting stories that is for sure.

[TigressPen]

I dont understand these articles. But one said blanket and sheet was scattered next to the wooden ramp. If the GF was sleeping next to Haleigh the lack of covers on her bed could've been what woke her before Dad came home. (If she is being truthful about events)

I am not liking this at all. LE says no signs of forced entry, dad said it was. Door was propped open, door was open, door was closed. Sure wish we could hear straight from horses mouth instead of media what was and wasn't.

I pray little Haleigh is found soon and she is safe.

[Faith]

An Amber Alert has been issued for a missing 4-year-old Putnam

According to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, Haleigh Ann Marie Cummings was last seen at 10 p.m. Monday in her bed at the Buffalo Bluff, Satsuma area home where she lived with her father and his girlfriend.

The last person to see Haleigh was her father’s girlfriend, who told investigators that she saw the child in her bed. Haleigh’s father was reportedly at work Monday night and his girlfriend was the only other person in the house when Haleigh apparently disappeared.

Haleigh is approximately 3 feet tall, with dirty blond hair and pierced ears and was last seen wearing pink shorts and a tan shirt. Sheriff’s Capt. Steve Rose said there were no signs that the house had been broken into but he did not know whether the doors and windows were locked.

“We have an extensive search underway involving 50 people and that number is growing,” Rose said Tuesday morning. Rose also said his agency was workign to get a current photograph of Haleigh posted on the Internet.

The Amber Alert was issued nationwide before 9:30 a.m. The alerts are distributed in multiple ways to the public and law enforcement agencies to heighten awareness about the missing child.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office at (386)329-0800.

http://www.flutterbyewings.com/amber-alert/amber-alert-haleigh-ann-marie-cummings

[TigressPen]

The last article is giving the same information the orginal ones did. That the GF was the only other person in the home. Others stated 2 other children were there also.

[Faith]

http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=GS&Date=20090211&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=902111012&Ref=AR&Profile=1002&MaxW=600&border=0
Ronald Cummings (right), father of 5-year-old Haleigh Ann-Marie who was reported missing late last night, is comforted by Crystal Sheffield, the mother of Haleigh, and other family members after falling to the ground in tears.

Update: Search for 5-year-old Putnam girl under way


Published: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 10:32 p.m.

Investigators said early Tuesday that the intensive search for the missing 5-year-old Putnam County girl is continuing.

Officials told reporters they do not have any additional press conferences or other formal briefings planned. Their plan is to wait until there is some new development in the case before holding another meeting with reporters.

Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings was reported missing from her east Putnam County home at about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday. An Amber Alert was issued nationwide before 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Dozens of officers from at least 10 law enforcement agencies have been searching for the kindergartner who was staying at her father's home about 10 miles south of Palatka in the Hermit's Cove area of Satsuma. The search includes the banks of the St. Johns River, which is a short walk from the Hermit's Cove home where the girl was last

7:37 a.m.

PALATKA - More than 130 officers from at least 10 law enforcement agencies searched for a missing 5-year-old Putnam County girl on Tuesday.

Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings was reported missing from her east Putnam County home at about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday. An Amber Alert was issued nationwide before 9:30 a.m.

Family members say Haleigh was last seen in her bed at 10 p.m. Monday. Haleigh was staying with her father and his girlfriend at 202 Green Lane in the Hermit's Cove area of Satsuma, according to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office. The area is about 10 miles south of Palatka.

Authorities said the girlfriend, identified as Misty Croslin, 17, discovered that the child was missing when she got up to use the restroom about 3 a.m. Croslin, Haleigh and the girl's younger brother had been together in the room, according to officers and family.

Law officers said Croslin is helping with the investigation. The same is true for Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, 24, who was at work Monday night until early Tuesday. Cummings works for PDM Bridge, a company officers said builds steel girders for bridges.

During an afternoon news conference, authorities said a rear door at the home had been found ajar and that they had no suspects in the case.

Haleigh was "stolen out of my home," a tearful Cummings said earlier in the day, before collapsing to his knees in front a neighbor's home. "Somebody came in my back door and stole my child. I came home from work and my daughter was not at home."

The girl's maternal grandmother, Marie Griffis, 43, of Baker County, said, "It's unspeakable. She's not going to get up and wander through the house and get up and wander through the back door."

Griffis asked people for their prayers and asked that anyone with information contact authorities immediately.

Officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and multiple other agencies were searching the banks of the St. Johns River. Investigators hunted on the ground with bloodhounds and other police dogs while helicopters circled over the tree-lined community off Buffalo Bluff Road.

Tuesday night, the search continued by air, with the help of heat-seeking equipment, said Putnam Sheriff's Capt. Steve Rose.

Among the agencies involved in the search are the FBI, Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Palatka Police Department and sheriff's offices from Alachua, Flagler, Volusia, St. Johns and Putnam counties.

The heightened investigation is an effort to engage every resource available early in the search, said Rose.

"They always tell you when you have a case of this magnitude, it's always better to flood your resources up front," said Rose. "We are looking at everything," he said because officers at this point don't know what happened to Haleigh.

Haleigh is approximately 3 feet tall, with dirty blond hair, brown eyes and pierced ears. She weighs about 39 pounds and was last seen wearing pink shorts and a tan shirt.

Rose said there were no initial signs of forced entry, but officers did find the rear door ajar.

"I want (people in the community) to know we have a missing 5-year-old girl. We want to find her. We don't know where she is at this point," said Putnam Detective John Merchant, the lead detective on the case.

Haleigh's father and mother, Crystal Sheffield, 23, along with other relatives, stayed near the home on Tuesday while the search was under way.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090211/ARTICLES/902111012/1002/news?Title=Search_for_5_year_old_Putnam_girl_under _way

[Faith]

misread

[Grande]

http://i39.tinypic.com/6h2btc.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/2hyi979.jpg

http://www.myspace.com/crystalsheffield

[Micky_Spill]

http://i39.tinypic.com/6h2btc.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/2hyi979.jpg

http://www.myspace.com/crystalsheffield


Photos are almost non existent when compared to Chloe. I know she is a baby, I have one of those too, not even three months yet. But I still have tons of other photos of our other child.

[Trailblazer]

Am I reading the articles wrong? Was Haleigh in bed with the gf and a younger brother?


Authorities said the girlfriend, identified as Misty Croslin, 17, discovered that the child was missing when she got up to use the restroom about 3 a.m. Croslin, Haleigh and the girl's younger brother had been together in the room, according to officers and family.

[Trailblazer]

http://www.wftv.com/news/18689215/detail.html

Father makes emotional plea (at link, there's a video to watch his plea_

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. -- Investigators from Volusia and Flagler counties continued a massive search for a missing 5-year-old Putnam County girl. An Amber Alert was issued for Haleigh Cummings.

Her father believes someone snatched Haleigh from her bedroom in Satsuma early Tuesday morning.

Haleigh

was home with her father's girlfriend who noticed the child was missing. Her father made an emotional plea for Haleigh's safe return.

"I would give up everything I own. All I want is my child. Please. All I want is my child," said Ronald Cummings.

Investigators said there's no sign that someone forced their way into the home, but they did find a door open.

Authorities searched the neighborhood by ground and air and questioned nearby sex offenders and the girl's relatives.

[Faith]

Am I reading the articles wrong? Was Haleigh in bed with the gf and a younger brother?


Authorities said the girlfriend, identified as Misty Croslin, 17, discovered that the child was missing when she got up to use the restroom about 3 a.m. Croslin, Haleigh and the girl's younger brother had been together in the room, according to officers and family.


The girlfriend is Misty Croslin. There was another child, 2 years old (boy) in the bed with Haleigh. (in a different bedroom- separate from Misty) is how I understand, TB.

The articles are sooo confusing.

[Micky_Spill]

http://www.wftv.com/news/18689215/detail.html

Father makes emotional plea (at link, there's a video to watch his plea_

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. -- Investigators from Volusia and Flagler counties continued a massive search for a missing 5-year-old Putnam County girl. An Amber Alert was issued for Haleigh Cummings.

Her father believes someone snatched Haleigh from her bedroom in Satsuma early Tuesday morning.

Haleigh

was home with her father's girlfriend who noticed the child was missing. Her father made an emotional plea for Haleigh's safe return.

"I would give up everything I own. All I want is my child. Please. All I want is my child," said Ronald Cummings.

Investigators said there's no sign that someone forced their way into the home, but they did find a door open.

Authorities searched the neighborhood by ground and air and questioned nearby sex offenders and the girl's relatives.

I am thinking it is time to request lie detector tests to clear the family or not.

[Faith]

Photos are almost non existent when compared to Chloe. I know she is a baby, I have one of those too, not even three months yet. But I still have tons of other photos of our other child.

I believe Haleigh lives with her father. Not that it matters but just sayin.

[Trailblazer]

I am thinking it is time to request lie detector tests to clear the family or not.


I agree...someone is not right here..

[Faith]

Investigators Meeting to Discuss Next Moves
Posted By: Angela Spears Created: 2/11/2009 8:40:41 AM

SATSUMA, FL -- Investigators have gathered in the neighborhood where a little girl vanished from her bedroom to outline Wednesday's search plans.

Haleigh Cummings, 5, disappeared from her father's home in Satsuma sometime between Monday night and early Tuesday morning, wearing only a pink shirt and underwear.

Her father, Ronald Cummings, came home from work and discovered her missing. Haleigh had been sleeping with her father's girlfriend and her younger brother when she disappeared.

SEARCH FOR HALEIGH: THE 911 CALL

Mr. Cummings told First Coast News he found signs of forced entry, but the Putnam County Sheriff's Office says its investigators have no evidence to suggest a break-in.

Haleigh's mother drove down from where she lives in Baker County to follow the search efforts from the front lines.

More than one hundred people from a number of law enforcement agencies across the First Coast, including the FBI, have joined in the search.

Search crews overnight used helicopters with infrared equipment to look for Haleigh.

SEARCH FOR HALEIGH: INVESTIGATORS OUT AT NIGHT

Authorities searched the St. Johns River by boat, walked the woods with bloodhounds, and went door-to-door in Haleigh's neighborhood. Investigators also questioned the sexual offenders who live within five miles of the little girl's home. There are 44 of them.

Call 911 if you know where Haleigh is. Or call Crime Stoppers at 1-888-277-TIPS. You'll remain anonymous and could receive a cash reward of up to $1,000 if your information leads to an arrest.
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=131065&catid=3

[Grande]

Screenshot from yesterday;
http://i41.tinypic.com/308edt4.jpg

Screenshot from today;
http://i44.tinypic.com/10z35v6.jpg

www.myspace.com/crystalsheffield

[Micky_Spill]

I believe Haleigh lives with her father. Not that it matters but just sayin.


So with Chloe, there are no other siblings in the house? That would make sense if true. I have been trying to think how the baby pics would/do not have other children in them.

Even when we try hard to just get a photo of our baby alone it is next to impossible without our four year old jumping into the photo with his actions etc.

[Trailblazer]

Investigators Meeting to Discuss Next Moves
Posted By: Angela Spears Created: 2/11/2009 8:40:41 AM

SATSUMA, FL -- Investigators have gathered in the neighborhood where a little girl vanished from her bedroom to outline Wednesday's search plans.

Haleigh Cummings, 5, disappeared from her father's home in Satsuma sometime between Monday night and early Tuesday morning, wearing only a pink shirt and underwear.

Her father, Ronald Cummings, came home from work and discovered her missing. Haleigh had been sleeping with her father's girlfriend and her younger brother when she disappeared.SEARCH FOR HALEIGH: THE 911 CALL

Mr. Cummings told First Coast News he found signs of forced entry, but the Putnam County Sheriff's Office says its investigators have no evidence to suggest a break-in.

Haleigh's mother drove down from where she lives in Baker County to follow the search efforts from the front lines.

More than one hundred people from a number of law enforcement agencies across the First Coast, including the FBI, have joined in the search.

Search crews overnight used helicopters with infrared equipment to look for Haleigh.

SEARCH FOR HALEIGH: INVESTIGATORS OUT AT NIGHT

Authorities searched the St. Johns River by boat, walked the woods with bloodhounds, and went door-to-door in Haleigh's neighborhood. Investigators also questioned the sexual offenders who live within five miles of the little girl's home. There are 44 of them.

Call 911 if you know where Haleigh is. Or call Crime Stoppers at 1-888-277-TIPS. You'll remain anonymous and could receive a cash reward of up to $1,000 if your information leads to an arrest.
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=131065&catid=3

How could someone come in and take just Haleigh and the GF didn't hear a thing...and the little brother is still in bed, undisturbed....And do we know who is the mother of the younger brother?

Somethings not right with this picture....IMO

[Micky_Spill]

Screenshot from yesterday;
http://i41.tinypic.com/308edt4.jpg

Screenshot from today;
http://i44.tinypic.com/10z35v6.jpg

www.myspace.com/crystalsheffield

Really, who in their right mind has time to update their mood status when a crisis of this magnitude is going on?

[Faith]

Haleigh's b-day party
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll116/helpfindthemissing/HFTM2/Caylee%202009/haleighbday.jpg
Haleigh and Bubby!!!

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll116/helpfindthemissing/HFTM2/Caylee%202009/bday.jpg
Haleigh and Bubby!!!

Haleigh's mom, Chrystal, on the left.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll116/helpfindthemissing/HFTM2/Caylee%202009/chrystal.jpg

Haleigh's aunt's myspace
www.myspace.com/sarah32063

[Grande]

http://208.75.175.18/oncoreweb/ImageBrowser/image.aspx?ImageId=394032&jpg=-1

[Faith]

http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/17/l_f8dd536e87bd4273ab542e0582b8df34.jpg
Haleigh on the left.

[Faith]

Haleigh's Grandparents Plea for Her Safe Return

Updated: 2/11/2009 10:38:26 AM

SATSUMA, FL -- The grandparents of missing five-year-old Haleigh Cummings are pleading for her safe return.

Marie Griffis and her husband spoke to the media Wednesday morning, just outside the crime scene tape that has sealed off the neighborhood where Haleigh disappeared.

"Just bring her home, drop her off, take her to an emergency room, doctor's office," said a teary-eyed Griffis.

"I know she's out there," she added. "I can feel her presence. It's just terrifying not knowing where she's at."

Signs of prayers and support have popped up around Haleigh's neighborhood.

Call 911 or Crime Stoppers at 1-88-277-TIPS if you know where Haleigh is. You will remain anonymous and could receive a cash reward of up to $1,000.
©2009 First Coast News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, or redistributed.


http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=131067&catid=3

[Faith]

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/genthumb.ashx?e=3&h=240&w=320&i=/assetpool/images/090211101146_021109_haleigh_grandmother.JPGhttp://www.firstcoastnews.com/genthumb.ashx?e=3&h=240&w=320&i=/assetpool/images/090211101108_021109_haleigh_prayersign.JPGhttp://www.firstcoastnews.com/genthumb.ashx?e=3&h=240&w=320&i=/assetpool/images/090211101116_021109_haleigh_sign.JPGhttp://www.firstcoastnews.com/genthumb.ashx?e=3&h=240&w=320&i=/assetpool/images/090211101155_021109_haleigh_grandfather.JPG

[Faith]

Marie Griffis (Haleigh's Grandmother) myspace

# 43 / Female
# GLEN SAINT MARY, Florida, US
# Last Login: 2/9/2009

http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/1/l_f6fcf13026d04e049a31d6ee79bc77d3.jpg
Marie & her daughter, Sarah.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=420148756

[Grande]

Police: Missing girl was abducted
Created On: Wednesday, 11 Feb 2009, 10:39 AM EST
Valerie Boey | FOX 35 News

SATSUMA, Fla. - Putnam County Sheriff's deputies are now calling the case of a missing 5-year-old girl an abduction.

On Wednesday, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the FBI and the Putnam County Sheriff's Office resumed the search for Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings. Deputies say Haleigh was last seen Monday night at 10 p.m. in her mobile home on Green Lane.

According to investigators, Haleigh, her 2-year-old brother and her father's 17-year-old girlfriend, Mistie Croslin, went to bed in the same room. Deputies say Croslin told them that the little girl got up to go to the bathroom around 3:30 a.m.

It was around the same time Haleigh's father, Ronald, got home from work. When they went back into the bedroom they discovered Haleigh was gone. Investigators say the back door was wide open, but won't say if there was any forced entry.

Last night Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield cried in front of the news cameras. "I just want to say bring her back home. Please," she said.

Haleigh's father Ronald Cummings says his daughter was afraid of the dark and wouldn't wander off by herself. "Somebody stole my child, trust me when I tell you that I know my child," he said.

Family members spent the night at a candlelight vigil. They say they will continue the vigil until Haleigh returns home.

Today, Haleigh's grandfather Johnny Sheffield told FOX 35 that he was distraught over the disappearance of his granddaughter. He says he does not know much about Ronald's girlfriend, Mistie Croslin, but thinks she is suspicious.

Investigators say Croslin is now with her family. They are not calling her a suspect at this time. Haleigh's grandmother Marie Griffis is also pleading to the public for help. She told FOX 35 that Trenton Duckett's father is assisting in the search, as well as other search teams.

However, Gary Bowling, a spokesperson for the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, says right now, they are not asking for volunteers to help. Twenty five law enforcement agencies have assisted so far, including crews from Marion, Flagler and Volusia counties. Deputies say they have questioned 44 sex offenders who live within five miles of Haleigh's home. "This child didn't voluntarily walk out of her home. If she did someone took her," Bowling said.

Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings is 5-years-old. She is 3 feet tall, weighs 39 lbs, has blonde hair and brown eyes. She was last seen on Green Lane in the Hermit's Cove area of Satsuma. She was wearing a pink shirt and underwear. Anyone with information should call the Putnam County Sheriffs Office at 386-329-0808.

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/local/0211095_Police_missing_girl_abducted

[Faith]

Micky, who is that suppose to be a photo of?

[Faith]

Hunt on for missing 5-year-old Florida girl

(CNN) -- Florida authorities are searching for a 5-year-old girl who was discovered missing at 10 p.m. Monday.

An Amber Alert was issued shortly after Haleigh Cummings vanished from her bed in her Putnam County, Florida, home, police said.

Her father said he thinks that a man snatched Haleigh from her bed.

"All I want is my child ... please ... all I want is my child," Ronald Cummings told reporters, his voice breaking.

Cummings' girlfriend, Misty Croslin, was the first to discover that the child was missing and called 911.

Haleigh had been put to bed at 8 p.m., the girl's grandparents told reporters Wednesday. Croslin went to the bathroom two hours later and returned to find the child missing, grandmother Marie Griffis said.

"She's out there somewhere, I can feel her it. I can feel her presence," said Griffis. "She's screaming." http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/tabs/video.gif Watch grandparents plead for girl's return » (http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/11/missing.florida.girl/#cnnSTCVideo)

The Amber Alert, a national broadcast warning that a child has possibly been abducted, said the child was last seen wearing a pink shirt and underwear.

The double-wide trailer where Haleigh lived with her father, Croslin and a 2-year-old brother did not have signs of a forced entry, Putnam County Lt. Johnny Greenwood told the Orlando Sentinel.

A back door was slightly open, Capt. Steve Rose said, according to the newspaper.

Haleigh's mother was at her home in Georgia, he added.

Investigators are looking into various angles on the case, including finding out the location of 44 registered sexual offenders who live within a five-mile radius of the Cummings home, Sheriff Jeff Hardy told the Palatka Daily News.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/11/missing.florida.girl/

[TigressPen]

I've had that sinking feeling since first reading of this missing case. I hope and pray Haleigh is alive and will be returned soon.

[Trailblazer]

Police: Missing girl was abducted
Created On: Wednesday, 11 Feb 2009, 10:39 AM EST
Valerie Boey | FOX 35 News

SATSUMA, Fla. - Putnam County Sheriff's deputies are now calling the case of a missing 5-year-old girl an abduction.

On Wednesday, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the FBI and the Putnam County Sheriff's Office resumed the search for Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings. Deputies say Haleigh was last seen Monday night at 10 p.m. in her mobile home on Green Lane.

According to investigators, Haleigh, her 2-year-old brother and her father's 17-year-old girlfriend, Mistie Croslin, went to bed in the same room. Deputies say Croslin told them that the little girl got up to go to the bathroom around 3:30 a.m.
It was around the same time Haleigh's father, Ronald, got home from work. When they went back into the bedroom they discovered Haleigh was gone. Investigators say the back door was wide open, but won't say if there was any forced entry.

Last night Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield cried in front of the news cameras. "I just want to say bring her back home. Please," she said.

Haleigh's father Ronald Cummings says his daughter was afraid of the dark and wouldn't wander off by herself. "Somebody stole my child, trust me when I tell you that I know my child," he said.

Family members spent the night at a candlelight vigil. They say they will continue the vigil until Haleigh returns home.

Today, Haleigh's grandfather Johnny Sheffield told FOX 35 that he was distraught over the disappearance of his granddaughter. He says he does not know much about Ronald's girlfriend, Mistie Croslin, but thinks she is suspicious.

Investigators say Croslin is now with her family. They are not calling her a suspect at this time. Haleigh's grandmother Marie Griffis is also pleading to the public for help. She told FOX 35 that Trenton Duckett's father is assisting in the search, as well as other search teams.

However, Gary Bowling, a spokesperson for the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, says right now, they are not asking for volunteers to help. Twenty five law enforcement agencies have assisted so far, including crews from Marion, Flagler and Volusia counties. Deputies say they have questioned 44 sex offenders who live within five miles of Haleigh's home. "This child didn't voluntarily walk out of her home. If she did someone took her," Bowling said.

Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings is 5-years-old. She is 3 feet tall, weighs 39 lbs, has blonde hair and brown eyes. She was last seen on Green Lane in the Hermit's Cove area of Satsuma. She was wearing a pink shirt and underwear. Anyone with information should call the Putnam County Sheriffs Office at 386-329-0808.

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/local/0211095_Police_missing_girl_abducted

Hunt on for missing 5-year-old Florida girl

(CNN) -- Florida authorities are searching for a 5-year-old girl who was discovered missing at 10 p.m. Monday.

An Amber Alert was issued shortly after Haleigh Cummings vanished from her bed in her Putnam County, Florida, home, police said.

Her father said he thinks that a man snatched Haleigh from her bed.

"All I want is my child ... please ... all I want is my child," Ronald Cummings told reporters, his voice breaking.

Cummings' girlfriend, Misty Croslin, was the first to discover that the child was missing and called 911.

Haleigh had been put to bed at 8 p.m., the girl's grandparents told reporters Wednesday. Croslin went to the bathroom two hours later and returned to find the child missing, grandmother Marie Griffis said."She's out there somewhere, I can feel her it. I can feel her presence," said Griffis. "She's screaming." http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/2.0/mosaic/tabs/video.gif Watch grandparents plead for girl's return » (http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/11/missing.florida.girl/#cnnSTCVideo)

The Amber Alert, a national broadcast warning that a child has possibly been abducted, said the child was last seen wearing a pink shirt and underwear.

The double-wide trailer where Haleigh lived with her father, Croslin and a 2-year-old brother did not have signs of a forced entry, Putnam County Lt. Johnny Greenwood told the Orlando Sentinel.

A back door was slightly open, Capt. Steve Rose said, according to the newspaper.

Haleigh's mother was at her home in Georgia, he added.

Investigators are looking into various angles on the case, including finding out the location of 44 registered sexual offenders who live within a five-mile radius of the Cummings home, Sheriff Jeff Hardy told the Palatka Daily News.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/11/missing.florida.girl/

So which is it...did Haleigh go to the bathroom, or did Croslin????

[Faith]

So which is it...did Haleigh go to the bathroom, or did Croslin????

I believe the truth is Croslin went to the bathroom.

[Micky_Spill]

Micky, who is that suppose to be a photo of?

From your link, it is Sarah

(Posted by Faith) Marie & her daughter, Sarah.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...ndID=420148756
__________________

[Pauli]

I have moved this to it's own forum on the front page under Special Requests..

[annalyzer]

http://www.kare11.com/news/national/national_article.aspx?storyid=539333&catid=18

Massive search underway for missing Florida 5-year-old

Updated: 28 mins ago

An Amber Alert has been issued in Putnam County, Florida, after a 5-year-old girl was seemingly snatched from her home while sleeping.

Haleigh Cummings is 3 feet tall, weighs 39 pounds and has blond hair and brown eyes.

The girl's father reportedly discovered her missing when returning home from work early Tuesday morning.

The girlfriend of Cummings' father then called 911.

She told the operator their home's back door was opened, and a brick was laying nearby.

The woman said young Haleigh was last seen asleep at 10 pm Monday.

Haleigh's father then got on the phone, telling the operator "I'm killing him" if were he to find whoever snatched the girl before police did.

Authorities set up a command post near Haleigh's home, and it was kept under surveillance overnight.

A search effort will continue on Wednesday.

Authorities with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said they have not identified a suspect.

"We're not focusing on any person as a person of interest right now. It is still truly a whodunit, meaning whether it's an abduction or a homicide or if she just wandered out," Putnam County Sheriff's Office Major Gary Bowling said.

Authorities searched the St. Johns River with boats on Tuesday, as well as an aerial search of the area using helicopters.

The girl's hometown of Satsuma is just north of the Ocala National Forest, near Palatka.

Haleigh was last seen wearing a pink shirt and underwear.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Haleigh is asked to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0808.

[Faith]

Police: Missing girl was abducted

Last Edited: Wednesday, 11 Feb 2009, 11:15 AM EST
Created On: Wednesday, 11 Feb 2009, 10:39 AM EST

* Valerie Boey | FOX 35 News

Click here for a LIVE News Crew Web cam in Satsuma. (http://www.myfoxorlando.com/subindex/web_cams/mobile_cam_1)


SATSUMA, Fla. - Putnam County Sheriff's deputies are now calling the case of a missing 5-year-old girl an abduction.

On Wednesday, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the FBI and the Putnam County Sheriff's Office resumed the search for Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings. Deputies say Haleigh was last seen Monday night at 10 p.m. in her mobile home on Green Lane.

According to investigators, Haleigh, her 2-year-old brother and her father's 17-year-old girlfriend, Mistie Croslin, went to bed in the same room. Deputies say Croslin told them that the little girl got up to go to the bathroom around 3:30 a.m.

It was around the same time Haleigh's father, Ronald, got home from work. When they went back into the bedroom they discovered Haleigh was gone. Investigators say the back door was wide open, but won't say if there was any forced entry.

Last night Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield cried in front of the news cameras. "I just want to say bring her back home. Please," she said.

Haleigh's father Ronald Cummings says his daughter was afraid of the dark and wouldn't wander off by herself. "Somebody stole my child, trust me when I tell you that I know my child," he said.

Family members spent the night at a candlelight vigil. They say they will continue the vigil until Haleigh returns home.

Today, Haleigh's grandfather Johnny Sheffield told FOX 35 that he was distraught over the disappearance of his granddaughter. He says he does not know much about Ronald's girlfriend, Mistie Croslin, but thinks she is suspicious.

Investigators say Croslin is now with her family. They are not calling her a suspect at this time. Haleigh's grandmother Marie Griffis is also pleading to the public for help. She told FOX 35 that Trenton Duckett's father is assisting in the search, as well as other search teams.

However, Gary Bowling, a spokesperson for the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, says right now, they are not asking for volunteers to help. Twenty five law enforcement agencies have assisted so far, including crews from Marion, Flagler and Volusia counties. Deputies say they have questioned 44 sex offenders who live within five miles of Haleigh's home. "This child didn't voluntarily walk out of her home. If she did someone took her," Bowling said.

Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings is 5-years-old. She is 3 feet tall, weighs 39 lbs, has blonde hair and brown eyes. She was last seen on Green Lane in the Hermit's Cove area of Satsuma. She was wearing a pink shirt and underwear. Anyone with information should call the Putnam County Sheriffs Office at 386-329-0808.

Video
http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/local/0211095_Police_missing_girl_abducted

[annalyzer]

How could someone come in and take just Haleigh and the GF didn't hear a thing...and the little brother is still in bed, undisturbed....And do we know who is the mother of the younger brother?

Somethings not right with this picture....IMO


It happened with Jessica Lunsford. The grandparents didn't hear a thing. Their little dog didn't even bark.

[Faith]

The children and the fathers girlfriend were all in the same bed.

[Faith]

If you go here and play the video- just let ot play you will hear a lot- so very sad

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/local/0211095_Police_missing_girl_abducted

[annalyzer]

The children and the fathers girlfriend were all in the same bed.


Well that makes a difference. It's not what was reported earlier though. Good grief.

[Isabella]

Thanks Faith I was just reading this link.

Wonder what leads them to think she was abducted?

Also I thought on the 911 the GF says the back door was locked, and something about a brick at the front door.

I pray they find her soon.

[chambord]

Oh no, not another little child! I'm just finding out about this. Its becoming an epidemic.

[Micky_Spill]

If you go here and play the video- just let ot play you will hear a lot- so very sad

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/local/0211095_Police_missing_girl_abducted

Now she is six years old! I understand the 4-5 but grandma said she is the typical six year old in video.

[Micky_Spill]

The children and the fathers girlfriend were all in the same bed.

Not sure where this came from, I watched the video, it states they were all in the same room, not bed.

[AmyE]

Now she is six years old! I understand the 4-5 but grandma said she is the typical six year old in video.

I believe she is either 5 or 6 for kindergarten, not 4.

[texanne]

Still no news about this child? I wonder if they have given the dad and GF a lie detector test? I think that is pretty standard just to get any suspicions out of the way. Not that I suspect them in any way, but just wondering. So many perverts living in that area.

[Micky_Spill]

I believe she is either 5 or 6 for kindergarten, not 4.

Grandma should know and she said 6, I will go with six.

[Faith]

Not sure where this came from, I watched the video, it states they were all in the same room, not bed.

I heard it on TV- maybe they were in the same room, not bed, either way- at least we now know they were not in separate rooms.

[chambord]

It happened with Jessica Lunsford. The grandparents didn't hear a thing. Their little dog didn't even bark.

How about Marc Klass's daughter? And the other Fla child that went missing years ago from her crib. I've forgotten her name, was it Samantha? Her parents have always been suspect to this day.


moo

[Faith]

from the article-- I still do not believe this is correct

According to investigators, Haleigh, her 2-year-old brother and her father's 17-year-old girlfriend, Mistie Croslin, went to bed in the same room. Deputies say Croslin told them that the little girl got up to go to the bathroom around 3:30 a.m.

[Isabella]

Grandma should know and she said 6, I will go with six.
The Amber Alert lists her BD as 8/16/2004 ??
On the 911 call the GF and the Father say she is 5

[Trailblazer]

Just heard on Fox News, that Capt. Steve Rose said that they do have some leads, but can't discuss what they are...

[Micky_Spill]

How about Marc Klass's daughter? And the other Fla child that went missing years ago from her crib. I've forgotten her name, was it Samantha? Her parents have always been suspect to this day.


moo

Sabrina Eisenberg

[Faith]

The 17-year-old called 911 for help as Haleigh's father returned home from an overnight shift at work:

CALLER: I just woke up and my back door was all open and I can't find my daughter.

DISPATCH: Can't find what?

CALLER: My daughter.

DISPATCH:Ok. When did you last see her?

CALLER: Um, we just like, you know, it was about 10 o'clock. She was sleeping (inaudible).

DISPATCH: Ok. How old is your daughter?

CALLER: She's 5.

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.

DISPATCH: OK. What was she last seen wearing, Ma'am?

CALLER: She was in her pajamas. We were sleeping.

DISPATCH: OK. Alright, 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.

DISPATCH: Was your back door locked do you know?

CALLER: Yes. The back door always stays locked.

FATHER: I just got home from work, my 5-year-old daughter is gone. I need someone to be here now. I'm telling you. If I find whoever has my daughter before you all do, I'm killing him. I don't care. I'll spend the rest of my life in prison.

DISPATCH: It's OK sir, we got them on the way. Can you give me a description of the pajamas she was wearing?

FATHER: I don't (expletive) know I was at work.

Listen to the 911 call

http://www.news4jax.com/download/2009/0211/18686377.mp3

[Faith]

The Amber Alert lists her BD as 8/16/2004 ??
On the 911 call the GF and the Father say she is 5


CALLER: She's 5.

[AmyE]

Just heard on Fox News, that Capt. Steve Rose said that they do have some leads, but can't discuss what they are...

I sure hope it is good leads. Praying she is alive!

[Micky_Spill]

The Amber Alert lists her BD as 8/16/2004 ??
On the 911 call the GF and the Father say she is 5

Flyers are notoriously wrong, especially when they are issued quickly. Grandma may have been speaking generally but I did find her statement she is a typical 6 year old to mean she was that age?

[Isabella]

How about Marc Klass's daughter? And the other Fla child that went missing years ago from her crib. I've forgotten her name, was it Samantha? Her parents have always been suspect to this day.


moo
It was Sabrina Aisenberg.

Marc Klass always had a consistant story every time he was questioned. Not saying this family doesn't but it does seem to change, or reported wrong. jmo

[Isabella]

Just heard on Fox News, that Capt. Steve Rose said that they do have some leads, but can't discuss what they are...
That's good news I hope.

[Faith]

Flyers are notoriously wrong, especially when they are issued quickly. Grandma may have been speaking generally but I did find her statement she is a typical 6 year old to mean she was that age?

in 6 months she will be ? 5 0r 6 years old. all of the articles are misleading

[Isabella]

CALLER: She's 5.
So either they got the wrong BD listed or my math stinks.

She looks more like late 5 early 6 to me.
Her hair seems very long.

[chambord]

Sabrina Eisenberg

Thank you Micky. That was a strange case. Never solved. Abducted from her crib.

[Emyo]

So either they got the wrong BD listed or my math stinks.

She looks more like late 5 early 6 to me.
Her hair seems very long.

The post on p1 says 2003 for the birth year. that makes sense to me. It's from the The amber alert from the state of Florida.

[chambord]

Flyers are notoriously wrong, especially when they are issued quickly. Grandma may have been speaking generally but I did find her statement she is a typical 6 year old to mean she was that age?

Cindy Anthony spoke of Caylee of being a three yr old, when she actually was still two. In panic, facts can be forgiven.

moo

[chambord]

So either they got the wrong BD listed or my math stinks.

She looks more like late 5 early 6 to me.
Her hair seems very long.

Hi Isabella

Was so glad you made it thru the tornado. We were worried about you.

[Isabella]

The post on p1 says 2003 for the birth year. that makes sense to me. It's from the The amber alert from the state of Florida.
Thanks Emyo, that makes more sense to me.

[TigressPen]

Just heard on Fox News, that Capt. Steve Rose said that they do have some leads, but can't discuss what they are...


Hmm, thanks for this post. Very informative! :) That is probably why we are getting so many inconsistences with media reports. LE is being tight lipped for the most part- just giving out necessary info to help find her. And media is rumor reporting without solid information to update.

[packy]

Thank you Micky. That was a strange case. Never solved. Abducted from her crib.

It does seem to happen more than we realize that someone can come in and take a child while others sleep through it. We had little Riley Fox in Wilmington, IL and look at Elizabeth Smart and Danielle Van Dam.

Hope someone will remember seeing something that will help find Harleigh.

[Faith]

Haleigh's grandmother: 'She's out there ... I can feel it' (http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090211/ARTICLES/902111012/1002/NEWS01?Title=Haleigh_s_grandmother___She_s_out_the re_____I_can_feel_it_)

http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Avis=GS&Dato=20090211&Kategori=ARTICLES&Lopenr=902111012&Ref=AR&maxw=340&maxh=227&border=0 (http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090211/ARTICLES/902111012/1002/NEWS01?Title=Haleigh_s_grandmother___She_s_out_the re_____I_can_feel_it_) The maternal grandparents of missing 5-year-old Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings made an impassioned plea Wednesday morning for the girl's return. READ MORE (http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090211/ARTICLES/902111012/1002/NEWS01?Title=Haleigh_s_grandmother___She_s_out_the re_____I_can_feel_it_)


http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=GS&Date=20090211&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=902111012&Ref=V2&MaxW=250&border=0


Click to enlarge (http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090211/ARTICLES/902111012/1002/NEWS01?Title=Haleigh_s_grandmother___She_s_out_the re_____I_can_feel_it_#) Search area

[Grande]

Kidfinders, Josh Duckett to help in search for missing girl
Last Edited: Wednesday, 11 Feb 2009, 12:41 PM EST

SATSUMA, Fla. - The same group of people who helped in the search for missing toddler Caylee Anthony are now lending a hand to help find 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings.

Joshua Duckett, father of missing toddler Trenton Duckett, has already arrived in Satsuma to help the Cummings family.

A team from Kindfinders Network is also on their way. The team plans to send out mailers to help put Haleigh?s face in the public view. There are already flyers up on houses and cars, giving information about the missing girl.

Detectives from the Putnam County Sheriffs Office said there were child custody issues between the girls mother and father, but there was no indication those issues have anything to do with the girls disappearance.

K-9 units have been on the ground helping scour nearby areas for Haleigh, but so far they have turned up nothing.

Detectives said the screen door at the girls home was propped open and may not have been locked. They questioned an air conditioning repairman earlier that day and he has checked out.

FOX 35 recently learned that the girls father, Ronald, was arrested in 2006 for trespassing after warning. He bonded out on a $504 bail.

A Florida Amber Alert was issued for Haleigh on Tuesday. Authorities believe she was abducted. Haleigh?s family plans to hold their second candelight vigil tonight at 8:30 p.m.

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/local/021109Kidfinders_Josh_Duckett_to_help_in_search_fo r_missing_girl

[Faith]

Haleigh's Disappearance Now Considered Abduction
Friends Pray For Missing 5-Year-Old

POSTED: Wednesday, February 11, 2009
UPDATED: 12:51 pm EST February 11, 2009

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.

"Somebody stole my child out of my bed. I came home from work, and my child was not there. That's it. That's all there was to it," Haleigh's father said. "Gone -- just like that."

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.

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

"We feel good about what we're doing, but we feel really desperate that 24 hours have passed now and we don’t have a clue where this child is," PCSO's Maj. Gary Bowling said Tuesday night.

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

"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 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.

Community Gathers, Prays For Missing Girl

As the search for Haleigh continued to get more desperate with each passing hour, friends and neighbors her family members, friends and neighbors gathered Tuesday night for a candlelight vigil to pray for Haleigh's safe return.

"Father, we're asking that she's going to be released tonight, so we can go home and celebrate your goodness and bring her back," said one neighbor as he led the group in prayer.

She's the most precious thing in our life. We want her to come home," said Haleigh's grandmother, Teresa Neves. "Please bring my baby home. She's an angel; she's never done anything bad. She is such a good girl and she does not deserve this. I know she has to be scared to death without her daddy … let her go. Bring her home."

"Please call and giver her to the police department so I can get my daughter back, please. All we want is my child, that's it. I just want my daughter back," said Ronald Cummings. "Somebody has her. They have her hidden. I just want my daughter back, that's it. That's all I want."

Friends and neighbors have been offering their support, but all the family really wants is answered prayers.

Authorities ask anyone with any information to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0800 or the FDLE's Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse at 888-FL-MISSING.

Previous Stories:



February 10, 2009: Family, Friends Pray As Search For Missing 5-Year-Old Continues (http://www.news4jax.com/news/18686639/detail.html)
February 10, 2009: 5-Year-Old Vanishes From Bedroom; Father Says She Was 'Stolen' (http://www.news4jax.com/news/18680086/detail.html)

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

[annalyzer]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29140029/

5-Year-Old Fla. Girl Vanishes From Bed


updated 1 hour, 33 minutes ago
PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. -

An Amber Alert has been issued in Putnam County, Florida, after a 5-year-old girl was seemingly snatched from her home while sleeping.

Haleigh Cummings is 3 feet tall, weighs 39 pounds and has blond hair and brown eyes.

The girl's father reportedly discovered her missing when returning home from work early Tuesday morning.

The girlfriend of Cummings' father then called 911.

She told the operator their home's back door was opened, and a brick was laying nearby.

The woman said young Haleigh was last seen asleep at 10 pm Monday.

Haleigh's father then got on the phone, telling the operator "I'm killing him" if were he to find whoever snatched the girl before police did.

Authorities set up a command post near Haleigh's home, and it was kept under surveillance overnight.

A search effort will continue on Wednesday.

Authorities with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said they have not identified a suspect.

"We're not focusing on any person as a person of interest right now. It is still truly a whodunit, meaning whether it's an abduction or a homicide or if she just wandered out," Putnam County Sheriff's Office Major Gary Bowling said.

Authorities searched the St. Johns River with boats on Tuesday, as well as an aerial search of the area using helicopters.

The girl's hometown of Satsuma is just north of the Ocala National Forest, near Palatka.

Haleigh was last seen wearing a pink shirt and underwear.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Haleigh is asked to call the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office at 386-329-0808.

[Faith]

Detectives: Missing Florida Girl, 5, Was Kidnapped

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Detectives are classifying the disappearance of a 5-year-old Florida girl as an abduction, they said Wednesday.

Investigators conducted a second day of ground and air searches for Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings, who was discovered missing from her bed before dawn on Tuesday.

"This child didn't voluntarily walk out of her home. If she did, someone took her," said Putnam County Sheriff's spokesman Gary Bowling.

There were still no firm leads in the case, despite police interviews with her father and his 17-year-old girlfriend — who reported her missing — and sex offenders in the area.

Haleigh, her 2-year-old brother and her father's girlfriend Mistie Croslin went to bed in the same room in the family's trailer home at about 10 p.m. Monday night, investigators said. Croslin told deputies the little girl got up between 3 and 3:30 a.m. to go to the bathroom.

About the same time, Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, arrived home from work. When they went into the bedroom, he and Croslin say they discovered that Haleigh had vanished, MyFOXOrlando.com reported.

The back door was open, but investigators won't say whether there was any sign of forced entry. They initially said there wasn't.

Ronald Cummings said his daughter is afraid of the dark and wouldn't wander away by herself.

"Somebody stole my child," he said. "Trust me when I tell you that I know my child."

Investigators say Croslin is now with her family, but they're not calling her a suspect at this time, according to the station, nor are they revealing whether the child's father is a focus of the investigation.

"I don't know that for sure," Putnam County Sheriff's Sgt. Jason Nettles told FOXNews.com on Tuesday.

Haleigh's grandfather, Johnny Sheffield, said he was distraught about the girl's disappearance and characterized Croslin as suspicious, though he admitted he didn't know much about her, according to MyFOXOrlando.com.

Cummings said his girlfriend was awake and frantic after she found Haleigh was gone.

Police had never been called to the home in the past — but there have been prior problems with Cummings, Croslin and the children, said Putnam County Capt. Steve Rose.

"There have been some investigations done through the department of children and family," Rose told FOX News on Wednesday. He didn't elaborate.

Both Croslin and Cummings were questioned Tuesday by authorities. The child lives with the couple and her little brother in Putnam County, Fla. Nettles said he didn't know whether further interviews with them were planned.

Putman County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Jason Nettles told FOXNews.com that the hunt for Haleigh was under way Wednesday morning, with more helicopter searches planned as well as more on the ground using K-9 units.

Deputies say they have questioned 44 registered sex offenders who live within five miles of Haleigh's home, according to MyFOXOrlando.com.

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 on Tuesday.

An air conditioner repair man who was at the home on Monday was questioned after police found out about his house call but cleared of any wrongdoing.

Local and state authorities and the FBI searched for Haleigh in neighbors' homes and vehicles leaving her neighborhood on the St. Johns River, as well as in the nearby river and woods for signs of the girl. The effort lasted through the night Tuesday.

Investigators are asking for the public's help. Leads have been minimal, according to authorities.

Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield, made a tearful plea on TV news Tuesday night.

"I just want to say, 'Bring her back home. Please,'" Sheffield said.

Rose said Sheffield doesn't live in the area but traveled to Putnam County after she learned of her daughter's disappearance and has been interviewed.

"She is cooperating," Rose told FOX News.

The family held a candlelight vigil Tuesday night and said they plan to continue with the vigils until the child comes home.

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

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

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,491008,00.html

[Faith]

I made a discussion thread-

http://helpfindthemissing.org/forum/showthread.php?t=10851

[Grande]

Grandmother of missing girl: 'Just bring her back'
Helen Eckinger and Gary Taylor | Sentinel Staff Writer

SATSUMA -- Five-year-old Haleigh Cummings is afraid of the dark 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.

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, found Haleigh 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 that 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."

The girl's disappearance has not been classified as an abduction.

Det. 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 they 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 that 44 sex offenders live in a 5-mile radius of Cummings' home, but that all have been contacted by law enforcement since Haleigh went missing.

"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."

Officials orginally said Haleigh's mother Crystal Sheffield, 23, was in Georgia at the time of her daughter's disappearance. But they said today she was in Baker County after receiving news of Haleigh's disappearance. She was in Putnam County today.

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

Search dogs are combing through woods in the area, and divers are searching the nearby St. Johns River. 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 if I have to spend the rest of my life in prison."

He apparently hung up on the dispatcher, who when placed a call back to the residence, 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 out of Houston that helped look for Caylee Marie Anthony last year told the Orlando Sentinel 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 out if needed.

Anyone with information about Haleigh's whereabouts is asked to contact the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0808.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-bk-missing-florida-girl-021109,0,947501.story

[Faith]

Satsuma waits and worries for a little girl

By Lise Fisher
Staff writers

Published: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 12:22 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 12:22 p.m.

SATSUMA -- A sign outside Satsuma Volunteer Fire & Rescue is running a message asking for help finding missing 5-year-old Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings.

News and questions about the girl’s disappearance are the talk of residents in and around Satsuma, the small rural town off U.S. 17 in southern Putnam County, where the girl was staying with her father and his girlfriend.

Named after a type of orange that used to grow in the many orange groves that once populated the area, Satsuma is a mix of families and retirees, said the town’s retired U.S. Post Master Sandy Fellinger.

“The houses are spread apart. There are a lot of wooded areas around — a lot of water, canals and little lakes,” said Fellinger.

The area has about 5,500 residents most in their 50s and 60s, according to recent U.S. Census data.

Most residents in the area work in Palatka, are retired or self-employed, said Fellinger and another woman, Jeryl Anne Musser, 51.

Both women were working at Hope Lutheran Church in Satsuma near the fire department Wednesday morning. Neither woman lives in Satsuma but in nearby towns.

A few businesses, including a restaurant known as Mema’s, a gas station and a Family Dollar store, the newest addition, mark the town’s location.

Fellinger and Musser said the area has attracted retirees and families because the cost of living is cheaper than staying in more populated cities, such as Palatka, located about 10 miles north.

Although Satsuma is rural and small enough where almost everyone knows their neighbors, neither woman said they would leave their homes unlocked.

“I think bad things are happening all over the place,” Musser said.

The women said the area has many residents who are registered sex offenders because they can afford to live there and be self-employed.

“You can get lost easier down here,” Musser said.

Musser also said there has been an ongoing problem with break-ins at homes and businesses, often connected to younger people and drugs.


http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090211/ARTICLES/902110946/-1/NEWS05?Title=Satsuma_waits_and_worries_for_a_littl e_girl

[Faith]

A depressingly familiar Florida story

By Anthony Violanti
Staff writer

Published: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 11:43 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 11:43 a.m.

This nightmare feels like a rerun. A child disappears in the middle of the night. Then comes an Amber Alert, a media blitz and pleas from anguished parents. There are gritty cops, sympathetic neighbors, Web chatter, billboards and, finally, the cable TV coverage.

And at the top of the newspaper page is an angelic picture accompanied by a terrifying headline: Search is under way for missing 5-year-old Putnam County girl.

Her name is Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings. She is a kindergarten student at Browning-Pearce Elementary School in San Mateo, which is southeast of Palatka.

The names change but the story lines remain depressingly familiar when it comes to missing children in Florida. Past cases - Trenton Duckett in Leesburg, Jessica Lunsford in Homosassa, Caylee Anthony in Orlando - have turned into ritualized horror shows that play out on the local 6 o’clock news, CNN, Fox, Internet sites and the front page of the newspaper. Only time will tell how this story turns out.

Haleigh has golden hair, dark eyes and a smile to melt your heart. She was reported missing around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday from her home in the Hermit’s Cove area of Satsuma, about 10 miles south of Palatka.

Authorities said a rear door at the home had been found ajar and they had no suspects in the case.

Haliegh was, “stolen out of my home,” Ronald Cummings, the 24-year old father of the child, told the Gainesville Sun. “Somebody came in my back door and stole my child,” he added before collapsing to his knees in emotion.

Only time will tell how the coming days and weeks will play out. For now, family despair has become fodder for public discourse. Minute details will be played and replayed on television and the Internet.

A reminder of how horrible these cases can turn out was, coincidentally, playing out on Tuesday, the same day that Haliegh vanished. A memorial service was being held for Caylee Anthony in the First Baptist Church of Orlando. The 2-year old was reported missing in July, and her remains were found in December. Her mother, Casey Anthony, has been charged with murder.

That story has become a never-ending media circus. But Tuesday, a community took time to honor the memory of one little girl while the fate of another one was precariously uncertain.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090211/ARTICLES/902110949/-1/NEWS05?Title=A_depressingly_familiar_Florida_story

[Faith]

Kidfinders, Josh Duckett to help in search for missing girl

Last Edited: Wednesday, 11 Feb 2009, 12:41 PM EST
Created On: Wednesday, 11 Feb 2009, 12:39 PM EST

SATSUMA, Fla. - The same group of people who helped in the search for missing toddler Caylee Anthony are now lending a hand to help find 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings.

Joshua Duckett, father of missing toddler Trenton Duckett, has already arrived in Satsuma to help the Cummings family.

A team from Kindfinders Network is also on their way. The team plans to send out mailers to help put Haleigh?s face in the public view. There are already flyers up on houses and cars, giving information about the missing girl.

Detectives from the Putnam County Sheriffs Office said there were child custody issues between the girls mother and father, but there was no indication those issues have anything to do with the girls disappearance.

K-9 units have been on the ground helping scour nearby areas for Haleigh, but so far they have turned up nothing.

Detectives said the screen door at the girls home was propped open and may not have been locked. They questioned an air conditioning repairman earlier that day and he has checked out.

FOX 35 recently learned that the girls father, Ronald, was arrested in 2006 for trespassing after warning. He bonded out on a $504 bail.

A Florida Amber Alert was issued for Haleigh on Tuesday. Authorities believe she was abducted. Haleigh?s family plans to hold their second candelight vigil tonight at 8:30 p.m.

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/local/021109Kidfinders_Josh_Duckett_to_help_in_search_fo r_missing_girl

[Faith]

Amber Alert Issued For 5-Year-Old Girl
Girl Last Seen In Putnam County

POSTED: 11:08 am EST February 10, 2009
UPDATED: 12:15 pm EST February 11, 2009


Video (http://www.wesh.com/video/18688249/index.html) | Crime Tracker (http://www.wesh.com/crime/)



SATSUMA, Fla. -- An Amber Alert was issued for a 5-year-old Putnam County girl on Tuesday.

Haleigh Cummings is 3 feet tall, weighs 39 pounds and has blond hair and brown eyes and was wearing a pink shirt and underwear. She was last seen near Hermit's Cove in Satsuma.

Authorities set up a command post near Haleigh's home, and it was kept under surveillance overnight. A search effort continued on Wednesday.

The girlfriend of Haleigh's father called 911 to report his daughter's disappearance.

Caller: I just woke up and my back door was all open, and I can't find my daughter.
Operator: Can't find what?
Caller: My daughter.
Operator: OK. When did you last see her?
Caller: We just like, you know, it was about 10 o'clock. She was sleeping.
Operator: OK. How old is your daughter?
Caller: She's 5.
Operator: OK. What was she last seen wearing, Ma'am?
Caller: She was in her pajamas. She was sleeping.
Operator: 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.
Operator: OK. Was your back door locked? Do you know?
Caller: Yes. That door always stays locked.
Father: I just got home from work. My 5-year-old daughter is gone. I need someone to be here now. I'm telling you, if I find whoever has my daughter before you all do, I'm killing him. I don't care. I'll spend the rest of my life in prison.
Operator: It's OK, sir. We got them on the way.



The call was made around 3 a.m. on Tuesday after the girl's father returned home from work and found her missing.

Authorities with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said they have not identified a suspect, but relatives of the girl said they don't think they're getting the full story from the father's girlfriend.

"If (you're) in your bed with your child, and you get up to go use the bathroom, is there enough time for somebody to come in your house and snatch your child out of bed and disappear without you getting back to the bed in time? No," grandfather Donny Sheffield said.

Detectives said the girlfriend and everyone else has been cooperative with the investigation.

"We're not focusing on any person as a person of interest right now. It is still truly a whodunit, meaning whether it's an abduction or a homicide or if she just wandered out," Putnam County Sheriff's Office Maj. Gary Bowling said.

Authorities searched the St. Johns River with boats on Tuesday, as well as an aerial search of the area using helicopters.

Satsuma is just north of the Ocala National Forest, near Palatka.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Haleigh is asked to call the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office at 386-329-0808.

http://www.wesh.com/news/18681356/detail.html

[Trailblazer]

Here's a link to Gainesville newspaper, The Gainesville Sun

http://www.gainesville.com/

[Faith]

Law enforcement checking on Putnam-area sex offenders

Staff Report

Published: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 12:27 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 12:27 p.m.

There are 44 registered sex offenders who live within a 5-mile radius of the home where Haleigh Cummings lives with her father and her father's girlfriend. That includes sex offenders who are on the south side of the St. Johns River.

Law officers have verified the whereabouts of some of those 44 and eliminated them as being involved in the case of the missing girl. They are still verifying the whereabouts of others. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI are handling that part of the investigation.


Related Links:


Haleigh's grandmother: 'She's out there ... I can feel it' (http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090211/ARTICLES/902111012)
Satsuma waits and worries for a little girl (http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090211/ARTICLES/902110946)

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090211/ARTICLES/902110944/-1/NEWS05?Title=Law_enforcement_checking_on_Putnam_ar ea_sex_offenders

[Faith]

Police, divers search neighborhood for Fla. girl Save Email Print
Posted: 1:30 PM Feb 11, 2009
Last Updated: 1:30 PM Feb 11, 2009

SATSUMA, Fla. (AP) -- Sheriff's deputies in northern Florida are searching house-to-house for a 5-year-old girl who went missing from her bed. Dive teams are also exploring a nearby river.

A Florida Amber Alert has been issued for Haleigh Cummings of Satsuma, which is about 70 miles north of Orlando. The girl was last seen Monday night.

Investigators say it's not clear if Haleigh was abducted or wandered out into the rural neighborhood that borders the river. They say the mobile home where she lives had no signs of forced entry, but that a back door was open.

Haleigh's father has told investigators his daughter was missing when he returned home from work around 3 a.m. yesterday. Ronald Cummings says his girlfriend was awake and frantic that Haleigh was missing from her bed.

http://www.volunteertv.com/national/headlines/39441197.html

[Grande]

<Snipped>

Update:

A press conference was just held with officials investigating the disappearance of Haleigh.

Officers are considering that this could be an abduction or that the girl wandered off.

When they were asked if any family members were suspects, an officer said that it is "not safe to say that family members are not suspects." He went on to say that everyone is a suspect right now as no one has been ruled out.

Officers have dogs on the scene as well as divers and helicopters. It was said that they have a large investigative team on the case.

It was said that all family members as well as friends are being cooperative.

Officers have many leads that they are considering. They have asked that if anyone has a lead that they call them at 386-329-0809.

http://www.examiner.com/x-3035-Everyday-People-Examiner~y2009m2d11-Amber-Alert-case--The-world-is-a-suspect-says-officer

[Grande]

Investigators treat Haleigh's case as an abduction
By Christopher Curry
Staff Writer
Last Modified: Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 10:32 p.m.

Investigators are treating the case of a missing 5-year-old Putnam County girl as an abduction.

"All the world's a suspect right now," said Putnam County sheriff Maj. Gary Bowling during a press conference beginning 2 p.m. Wednesday. "We're going to treat every family member, every neighbor as a suspect until we eliminate them."

Bowling said search for Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings is continuing. The Sheriff's Office plans to bring in volunteer groups on Thursday or Friday to search dense areas because, he said, "we just don't want to leave that stone unturned."

But he made it clear that investigators do not believe Haleigh wandered off from her home early Tuesday morning in Satsuma in eastern Putnam County.

Family members are cooperating with law enforcement, Bowling said. "The family is very much working with us and we feel like we're on track with that."

Tips have been pouring in searcher at 386-329-0800. Investigators have also been talking 44 sex offenders living within a 5-mile radius of the girl's home.

Earlier Wednesday, Haleigh' mother - Crystal Sheffield, 23, of Baker County - made a desperate plea.

"I just want whoever has her to bring her home, drop her off somewhere," Sheffield said as she fought back tears. "I just don't know who could have done this. It's tearing me apart."

She said Haleigh is a "wonderful child" who acts very motherly toward her brother, Ronald Cummings Jr., who is 2.

Haleigh's maternal grandparents also made an impassioned plea for the girl's return.

Standing in the small Putnam County community of Satsuma - next to a street-side banner that says "Our prayers are with you, Haleigh" - Marie Griffis and Johnny Sheffield talked with reporters.

Griffis, 43, of Baker County, believes the girl is alive, she said. "She's out there somewhere. I can feel it. I can feel her presence."

"People around here know me," said Sheffield, a Putnam County resident. "If anyone around here has my granddaughter, just bring her home to me. She's my first baby from my first baby. Please bring her back. ... I'm going to look around hell and half of Georgia until I find her."

They said the family wants to join the police search for Haleigh but that law enforcement officials won't let them out of concern that they might contaminate evidence.

Bowling said earlier Wednesday that investigators don't believe she is in the immediate area, he said, and don't believe she simply wandered from her father's home at 202 Green Lane in the Hermit's Cove community Monday night.

Haleigh's story has become national news, appearing on CNN Wednesday morning.

She was reported missing at about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday. An Amber Alert was issued nationwide before 9:30 a.m.

Family members say Haleigh was last seen in her bed at 10 p.m. Monday. Haleigh was staying with her father and his girlfriend, according to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

The girlfriend, identified as Misty Croslin, 17, discovered that the child was missing when she got up to use the restroom about 3 a.m. Croslin, Haleigh and the girl's younger brother had been together in the room, according to officers and family.

Law officers said Croslin is helping with the investigation. The same is true for Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, 24, who was at work Monday night until early Tuesday. Cummings works for PDM Bridge, a company officers said builds steel girders for bridges.

During an afternoon news conference, authorities said a rear door at the home had been found ajar and that they had no suspects in the case.

Haleigh was "stolen out of my home," a tearful Cummings said earlier Tuesday, before collapsing to his knees in front a neighbor's home. "Somebody came in my back door and stole my child. I came home from work and my daughter was not at home."

On Tuesday, officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and multiple other agencies were searching the banks of the St. Johns River. Investigators hunted on the ground with bloodhounds and other police dogs while helicopters circled over the tree-lined community off Buffalo Bluff Road.

Tuesday night, the search continued by air, with the help of heat-seeking equipment, said Putnam Sheriff's Capt. Steve Rose.

Among the agencies involved in the search are the FBI, Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Palatka Police Department and sheriff's offices from Alachua, Flagler, Volusia, St. Johns and Putnam counties.

Haleigh is approximately 3 feet tall, with dirty-blond hair, brown eyes and pierced ears. She weighs about 39 pounds and was last seen wearing pink shorts and a tan shirt. Anyone with information can call 386-329-0800 or 800-843-5678.

Rose said there were no initial signs of forced entry, but officers did find the rear door ajar.

"I want (people in the community) to know we have a missing 5-year-old girl. We want to find her. We don't know where she is at this point," said Putnam Detective John Merchant, the lead detective on the case.

Griffis, the grandmother, said Wednesday that Haleigh's mother is very distraught, that she won't eat and that she has been shaking.

The grandmother said Croslin, the father's girlfriend, is not supposed to have contact with the family.

Griffis said she is suspicious of the 17-year-old. Even though Croslin, Cummings' girlfriend for three or four months, has been good with the children, Griffis questioned how the 5-year-old could possibly have been taken while Croslin was there in the same room.

Staff Writers Lise Fisher and Karen Voyles contributed to this story.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090211/ARTICLES/902111012/1002/news?Title=Haleigh_s_grandmother___She_s_out_there _____I_can_feel_it_

[Faith]

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/local/0211095_Police_missing_girl_abducted

Padilla offers reward
for abducted girl

Leonard Padilla, the bounty hunter who for several months had been engaged in the search for Caylee Anthony, is offering a $25,000 reward for the safe return or another missing girl, believed to have been abducted in the early morning hours of Tuesday.
A Florida Amber Alert was issued for five year old Haleigh Cummings, of Satsuma, which is located about 70 miles north of Orlando.

On Wednesday, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the FBI and the Putnam County Sheriff's Office resumed the search for the missing girl in an area about 70 miles north of Orlando. Investigators searched house-to-house and dive teams probed the St. Johns River.

According to investigators, Haleigh was last seen on Monday night around 10 p.m. in her mobile home on Green Lane. Haleigh, her younger brother and her father's 17-year-old girlfriend, Mistie Croslin, went to bed in the same room. Deputies say Croslin told them that the little girl got up to go to the bathroom around 3:30 a.m., about the same time Haleigh's father, Ronald, got home from work. When they went back into the bedroom they discovered Haleigh was gone.

Last night Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield, cried in front of the news cameras. "I just want to say, bring her back home. Please!" Haleigh's father says his daughter was afraid of the dark and wouldn't wander off by herself. "Somebody stole my child, trust me when I tell you that I know my child," he said.

Family members spent the night at a candlelight vigil. They say they will continue the vigil until Haleigh returns home.

Initially, investigators with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said it was not clear if Haleigh was abducted or wandered out into the rural neighborhood that borders the St. Johns River. They said the mobile home where she lives had no signs of forced entry, but a back door was open.

"We go door to door. We meet with the homeowners and ask if they mind if we go look around," said Lt. Johnny Greenwood, a spokesman for the sheriff's office. "You ask if you can look in the back of the house, at the sheds and anything that's around there."

Investigators say Croslin is now with her family. They are not calling her a suspect at this time.

Haleigh's grandfather, Johnny Sheffield, told FOX 35 on Wednesday that he was distraught over the disappearance of his granddaughter. He questioned Croslin's involvement in his granddaughter's disappearance.

Haleigh's grandmother, Marie Griffis, was also pleading to the public for help. Griffis told FOX 35 that the father of Trenton Ducket, the missing Lake County toddler who disappeared in 2006, was also assisting in the search. Indeed, Josh Ducket arrived on Wednesday to volunteer in the search efforts. Also present was Leonard Padilla. Padilla said the $25,000 reward would be honored if the girl is recoverd safely within 72 hours of her disappearance. Though both Ducket and Padilla have offered their assistance, Gary Bowling, a spokesperson for the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, said officials are not actively seeking help from volunteers at present time.

Twenty five law enforcement agencies have assisted so far, including crews from Marion, Flagler and Volusia counties. Deputies say they have questioned 44 sex offenders who live within five miles of Haleigh's home. "This child didn't voluntarily walk out of her home. If she did someone took her," Bowling said.

Several hundred homes were expected to be surveyed on Wednedsay. Check points were set up at the entrance to the neighborhood to search departing vehicles and two dive teams explored the St. Johns River. Neighbors and family members also were being interviewed by detectives.

"We're currently working both angles _ did she wander off, we're working it that way with the searches," Greenwood said. "And investigators are doing interviews in case it is an abduction."

Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings is 5-years-old. She is 3 feet tall, weighs 39 lbs, has blonde hair and brown eyes. She was last seen on Green Lane in the Hermit's Cove area of Satsuma. She was wearing a pink shirt and underwear. Anyone with information should call the Putnam County Sheriffs Office at 386-329-0808.

[Faith]

Caylee Search Team Heading to Putnam County (http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=131094&catid=3)

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/graphics/icon_comment.gif Comments (http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=131094#comments)



JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Texas EquuSearch will be helping investigators look for missing Putnam County girl Haleigh Cummings.
The group also helped search for missing Orlando girl Caylee Anthony last year.
Barbie Tarr, a spokesperson for the group, says Texas EquuSearch founder Tim Miller is flying from Texas to Florida today and should arrive tonight in Putnam County.
The group's mobile command center is driving to Florida tonight and should be available tomorrow. The group is bringing ATVs, sonar equipment and other technology to help search.
Tarr says they have 100 volunteers on standby in Florida. She says Putnam County reached out to Miller to help expand their search.

[Faith]

Haleigh's mom: 'It's tearing me apart'

By Christopher Curry
Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 1:46 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 1:46 p.m.

Haleigh Cummings' mother - Crystal Sheffield, 23, of Baker County - was clutching a framed school picture of her daughter Wednesday afternoon as she issued a desperate plea.

"I just want whoever has her to bring her home, drop her off somewhere," Sheffield said as she fought back tears. "I just don't know who could have done this. It's tearing me apart. Whoever did this is wrong. ... They hurt a lot of people."

She said Haleigh is a "wonderful child" who acts very motherly toward her brother, Ronald Cummings Jr., who is 2. She also liked computers, purses and phones.

Sheffield said she has custody of the children every other weekend and is scheduled to pick them up on Friday. She said she thinks the child was taken and would not have wandered off on her own. She has spoken to Haleigh's father.

"He's tore up. He blames himself for it, because if he would have been at home it wouldn't have happened."

Sheffield said she doesn't know Cummings' girlfriend, but from what she heard she always treated the children well.


http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090211/ARTICLES/902110939/-1/NEWS05?Title=Haleigh_s_mom___It_s_tearing_me_apart _

[AmyE]

Police, divers search neighborhood for Fla. girl

SATSUMA, Fla. (AP) — Sheriff's deputies searched house-to-house Wednesday and dive teams probed the St. Johns River for a 5-year-old north Florida girl who went missing from her bed.

A Florida Amber Alert was issued for Haleigh Cummings of Satsuma, about 70 miles north of Orlando. The girl was last seen Monday night when she went to bed.

Investigators with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said it was not clear if Haleigh was abducted or wandered out into the rural neighborhood that borders the river. They said the mobile home where she lives had no signs of forced entry, but a back door was open.

Haleigh's father told investigators the blond girl was missing when he returned home from work around 3 a.m. Tuesday. Ronald Cummings said his girlfriend was awake and frantic that Haleigh was missing from her bed.

"I just got home from work and my 5-year-old daughter is gone," Ronald Cummings told a dispatcher on a 911 call. "If I find whoever has my daughter before you all do, I'm killing them. I don't care if I spend the rest of my life in prison."

His girlfriend, Misty Croslin, said she had been sleeping next to Haleigh but when she awoke, the girl was gone.

"She was sleeping right next to me," Croslin told the Palatka Daily News. "I can't believe I didn't hear anything."

Officers from local, state and federal agencies and K-9 teams scoured the neighborhood. Check points were set up at the entrance to the neighborhood to search departing vehicles. Two dive teams explored the St. Johns River. Neighbors and family members also were being interviewed by detectives.

The girl's disappearance has not been classified as an abduction, although detectives were treating it as one to cover all their bases, said Lt. Johnny Greenwood, a spokesman for the sheriff's office.

"We're currently working both angles — did she wander off, we're working it that way with the searches," Greenwood said. "And investigators are doing interviews in case it is an abduction."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h1Nac1XKmGDPZKMEdJOz4f2oHBzgD969MDJG0

[Faith]

Small Community Crushed by Child's Disappearance
Updated: 2/11/2009 8:11:59 PM

SATSUMA, FL -- Concerns for little Haleigh Cummings spread quickly through out the Satsuma community since Tuesday morning when she disappeared.

Satsuma, a small town with a population around 5,000 people, is a place where neighbors are friends and you hardly meet an unfamiliar face.

"My daughter use to keep Haleigh at the day care center," said Bill Graham, a neighbor. He said that this is just terrible.

Around town, businesses and neighbors have put up signs praying for the little girl's return. People around town have volunteered their time, resources, vehicles, and even boats to help in the search. One man drove down from his home in St. Marys with a trailer of horses to offer police.

However, right now investigators are asking volunteers to hold off and wait while they concentrate closely on the investigation. Still family members are doing all that they can to find Haleigh Cummings.

A family member of Ronald Cummings, Haleigh's dad, has printed up flyers on her home computer. Elesha Izor, has walked street to street distributing the flyers and taping them to windshields.

"We are doing as much as we can. As soon as they let us, we are going to search. We're not going to stop until we find her. I promise you that," Izor said.

Gail Comer, a lifelong Satsuma resident cannot recall the last time an even like this occurred. She said it has scarred the entire community-- especially the children of Satsuma.
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=131126&catid=3

[Faith]

Missing Girl's Mother Asks For Help

Updated: 2/11/2009 10:18:16 PM

SATSUMA, FL -- Wiping away tears, Crystal Sheffield pleaded for the person who took her little girl to bring her home.

"I just want my baby home. She doesn't deserve this," Sheffield said. "She's a wonderful kid. I just wan t her home. Whoever has her, just please bring her back. Please."

5-year old Haleigh Cummings disappeared from her home in Satsuma Monday night.

23-year-old Sheffield lives in Baker County, about 100 miles away from Satsuma. She and her family came to Satsuma to be close to the search site and wait for any word about Haleigh.

Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings was at work and not at home when his little girl disappeared. He says Haleigh was in bed with his girlfriend and his three year old son.

When he came home from work at 3 a.m. Tuesday, Cummings says his girlfriend was awake and upset, and Haleigh was gone.

Haleigh's grandfather, Johnny Sheffield says he doesn't understand how that could happen.

"If you're in the bed with your child and you get up and use the bathroom," Sheffield said, "is there enough time for someone to come to the house and snatch the child out of the bed and disappear... without you getting back to the bed in time? No!"

Haleigh's maternal grandmother, Marie Griffis said, "She is out there somewhere. I can feel it. I feel she is out there. I feel her presence. It's just terrifying no knowing where she's at and what's happened to her."

Haleigh's father has custody of the little girl.

Crystal Sheffield said she last saw Haleigh two weeks ago and was scheduled to see her this Friday. She said Haleigh would visit her at her home in Baker County.

She said, "Just bring my baby home. Take her somewhere and drop her off. Please.

Video at link

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/breaking/news-article.aspx?storyid=131129&catid=17

[Faith]

Haleigh investigators: 'We assume abduction'

http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=OS&Date=20090211&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=902111009&Ref=AR&MaxW=600&border=0
Johnny Sheffield comforts his daughter, Crystal Sheffield, the mother of missing 5-year-old Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings on Wednesday.

Published: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 6:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 5:57 p.m.

PALATKA - Absent any sign of a missing south Putnam County girl, investigators called her disappearance an abduction two days after she was last seen at her father’s home.


With no evidence of Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings near her residence in Satsuma, there is no longer any reason to believe the child wandered away, said Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Major Gary Bowling Wednesday afternoon.

“We just don’t believe that the child is here, so we assume abduction,” Bowling said.

About 150 officers and 20 law enforcement agencies have been searching for the child that family members said was last seen at about 10 p.m. Monday in a bedroom at her father’s home in the Hermit’s Cove area.

The man’s girlfriend said she woke up in the middle of the night and discovered the child was gone. A rear door at the double-wide mobile home was ajar, but authorities could not say if it had previously been locked. A 911 call made from the home reported the door always stayed locked.

Scanning from the air, combing the St. Johns River about 300 yards from the residence and hunting on the ground through woods and with bloodhounds produced no sign of the girl Wednesday.

A young child like Haleigh would be afraid of walking down a dark hall by herself, Bowling told reporters. And, without any history indicating she might have wandered away, the likelihood of an abduction has become increasingly likely. Officers also said they had no reports of a custody issue between the child’s father and mother.

“All the world’s a suspect right now,” Bowling said. “We’re going to treat every family member, every neighbor as a suspect until we eliminate them.”

Bowling’s words echoed comments from the girl’s relatives and others in the community who feared she had been taken.

The child’s father, Ronald Cummings, 24, broke down in tears on a neighbor’s lawn Tuesday and said someone had taken his child. The girl’s mother, Crystal Sheffield, 23, held a picture of her daughter and cried with him.

Cummings had been at work from late Monday night until Tuesday when he came home to find that Haleigh had disappeared. She had been at the home with her younger brother and her father’s 17-year-old girlfriend, Misty Croslin.

The two children were in the same bedroom with Croslin when she awoke to go to the restroom and discovered the girl missing, officers reported Tuesday.

Bowling said Croslin, like others who know Haleigh or are her relatives, had been questioned by and was cooperating with authorities.

“She’s with family,” Bowling said when asked about Croslin’s whereabouts. “We’re just going to keep close contact with her.”

Both Croslin and Cummings made frantic 911 calls early Tuesday. The Sheriff’s Office released redacted copies of the calls Wednesday.

“If I find whoever has my daughter before y’all do, I’m killing them. I don’t care. I’ll spend the rest of my life in prison. ... I don’t care,” Cummings said during the call.

Earlier Wednesday, Haleigh’s mother — Crystal Sheffield, 23, of Baker County — made a desperate plea.

“I just want whoever has her to bring her home, drop her off somewhere,” Sheffield said as she fought back tears. “I just don’t know who could have done this. It’s tearing me apart.”

She said Haleigh is a “wonderful child” who acts very motherly toward her brother, Ronald Cummings Jr., who is 2.

Haleigh’s maternal grandparents also made an impassioned plea for the girl’s return.

Standing in the small Putnam County community of Satsuma — next to a street-side banner that says “Our prayers are with you, Haleigh” — Marie Griffis and Johnny Sheffield talked with reporters.

Griffis, 43, of Baker County believes the girl is alive, she said. “She’s out there somewhere. I can feel it. I can feel her presence.”

“People around here know me,” said Sheffield, a Putnam County resident. “If anyone around here has my granddaughter, just bring her home to me. She’s my first baby from my first baby. Please bring her back. ... I’m going to look around hell and half of Georgia until I find her.”

They said the family wants to join the police search for Haleigh but that law enforcement officials won’t let them out of concern that they might contaminate evidence.

Griffis described her grandchild as an outspoken, happy child.

“All we can do is hope, and we believe that she is OK,” Griffis said. “If anybody knows her whereabouts just please bring her back. We love her and miss her.”

The woman said she didn’t believe her granddaughter just left the home.

“She’s not going to get up and wander through the house and get up and go through the back door,” she said. “She’s not going to get up and go outside.”

Griffis said she wasn’t sure how her granddaughter would react to a stranger but she thought she would put up a fight.

Divers have been checking the St. John’s River. But Griffis said her granddaughter had once fallen into water in the past and she believed the child now was afraid to go near water.

Officers confirmed that a dog, searching for Haleigh’s scent, had alerted to something in the direction of the water. But they stressed that could have been due to the way the wind was blowing. Still, authorities have been paying close attention to the river and sent search teams out in that area again Wednesday.

Blankets from the home were used to provide the dogs with a scent to track, Bowling said.

Officers also were looking at a cinder block that apparently had been used to prop open the back door, according to officers. They were also gathering tips from the public. Authorities urged people to call (386) 329-0808 or 0809 if they had information about the girl.

Fliers of Haleigh and well-wishes for her safe return have gone up around the area, including on U.S 17 north toward Palatka. Her smiling picture beamed from a Burger King drive-thru window while a message sending prayers to her was posted on a sign outside another roadside business.

The principal at Browning-Pearce Elementary School, where Haleigh is a kindergarten student, describes the child as “a sweet little girl, a tiny little girl, blond hair, beautiful brown eyes.”

Principal Debra Lands-Buckles said Haleigh “always has that smile on her face, just like you see in the flier.”

The school, which has more than 800 students, is shocked and saddened, but hopeful Haleigh will return soon, the principal said.

Bowling detailed other efforts to find the girl, from canvassing homes and plans to re-search some residences or get access to others that did not appear occupied to checking on the whereabouts of 44 sex offenders who live within a five-mile radius of the home at 202 Green Lane.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI were assisting in speaking or locating those individuals, some of whom live across the river on the opposite bank from the Hermit’s Cove area. Bowling said some of these people have voluntarily come forward to eliminate themselves as suspects.

In interviews with family and others who know Haleigh, officers confirmed that all had been offered the chance to take a lie detector test. He didn’t elaborate on who had accepted the offer.

Although the focus of the investigation is on an abduction, Bowling said volunteer groups will again be searching the area for Haleigh. Some spots that could be looked at will be areas of thick vegetation, initially thought to be too densely overgrown or difficult for a child to wander into. Those searches could begin as early as Thursday.


http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=OS&Date=20090211&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=902111009&Ref=V1&MaxW=250&border=0
An Amber Alert is posted on the digital billboard in the 1600 block of South Pine Avenue Wednesday for Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings, 5, the missing girl from Putnam County.

http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=OS&Date=20090211&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=902111009&Ref=V3&MaxW=250&border=0

Video at link

http://www.ocala.com/article/20090211/ARTICLES/902111009/-1/SPECIALSECTION07?Title=Haleigh_investigators___We_ assume_abduction_

[Faith]

Dad of missing Leesburg boy supports Haleigh's family

By Christopher Curry
Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 5:16 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 5:31 p.m.

PALATKA - Joshua Duckett, the father of missing Leesburg toddler Trenton Duckett, traveled to Putnam County Wednesday to support the families of a 5-year-old girl who was reported missing early Tuesday morning.

Duckett also helped the girl's father as a liaison of sorts with the media, bringing new photos of Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings to reporters and giving interviews on TV.

Duckett, of south Sumter County, said Haleigh's family members were doing "as well as could be expected" and that the apparent abduction was hard blow to them.

As for Trenton, Duckett said he hasn't heard anything new about his son, who was 2 years old when he disappeared in August 2006.

http://www.ocala.com/article/20090211/ARTICLES/902110278/-1/SPECIALSECTION07?Title=Dad_of_missing_Leesburg_boy _supports_Haleigh_s_family

[Faith]

School Prays For Haleigh's Safe Return
Classmates, Parents Hope For Return Of Missing Kindergarten Student

POSTED: Wednesday, February 11, 2009
UPDATED: 9:30 pm EST February 11, 2009

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. -- As the disappearance of Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings begins to make headlines across the country, word of the case has reached the ears of a younger group -- the missing girl's classmates.

Haleigh is a kindergartener at Browning Pearce Elementary School in San Mateo. She was last 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.

Staffers at Browning Pearce said Haleigh's classmates have begun asking questions, but they said not all of the children truly understand what's going on.

Rebecca Graham, a first-grader at the school, had a message for Haleigh on Wednesday.

"Your parents are looking for you, and your parents love you and they hope you're OK," Rebecca said.

"She's been scared -- scared to sleep at night because they don’t know what's going to happen," said Rebecca's mother, Tami Graham.

Browning Pearce Elementary School Principal Debra Buckles said every child at the school was sent home with a letter and is aware of the situation.

"She is a sweet, sweet, beautiful, tiny little girl, and we're just all holding out all hope that she will be found and be back in school really soon," Buckles said.

For a lot of parents who have children at Browning Pearce, Haleigh's disappearance has really hit close to home because they said they live nearby the missing 5-year-old's family. They said because of the disappearance they will sure to do everything they can to make sure their own children stay safe.

"We just need to -- all of us need to lock our doors," said parent Carla Beatty.

Both parents and employees at the school said Haleigh's disappearance has made them want to hold on to their own children even tighter.

"It's every parent's worst nightmare. I just cannot imagine the heartache and the tragedy that they're going through," Buckles said.

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/18694793/detail.html#-

[Faith]

Bounty Hunter Offers 25K Reward

SATSUMA, FL -- The search for Haleigh Cummings has brought several people out here wanting to help.

First Coast News spoke to a man named Leonard Padilla, a bounty hunter from Sacramento, CA.

Padilla says he's been doing this for 35 years and is offering a $25,000 reward for Haleigh's safe return no questions asked.

He says he's seen this work before and wants to try it again.
"Nobody else is stepping up and saying hey lets figure out how to put up a reward.

Now maybe someone else will get energized," says Padilla.

Video at link

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=131133&catid=3

[Faith]

48 Hours Pass With No Sign Of Missing Girl

POSTED: Wednesday, February 11, 2009
UPDATED: 11:26 pm EST February 11, 2009

SATSUMA, Fla. -- More than two full days have passed since anyone's seen Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings, and still the Putnam County girl is no where to be found.

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 the 5-year-old 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.

On Wednesday night, Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, made another plea for the safe return of his little girl.

"I'd like to say if anybody's watching and they've seen the picture of my daughter and they've seen her anywhere, please get in contact with local law enforcement officer or Crimestoppers," Cummings said. "I know what happened to my daughter. She came up missing out of my house in the middle of the night. Besides that, no I don't know."

Detectives said they don't know either.

On Wednesday, investigators announced the 5-year-old's disappearance is being treated as an abduction and the active search for the child was scaled back 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.

They said everyone, from family members to friends to a repairman who serviced the family's air conditioning unit, is being questioned about in the case.

Police interviewed people who know Haleigh and people who do not. Investigators have even offered lie-detector tests to anyone who would take one.

"Yes, I have taken a polygraph test. Yes, I did pass it," Cummings said.

Detectives said no one is being considered a person of interest in the girl's disappearance, and everyone is still considered a suspect.

Candlelight Vigil Held For Haleigh

For the second time in as many days, friends and family said a prayer and lit candles for Haleigh's safe return.

The missing girl's loved ones have been sitting under a tent just yards away from the home for much of the day as they leaned on each other for support.

"I don't know where she is or who has her. I just want her home," said Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield.

Haleigh's grandmother, Marie Griffiths, told Channel 4 the little girl would never willing go with a stranger, but she still has hope the 5-year-old is alive.

"Haleigh is living and breathing. I don't feel that there's anything that has happened to her bad," Griffiths said.

Investigators have ruled out the possibility the girl may have wandered off in the middle of the night because she's afraid of the dark. However, Haleigh's mother confirmed there was in an incident a few years ago in which the child wandered to a canal near their back yard and was found floating face down.

Sheffield and investigators insist that incident has nothing to do with the current situation.

"Just bring my baby home," Sheffield said on Wednesday.

"She's a baby. She needs her mother, and she needs her family. She don’t need to be out there with strangers if that's where she's at. We want her home. Y'all bring her to her mother if you don’t want to take her anywhere else," Griffiths said.

Authorities ask anyone with any information to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0800 or the FDLE's Missing Endangered Persons Information Clearinghouse at 888-FL-MISSING.

Previous Stories:

February 11, 2009: Detective: Haleigh's Disappearance Considered Abduction (http://www.news4jax.com/news/18690324/detail.html)
February 10, 2009: Family, Friends Pray As Search For Missing 5-Year-Old Continues (http://www.news4jax.com/news/18686639/detail.html)
February 10, 2009: 5-Year-Old Vanishes From Bedroom; Father Says She Was 'Stolen' (http://www.news4jax.com/news/18680086/detail.html)





http://www.news4jax.com/news/18695730/detail.html#-

[Faith]

Detectives: Missing Florida Girl Was Kidnapped, Family Members and 'All the World' Are Suspects
Last Edited: Wednesday, 11 Feb 2009, 11:43 PM EST
02/11/2009 -- Florida detectives say they believe a 5-year-old girl who vanished from her bed Tuesday morning was abducted — and they aren't overlooking anyone, including family members, as suspects.
Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings reportedly vanished from her bed before dawn on Tuesday.
The child was reported missing by her father Ronald Cummings and his 17-year-old girlfriend Misty Croslin.


Click here for photos. (http://www.myfoxnepa.com/photoessay/0,4644,6551,00.html)

"It is never safe to say that a family member is not a suspect," Putnam County Sheriff's spokesman Gary Bowling told reporters at a Wednesday press conference. "However, all the world is a suspect right now."


Bowling said Croslin, Cummings and the child's mother, Crystal Sheffield, as well as several others have been questioned in the case. Police have given them all the chance to take lie detector tests.


"Every person that we’re interviewing we’ve offered a polygraph to," Bowling said. "I can’t say who has and hasn’t taken a polygraph. ... It's to give them a chance to eliminate themselves as a suspect."


Investigators conducted a second day of ground and air searches Wednesday for Haleigh.


"This child didn't voluntarily walk out of her home. If she did, someone took her," Bowling said earlier.


There were still no firm leads in the case, despite police interviews with Cummings, Croslin and sex offenders in the area.
Haleigh, her 2-year-old brother and Croslin went to bed in the same room in the family's mobile home at about 10 p.m. Monday night, investigators said. Croslin told deputies the little girl got up between 3 and 3:30 a.m. to go to the bathroom.


About the same time, Cummings arrived home from work. When they went into the bedroom, he and Croslin say they discovered that Haleigh had vanished.


The back door was open, but investigators didn't find any sign of forced entry.


Cummings said his daughter is afraid of the dark and wouldn't wander away by herself.


"Somebody stole my child," he said. "Trust me when I tell you that I know my child."


Investigators say Croslin is now with her family, but they're not calling her a suspect nor are they revealing whether the child's father is a focus of the investigation.


"I don't know that for sure," Putnam County Sheriff's Sgt. Jason Nettles told FOXNews.com on Tuesday.


Haleigh's grandfather, Johnny Sheffield, said he was distraught about the girl's disappearance and characterized Croslin as suspicious, though he admitted he didn't know much about her, according to MyFOXOrlando.com.
Cummings said his girlfriend was awake and frantic after she found Haleigh was gone.


But in the police report, obtained by FOX News, Cummings reportedly told officers that his "dumb bitch girlfriend" told him Haleigh was gone when he got home from work.


"Ronald said that he did not know what Haleigh was wearing, and that all he knew was that the back door was standing open. Ronald repeatedly said that someone had taken his child and also said 'When I find him I'll kill him,'" police wrote in the report.


He referred to a 9mm Beretta handgun he owns and said if authorities found his daughter's kidnapper, "he would shoot them through the back window of the patrol car," the police report said.


Croslin and Cummings called 911 after discovering the girl was missing, according to the report. The tapes were released Wednesday.


Detectives wrote that they followed a path that led behind the home and found what appeared to be a child's footprint in the dirt, though Cummings said his daughter's shoes were in the house.


Police had never been called to the home in the past — but there have been prior problems with Cummings, Croslin and the children, said Putnam County Capt. Steve Rose.


"There have been some investigations done through the department of children and family," Rose told FOX News on Wednesday. He didn't elaborate.
The child lives with the couple and her little brother in Putnam County, Fla. Nettles said he didn't know whether further interviews with them were planned.


Nettles told FOXNews.com that the hunt for Haleigh got under way Wednesday morning, with more helicopter searches as well as more on the ground using K-9 units.


Deputies say they have questioned 44 registered sex offenders who live within five miles of Haleigh's home, according to MyFOXOrlando.com.
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 on Tuesday.


An air conditioner repair man who was at the home on Monday was questioned after police found out about his house call but cleared him of any wrongdoing.


Local and state authorities and the FBI searched for Haleigh in neighbors' homes and vehicles leaving her neighborhood on the St. Johns River, as well as in the nearby river and woods for signs of the girl. The effort lasted through the night Tuesday.


Investigators are asking for the public's help. Leads have been minimal, according to authorities.


Crystal Sheffield made a tearful plea about her little girl on TV news Tuesday night.


"I just want to say, 'Bring her back home. Please,'" Sheffield said.
Rose said Sheffield doesn't live in the area but traveled to Putnam County after she learned of her daughter's disappearance and has been interviewed.


"She is cooperating," Rose told FOX News.


The family held a candlelight vigil Tuesday night and said they plan to continue with the vigils until the child comes home.


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


Anyone with information about the girl is urged to contact the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at (386) 329-0800 or 911.
Click here for more on this story from MyFOXOrlando.com. (http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/local/0211095_Police_missing_girl_abducted)

[Faith]

Door-to-door search for missing girl

Last Edited: Wednesday, 11 Feb 2009, 10:49 PM EST
Created On: Wednesday, 11 Feb 2009, 12:16 PM EST

SATSUMA - Sheriff's deputies searched house-to-house Wednesday and dive teams probed the St. Johns River for a 5-year-old north Florida girl who went missing from her bed.

A Florida Amber Alert was issued for Haleigh Cummings of Satsuma, about 70 miles north of Orlando. The girl was last seen Monday night when she went to bed.

Investigators with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said it was not clear if Haleigh was abducted or wandered out into the rural neighborhood that borders the river. They said the mobile home where she lives had no signs of forced entry, but a back door was open.

Haleigh's father told investigators the blonde girl was missing when he returned home from work around 3 a.m. Tuesday. Ronald Cummings said his girlfriend was awake and frantic that Haleigh was missing from her bed.

Officers from local, state and federal agencies and K-9 teams scoured the neighborhood around the doublewide mobile home where the child disappeared from a bedroom she shared with her 4-year-old brother and her father's girlfriend.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office released the 911 calls in the Amber Alert for the missing 5-year-old girl, as deputies knocked on doors.

"We go door to door. We meet with the homeowners and ask if they mind if we go look around," said Lt. Johnny Greenwood, a spokesman for the sheriff's office. "You ask if you can look in the back of the house, at the sheds and anything that's around there."

Several hundred homes were expected to be surveyed. Check points were set up at the entrance to the neighborhood to search departing vehicles. Two dive teams explored the St. Johns River. Neighbors and family members also were being interviewed by detectives.

The girl's disappearance has not been classified as an abduction.

"We're currently working both angles?did she wander off, we're working it that way with the searches," Greenwood said. "And investigators are doing interviews in case it is an abduction."

video at link

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/021209_amber_alert_911_calls

[Faith]

Haleigh 'abducted'
Police, divers still searching for 5-year-old girl

12:22 AM on Thursday, February 12, 2009

SATSUMA -- As an exhaustive search stretched into the second day for a 5-year-old Putnam County girl who vanished from her bed, investigators said they still have no hard lead in a case that is now being called an abduction.

Repeated interviews and retraced searches around the mobile home where Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings disappeared have yielded little.

"There is no indication anyone is involved at all," said lead detective John Merchant of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, summing up the results of work by local, state and federal agencies.

Investigators have begun to expand beyond the scrublands and waterways that surround the south Putnam County community. Family members of the kindergartner have been re-interviewed and have been cooperative.

Neighbors tell the same story of being woken by officers asking to peer through their homes in an area where many retreated in retirement.

Amid it all, there is hope.

"I don't feel she is gone," said her grandmother, Marie Griffis. "I don't think she is here in this area. She's out of this area."

But the hope is tempered.

"She is in pain," Griffis said. "I can feel her pain."

Fear of the dark

Investigators said they soon concluded that Haleigh didn't wander off from the mobile home where she went to bed in underwear and a pink top Monday night. Darkness falls deeply in the rural part of the county where she lived with her younger brother, father and his girlfriend.

Haleigh feared the dark, 25-year-old Ronald Cummings said of his little girl.

And though the surroundings are wooded, they did not pose a problem to dogs and other searchers.

"It's a very easy area to search," said Maj. Gary Bowling of the Sheriff's Office.

A cinder block at the back door to the trailer and a continuing collection of evidence at the mobile home also point away from homicide, he said.

"There is nothing glaringly evident that there was a homicide in the house," he said.

In a 911 call to the Sheriff's Office, Cummings' 17-year-old girlfriend, Misty Croslin, said the cinder block seemed out of place. Bowling said the brick was propping open a screen door and that no one at the house recalls placing it there.

"We don't know what that means," he said. "We have the cinder block; we are going to look at the cinder block."

$25,000 reward

As investigators build timeline evidence, others offer speculation and theories as the case builds in notoriety.

Bounty hunter Leonard Padilla, who most recently gained attention in the Caylee Anthony case when he bailed the missing girl's mother out of jail, arrived in Putnam with a $25,000 cash reward offer for Haleigh's safe return, no questions asked.

"You've got to do something in the first few days," he said at the Sheriff's Office command post.

Padilla said he would focus on Cummings' girlfriend.

"He's got a 17-year-old girlfriend watching the kids," he said.

Bowling said the girl has been interviewed and that anyone questioned has been asked if they wished to take a polygraph. He would not say how many agreed.

Theory: abduction

Detectives are focusing on what they have increasingly come to believe.

"We do believe it is an abduction," Bowling said.

He said sex offenders within a 5-mile radius -- at least 44 are registered -- are being interviewed by the FBI, and detectives are widening the search.

"Eventually you have to draw a line in the sand, and you have to consider, 'Where would an abductor on foot with a child walk to?' After that, 50 yards is 50 miles."

He said investigators now are trying to build a timeline, including everything they can about who was involved in Haleigh's life in the past 30 days until the hours before she was found missing and the moments when Cummings arrived home from a normal shift of work about 3 a.m. as Croslin was calling for help.

"How that dense piece of timeline works out is what we're trying to focus on," Bowling said.

Cautionary river patrols continued Wednesday just in case Haleigh somehow went into the water.

"We want to be the first to know that," he said.

No family tension

Turning his attention back inward, Bowling said while Cummings and the children's mother have been separated for years, there is no outward tension.

"There are no apparent custody issues," he said. "The father has custody."

A statewide Amber Alert was issued Tuesday. A state team of investigators specializing in child abduction was brought in.

Today, volunteer groups may join the search as investigators plan to retrace their steps.

In the surrounding neighborhoods, residents accustomed to a quiet corner of a quiet county mix concern with wonder about what has come.

"Never before would you have dreamed someone would abduct a kid in here," said Marty Hubbard, 52, standing outside Hermit's Cove Marina, a short distance downstream from where Haleigh went missing. "There's something weird."

http://www.staugustine.com/stories/021209/news_021209_043.shtml

[sarahhod]

Massive Search Launched for Missing Florida Girl

Thursday February 12, 2009
http://z.about.com/d/crime/1/0/2/0/1/cummings_h.jpg Police suspect a stranger abducted a five-year-old Florida girl from her bedroom after interviewing family members and neighbors. A nationwide Amber Alert has been issued for Haleigh Cummings of Satsuma, Florida who has been missing since 3 a.m. Tuesday. A massive search of the area near the St. Johns River has turned up no clues, authorities said.
Haleigh lives with her father, Ronald Cummings, and his girlfriend, Misty Croslin in Putnam County. Cummings was at work Monday night when Croslin woke up around 3 a.m. and realized Haleigh was missing. She found the back door of the home held open with a brick. She immediately called 9-1-1.
"There's no longer any reason to believe that the child simply wandered outside," said Putnam County Sheriff's Office Maj. Gary Bowling, who said investigators must "assume abduction."
44 Registered Sex Offenders
"All the answers to why you'd want to take a 5-year-old are ugly," Bowling said. "All the world's a suspect now."
Police interviewed all the family members, including Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield, who lives in Georgia near the Georgia-Florida line. Ronald Cummings reportedly took a polygraph test. "All I want is my child ... please ... all I want is my child," Cummings said at a news conference.
Misty Croslin, who is only 17 years old, is now staying with relatives during the investigation. "She's just a child herself," Bowling told reporters.
There are 44 registered sex offenders living within five miles of the Cummings' double-wide trailer in Putnam and Palatka Counties, which are both along the St. Johns River. All are being interviewed and offered the opportunity to take a polygraph test.



http://crime.about.com/b/2009/02/12/...orida-girl.htm (http://crime.about.com/b/2009/02/12/massive-search-launched-for-missing-florida-girl.htm)

[sarahhod]

Missing 5-year-old Florida girl likely was abducted, police say

Helen Eckinger |Sentinel Staff Writer February 12, 2009

SATSUMA - The search for Haleigh Cummings turned more desperate Wednesday after officials said someone likely abducted the 5-year-old from her bedroom in rural Putnam County.

"There is no longer any reason to believe that the child simply wandered off outside," said Maj. Gary Bowling of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

Family members begged for the safe return of the girl they call Doodlebug on the second day of a massive search in this sparsely populated county about 80 miles north of Orlando.

"Just bring her back," said Haleigh's maternal grandmother, Marie Griffis. "There are plenty of places you can drop off a kid, no questions asked."
Haleigh lives with her father, Ronald Cummings, 25, and his girlfriend in a double-wide in Satsuma, an isolated riverfront community northeast of Ocala National Forest (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/environmental-issues/natural-resources/forests/ocala-national-forest-PLREC000081.topic).

The girlfriend, Misty Croslin, 17, put Haleigh to bed about 10 p.m. Monday while Cummings was working at PDM Bridge.

Croslin woke up about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, noticed Haleigh was missing and called 911 for help.

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

A screen door on the side of the couple's Satsuma home had been propped open with a cinder block. The main door was slightly ajar, but authorities found no obvious signs of forced entry.

Cummings just returned home while Croslin was talking to the dispatcher.

"I just got home from work, and my 5-year-old daughter is gone. I need somebody to be here now, I'm telling you," he told the dispatcher. "If I find whoever has my daughter before you do, I'm killing them. I don't care if I have to spend the rest of my life in prison."

Officials issued a statewide alert for Haleigh on Tuesday, triggering a search that quickly drew as many as 130 officers from several law-enforcement agencies with bloodhounds and helicopters.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, FBI (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/crime-law-justice/crimes/fbi-ORGOV000008.topic), and Volusia, Marion and Flagler sheriff's offices are helping Putnam County deputies and investigators.

The search continued Wednesday and included divers exploring the nearby St. Johns River.

Bowling said 44 sex offenders live in a 5-mile radius of Cummings' home, but most have been contacted by law enforcement since Haleigh disappeared. Many sought out authorities on their own.

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

No suspects have been named, and no one has been ruled out.

"All the world's a suspect right now," Bowling said.

Family members said Haleigh was unlikely to leave on her own.

"Haleigh is a very indoor-type child," said Griffis, her grandmother. "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.

Her mother, Crystal Sheffield, 23, was at her home in Baker County near the Florida-Georgia state line at the time of her daughter's disappearance. She was in Putnam County on Wednesday, talking with investigators and waiting for news on her daughter's whereabouts.

She gets custody of Haleigh and her 3-year-old brother, Ronald Jr., every other weekend. This weekend the family was planning to celebrate Ronald's fourth birthday.

Joshua Duckett, father of missing Lake County toddler Trenton Duckett (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/crime-law-justice/crimes/trenton-duckett-PECLB002294.topic), stepped in Wednesday as a family spokesman.
"I've been through it, and it definitely helps the family to have someone who can say, 'Hey, I know what you're going through,' " said Duckett, whose son was last seen Aug. 26, 2006.

Also Wednesday, bounty hunter Leonard Padilla, who inserted himself in the case of missing Orlando toddler Caylee Marie Anthony (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/crime-law-justice/crimes/caylee-anthony-PECLB004332.topic), joined the ranks heading for Putnam County. At a staging area near Cummings' house, he said curiosity had drawn him to Haleigh's search.

Meanwhile, a volunteer group from Houston that helped look for Caylee 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, 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, he said.

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

Anyone with information about Haleigh's whereabouts is asked to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0808.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...9.story?page=2 (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-missing1209feb12,0,4662439.story?page=2)

[sarahhod]

Child 'Snatched' From Putnam Home


10:18am UK, Thursday February 12, 2009
A search is on for a 5-year-old girl who has been reported missing from her home in Florida.


http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2009/Feb/Week2/15221626.jpg
Haleigh Cummings: missing since Monday




Haleigh Cummings was reported missing in the early hours of Tuesday morning - she was being looked after by the 17-year-old girlfriend of her father, Ronald.
The girlfriend, Misty Croslin, who was also looking after Haleigh's little brother, called the Florida (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Florida) police to report the child missing at around 3am after waking up and discovering the child was gone.
"There's no longer any reason to believe that the child simply wandered outside," said Mayor Gary Bowling of the county sheriff's office in Putnam (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Putnam).
"She's a 5-year-old child, and she's afraid of the dark..we feel really desperate that 24 hours have passed now and we don't have a clue where this child is.
Florida police spokesman

The police must "assume abduction. All the answers to why you'd want to take a 5-year-old are ugly."
Police said they had no official suspects, but were treating everyone being interviewed as a potential suspect.
The blonde-haired, brown-eyed little girl was last seen wearing a pink T-shirt and underwear.
"She's a 5-year-old child, and she's afraid of the dark," Mayor Bowling said.
"We feel good about what we're doing, but we feel really desperate that 24 hours have passed now and we don't have a clue where this child is," he said.
"We haven't lost ground, but we haven't gained any ground that we can you know plant a stake in and say yeah we're making progress in this area."



http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Wor...00902215221501 (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Florida-Police-Search-For-Missing-Girl-Hayleigh-Cummings/Article/200902215221501)

[sarahhod]

Investigators: Girl's disappearance was abduction


Associated Press - February 12, 2009 6:14 AM ET

SATSUMA, Fla. (AP) - Investigators say they're treating the disappearance of a 5-year-old north Florida girl as an abduction.
Haleigh Cummings was last seen Monday night in her father's mobile home in Satsuma. The rural community is about 70 miles north of Orlando.
Putnam County Sheriff's Office Major Gary Bowling says there's no longer any reason to believe Haleigh wandered away. Bowling says there's no evidence of Haleigh near her home.
Haleigh was reported missing when her father returned home from work early Tuesday. His girlfriend had woken up and discovered the child was missing.
Authorities have searched Haleigh's neighborhood house-to-house and divers have probed the St. Johns River.
Major Gary Bowling says volunteer groups may begin searching nearby areas of thick vegetation Thursday.

http://www.wflxfox29.com/Global/story.asp?S=9832139&nav=menu98_3

[sarahhod]

Search for Haleigh Continues; probe intestifies; authorities say girl abducted



BY LARRY SULLIVAN

Published: Thursday, February 12, 2009 12:46 AM EST
Palatka Daily News

SATSUMA - Authorities believe the 5-year-old Putnam County girl missing since early Tuesday was kidnapped and are trying to identify who's responsible.

Meanwhile, the search for Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings continued Wednesday.

"All the answers to why you would take a 5-year-old are ugly," Maj. Gary Bowling, a spokesman for the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

The massive ground and air search launched Tuesday around the South Putnam neighborhood known as Hermits Cove, complete with roadblocks and door-to-door canvassing, changed Wednesday to a quiet-but-determined effort by local, state and federal officers.

Bowling said an intensive investigation was under way and "all the world is a suspect."

Wednesday's developments include:

� Authorities said there was no trace of Haleigh, no arrests and no suspects.

� Bloodhounds tracked Haleigh's scent from her home to the St. Johns River, but authorities don't know how recent the tracks were. Divers checked the area nearby.

� Relatives maintained a vigil not far from the command center directing the search.

� FBI agents are helping question people, including 44 registered sex offenders living within five miles of Haleigh's home.

� Volunteers may be utilized later in the week.

Haleigh was reported missing at 3:27 a.m. Tuesday by Misty Croslin, 17, girlfriend of Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, who had just gotten home from his night shift at PDM Bridge in Palatka.

The rear door of their home was propped open with a cinderblock, authorities said, and there was no sign of forced entry.

Croslin had been sleeping next to Haleigh and when she went to the restroom, the child vanished. Haleigh's 3-year-old brother was unharmed.

"She was sleeping right next to me," Croslin told the Daily News while distributing flyers bearing Haleigh's photo on Tuesday. "I can't believe I didn't hear anything."

The emergency call for help triggered a massive response. About 150 law officers worked from helicopters, all-terrain vehicles and on foot, as well as boats, into the night Tuesday.

On Wednesday, about 50 officers were involved, and the ranks of investigators were growing.

"Right now, a major focus is on the investigation," Bowling said. "We've talked to nearly everyone in the neighborhood."

Through extensive interviews, investigators are building a timeline of Haleigh's family going back 30 days in an attempt to uncover leads, Bowling said.

"The family is cooperating with us completely," Bowling said.

Haleigh's maternal grandparents and other relatives gathered Wednesday on a grassy area between the Cummings home and the sheriff's office command post. Throughout the day they met with deputies and well-wishers.

Behind them were signs expressing support. One, written on a blue sheet, urged people to pray for the young girl's safe return.

Johnny Sheffield, Haleigh's grandfather, and his ex-wife, Marie Griffis, expressed doubt in Croslin's account, saying details of her account "don't fit."

"How could somebody lift her up and move her and this girl not even wake up?" Griffis said. "It don't fit together. I don't know, it just don't work."

Sheffield said he believed his daughter's ex-husband and Croslin had dated about three to six months.

"I don't know nothing about her," he said. "Never seen her, never spoke to her."

As they spoke, their daughter, Crystal Sheffield, watched and waited inside a SUV. Griffis said her daughter was distraught over the disappearance and came to Putnam County for word.

Down the road, another group of relatives and friends waited for news.

Teresa Neves, Haleigh's paternal grandmother, said they stayed there all night Tuesday. Supporters held a candlelight vigil.

Griffis, meanwhile, urged Haleigh's abductor to release the girl.

"Just take her somewhere where the police can have access to her," she said.

Sheffield, who lives in Fruitland, said he wouldn't give up.

"I'm going to look over hell and half of Georgia until I find her," Sheffeld said.

"They're not going to get away with it. I'm going to find my baby," he added. "Somebody around here knows something."

Also Wednesday, authorities explained the blanket and bed sheets on a wooden ramp leading from the Cummings' back door. Bowling said the items had been brought out by police so tracking dogs could learn Haleigh's scent.

Sheriff Jeff Hardy on Wednesday cited assistance Putnam County was receiving from other agencies and said the cooperative effort increased the chance of "a positive outcome."

The sheriff's office also has received numerous tips, and residents have also provided food and other support, Hardy said.

"I want to thank the public for their assistance," he said.

Many volunteers have offered to help search for Haleigh, Bowling said, and they may be utilized later this week.

Johnny Sheffield, Haleigh's grandfather, praised the efforts of the sheriff's office and other agencies, describing their work as "tremendous."

"We can't say enough," Sheffield said.

http://www.palatkadailynews.com/arti...ews/news01.txt (http://www.palatkadailynews.com/articles/2009/02/12/news/news01.txt)

[sarahhod]

Haleigh's principal remains hopeful



BY KRISTIN CHAMBERS

Published: Thursday, February 12, 2009 12:46 AM EST
Palatka Daily News

SAN MATEO - An average of 18 students fill each of the nine kindergarten classrooms at Browning-Pearce Elementary School.

One desk remains empty.

Along with the rest of the community, staff and students hope that 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings will soon return home.

School Principal Debra Buckles has faith she will be found, and like many mothers, can relate to what the family is feeling.

"I have five children and four grandchildren," Buckles said Wednesday. "My baby is 26 years old. It doesn't matter how old they get, they're still your baby."

Buckles knows Haleigh as a good student with beautiful, long, blonde hair and big brown eyes.

"She is very sweet and well-behaved," Buckles said. "She is very happy child - always a smile on her face."

Tuesday afternoon, Buckles sent out letters informing approximately 800 students and their families about the disappearance of Haleigh. The letter asked everyone to remain alert for the missing child, and explained that the incident did not take place on campus. It also assured parents that the school is taking every precaution to keep the students safe.

So far she has not received many phone calls, and only a few students have asked questions regarding their classmate. Even so, precautions have been taken to offer support for those in need.

"We have a counselor on campus, a visiting counselor from the south end of the county, plus two more counselors on standby," Buckles said.

"I'm very hopeful she is going to be found, and we're going to have a homecoming for her," Buckles said.

In addition to the counselors available, teachers are answering individual questions students may have regarding their schoolmate.

"I think it's a natural reaction to be in a state of shock with something this tragic," Buckles said. "We're hanging on to the hope that she will be found, and everything will return back to normal."

Buckles said in her memory this is the first incident of a missing Browning-Pearce child.

http://www.palatkadailynews.com/arti...ews/news02.txt (http://www.palatkadailynews.com/articles/2009/02/12/news/news02.txt)

[sarahhod]

Florida Girl 'Snatched' From Home


11:52am UK, Thursday February 12, 2009
A kidnap investigation has been launched after a five-year-old girl was snatched from her home in Florida.


http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2009/Feb/Week2/15221626.jpg Police believe Haleigh Cummings was kidnapped


Haleigh Cummings was reported missing in the early hours of Tuesday morning - she was being looked after by the 17-year-old girlfriend of her father, Ronald.
Misty Croslin, who was also looking after Haleigh's little brother, called police at around 3am after waking up and discovering the child was gone.
"There's no longer any reason to believe that the child simply wandered outside," said Mayor Gary Bowling of the county sheriff's office in Putnam (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Putnam).

"She's a 5-year-old child, and she's afraid of the dark..we feel really desperate that 24 hours have passed now and we don't have a clue where this child is.
Florida police spokesman

The police have said they must "assume abduction".
"All the answers to why you'd want to take a five-year-old are ugly," Mayor Bowling added.
Police said they have no official suspects, but were treating everyone being interviewed as a potential suspect.
The blonde-haired, brown-eyed little girl was last seen wearing a pink T-shirt and underwear.
"She's a five-year-old child, and she's afraid of the dark," Mayor Bowling said.
"We feel good about what we're doing, but we feel really desperate that 24 hours have passed now and we don't have a clue where this child is," he said.



http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Wor...leigh_Cummings (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Florida-Police-Search-For-Missing-Girl-Hayleigh-Cummings/Article/200902215221501?lpos=World_News_First_Home_Article _Teaser_Region_1&lid=ARTICLE_15221501_Florida_Police_Search_For_Mis sing_Girl_Hayleigh_Cummings)

[sarahhod]

Police: Girl probably abducted

http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=GS&Date=20090212&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=902121020&Ref=AR&Profile=1002&MaxW=600&border=0 (http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090212/ARTICLES/902121020/1002/news?Title=Police__5_year_old_probably_abducted#) Doug Finger/The Gainesville Sun
Johnny Sheffield comforts his daughter Crystal Sheffield, the mother of missing 5-year-old Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings, Wednesda.


By Christopher Curry (chris.curry@starbanner.com) & Lise Fisher (fisherl@gvillesun.com)
Staff writers


Published: Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 11:22 p.m.
PALATKA - Absent any sign of a missing south Putnam County girl, investigators called her disappearance an abduction on Wednesday, two days after she was last seen at her father's home.


Related Links:


Interview with Grandparents of Missing 5-year-old (http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090211/VIDEO/902110301/1002) | Video
Dad of missing Leesburg boy supports Haleigh's family (http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090211/ARTICLES/902110928/1002)
A depressingly familiar Florida story (http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090211/ARTICLES/902110949/1002)
Father's urgency, rage heard on 911 recordings (http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090211/ARTICLES/902110942/1002)
Authorities: No suspects in case of missing Putnam girl (http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090211/ARTICLES/902100984/1002)



More Photos:


Searching for Haleigh Cummings (http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=GS&Dato=20090211&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=211009997&Ref=PH&Profile=1002&show=galleries)



With no evidence of Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings near her residence in Satsuma, there is no longer any reason to believe the child wandered away, Putnam County Sheriff's Office Maj. Gary Bowling said Wednesday afternoon.
"We just don't believe that the child is here, so we assume abduction," Bowling said.
About 150 officers and 20 law enforcement agencies have been searching for the child, whom family members said was last seen at about 10 p.m. Monday in a bedroom at her father's home in the Hermit's Cove area of Satsuma, which is about 10 miles south of Palatka.
The man's girlfriend said she woke up about 3 a.m. and discovered the child was gone. A rear door at the double-wide mobile home was ajar, but authorities could not say if it had previously been locked.
During a 911 call made from the home, the girlfriend reported that the door always stayed locked.
Scanning from the air, combing the St. Johns River about 300 yards from the residence, and hunting on the ground through woods and with bloodhounds produced no sign of the girl Wednesday. A young child like Haleigh would be afraid of walking down a dark hall by herself, Bowling told reporters. And, without any history indicating she might have wandered away, the likelihood of an abduction has become increasingly likely.
Officers also said they had no reports of a custody issue between the father and mother.
"All the world's a suspect right now," Bowling said. "We're going to treat every family member, every neighbor as a suspect until we eliminate them."
Bowling's words echoed comments from the girl's relatives and others in the community who feared she had been taken.
The child's father, Ronald Cummings, 24, broke down in tears on a neighbor's lawn Tuesday and said someone had taken his child. The girl's mother, Crystal Sheffield, 23, held a picture of her daughter and cried with him.
Cummings had been at work from late Monday night until early Tuesday. He arrived home some time after 3 a.m. to find that his girlfriend had already discovered Haleigh missing. He works at a company that makes steel girders for bridges, and relatives said it wasn't unusual for him to return home from work at that hour.
Haleigh had been at the home with her younger brother and her father's 17-year-old girlfriend, Misty Croslin.
The two children were in the same bedroom with Croslin when she awoke to go to the restroom shortly before Cummings got home from work and discovered the girl missing, officers reported Tuesday.
Bowling said Croslin, like others who know Haleigh or are her relatives, had been questioned by - and was cooperating with - authorities.
"She's with family," Bowling said when asked about Croslin's whereabouts. "We're just going to keep close contact with her."
Both Croslin and Cummings made frantic 911 calls early Tuesday. The Sheriff's Office released redacted copies of the calls Wednesday.
"If I find whoever has my daughter before y'all do, I'm killing them. I don't care. I'll spend the rest of my life in prison. ... I don't care," Cummings said during the call.
Earlier Wednesday, Haleigh's mother - Sheffield, of Baker County - made a desperate plea.
"I just want whoever has her to bring her home, drop her off somewhere," Sheffield said as she fought back tears. "I just don't know who could have done this. It's tearing me apart."
She said Haleigh is a "wonderful child" who acts very motherly toward her brother, Ronald Cummings Jr., who is 2.
Haleigh's maternal grandparents also made an impassioned plea for the girl's return.
Standing in Satsuma - next to a street-side banner that says "Our prayers are with you, Haleigh" - Marie Griffis and Johnny Sheffield talked with reporters.
Griffis, 43, of Baker County, said she believes the girl is alive. "She's out there somewhere. I can feel it. I can feel her presence."
"People around here know me," said Sheffield, a Putnam County resident. "If anyone around here has my granddaughter, just bring her home to me. She's my first baby from my first baby. Please bring her back. ... I'm going to look around hell and half of Georgia until I find her."
They said the family wants to join the police search for Haleigh but that law enforcement officials won't let them, out of concern that they might contaminate evidence.
Griffis described her grandchild as an outspoken, happy child.
"All we can do is hope, and we believe that she is OK," Griffis said. "If anybody knows her whereabouts just please bring her back. We love her and miss her."
The woman said she didn't believe her granddaughter just left the home.
"She's not going to get up and wander through the house and get up and go through the back door," she said. "She's not going to get up and go outside."
Griffis said she wasn't sure how her granddaughter would react to a stranger but she thought she would put up a fight.
Divers have been checking the St. Johns River. But Griffis said her granddaughter had once fallen into water in the past and she believed the child now was afraid to go near water.
Officers confirmed that a dog, searching for Haleigh's scent, had alerted to something in the direction of the water. But they stressed that could have been due to the way the wind was blowing.
Still, authorities have been paying close attention to the river and sent search teams out in that area again Wednesday.
Blankets from the home were used to provide the dogs with a scent to track, Bowling said.
Officers also were looking at a cinder block that apparently had been used to prop open the back door, according to officers. They were also gathering tips from the public. Authorities urged people to call (386) 329-0808 or 0809 if they had information about the girl.
Fliers of Haleigh and well-wishes for her safe return have gone up around the area, including on U.S 17 north toward Palatka. Her smiling picture beamed from a Burger King drive-through window while a message sending prayers to her was posted on a sign outside another roadside business.
The principal at Browning-Pearce Elementary School, where Haleigh is a kindergarten student, describes the child as "a sweet little girl, a tiny little girl, blond hair, beautiful brown eyes."
Principal Debra Lands-Buckles said Haleigh "always has that smile on her face, just like you see in the flier."
Bowling detailed other efforts to find the girl, from canvassing homes and plans to re-search some residences or get access to others that did not appear occupied to checking on the whereabouts of 44 sex offenders who live within a five-mile radius of the home.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI were assisting in speaking or locating those individuals, some of whom live across the river on the opposite bank from the Hermit's Cove area. Bowling said some of these people have voluntarily come forward to eliminate themselves as suspects.
In interviews with family and others who know Haleigh, officers confirmed that all had been offered the chance to take a lie detector test. He didn't say who had accepted the offer.
Although the focus of the investigation is on an abduction, Bowling said volunteer groups will again be searching the area for Haleigh. Some spots that could be looked at will be areas of thick vegetation, initially thought to be too densely overgrown or difficult for a child to wander into.
Officers called off any overnight searches Wednesday but remained near the home from which Haleigh disappeared to provide security. Another update on the case was scheduled for this afternoon.


http://www.gainesville.com/article/2...bably_abducted (http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090212/ARTICLES/902121020/1002/news?Title=Police__5_year_old_probably_abducted)

[sarahhod]

Familiar faces in hunt for Haleigh

By Monica Stein @ February 12, 2009 6:39 AM

A massive search continues for a 5-year-old Putnam County girl.
http://wdbo.com/images/2009/02/cummings_m.jpgMany of the same search teams active in the hunt for Caylee Anthony are arriving in Satsuma, offering a helping hand in finding Haleigh Cummings, the Satsuma kindergartener believed abducted late Monday night.
Her grandmother says she's afraid of the dark and would not have walked away.
Also now in Putnam County, California bounty hunter Leonard Padilla.
"By offering a twenty-five-thousand dollar reward for the live return of her by Saturday midnight, that it will trigger something in somebody's mind." Padilla hopes whoever has Haleigh thinks the cash is more valuable than the girl.
As for a suspect, police say they still don't have one, even after questioning dozens of people who have had any recent contact with Haleigh.



http://wdbo.com/localnews/2009/02/fa...t-for-hal.html (http://wdbo.com/localnews/2009/02/familiar-faces-in-hunt-for-hal.html)

[sarahhod]

Girl's disappearance was abduction
Originally posted by on: Thursday, February 12, 2009
Last updated on: 2/12/2009 7:36:58 AM

SATSUMA: Investigators say they're treating the disappearance of a 5-year-old north Florida girl as an abduction.
Haleigh Cummings was last seen Monday night in her father's mobile home in Satsuma. The rural community is about 70 miles north of Orlando.
Putnam County Sheriff's Office Major Gary Bowling says there's no longer any reason to believe Haleigh wandered away. Bowling says there's no evidence of Haleigh near her home.
Haleigh was reported missing when her father returned home from work early Tuesday. His girlfriend had woken up and discovered the child was missing.
Authorities have searched Haleigh's neighborhood house-to-house and divers have probed the St. Johns River.
Major Gary Bowling says volunteer groups may begin searching nearby areas of thick vegetation Thursday.


http://www.abc-7.com/Articles/readne...leid=25912&z=2 (http://www.abc-7.com/Articles/readnews.asp?articleid=25912&z=2)

[sarahhod]

Florida investigators say they're treating 5-year-old's disappearance as an abduction

Associated Press
Last update: February 12, 2009 - 6:44 AM



SATSUMA, Fla. - Investigators say they're treating the disappearance of a 5-year-old north Florida girl as an abduction.
The Putnam County sheriff's office says they are assuming she was abducted because house-to-house searches of the neighborhood found no evidence that she wandered away.
Haleigh (hay-lee) Cummings was last seen Monday night in her father's mobile home in Satsuma. The rural community is about 70 miles north of Orlando.
Haleigh was reported missing when her father returned home from work early Tuesday. His girlfriend had woken up and discovered the child was missing.
Authorities have searched the neighborhood and divers have probed the adjoining St. Johns River.



http://www.startribune.com/nation/39486712.html

[sarahhod]

Mother: "We Want Her Home"

By Rich Jones, News Director @ February 12, 2009 7:24 AM



Investigators, family and friends say they're no closer to answering the question of what happened to Haleigh Cummings.

"I know what happened. My daughter came up missing out of my house in the middle of the night. Besides that, I don't know", said her father Ronald Cummings.
And pleas are now turning to demands.

"She needs her mother, and she needs her family. She don't need to be out there with strangers if that's where she's at. We want her home", said Haleigh's mom Crystal Sheffield.
As part of the investigation, the little girl's family has also been questioned, and some took a polygraph test.
No one is being held for the girl's disappearance at this time.

http://wokv.com/localnews/2009/02/mo...-her-home.html (http://wokv.com/localnews/2009/02/mother-we-want-her-home.html)

[sarahhod]

SATSUMA, Fla. -- After two days of searching, there are still no signs of a missing 5-year-old girl from Putnam County.
Haleigh Cummings has been missing since Monday night. However, investigators still don't know for sure if she was abducted or wandered out of her home.
Deputies said there were no signs of forced entry, but a back door was open.
On Wednesday, searchers went door to door in the area and also searched a river near the girl’s home to see if she may have somehow ended up in the water.
According to Haleigh's grandmother, she believes her granddaughter is still alive, but is no longer in the Putnam County area.
Crystal Sheffield, Haleigh’s mother, admits the girl has wandered off before and was found in a canal.
"It wasn’t like she wandered out. I mean, we were getting ready to leave. I told her father to get her and put her in the car. I had already put Junior, the baby, in the car. I went back in to get the bags and the baby's stuff. I come out, Haleigh was not in the car, and I ran straight down to the canal, and that's where she was," Sheffield said.
Members of Texas EquuSearch (http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2008/12/2/equusearch_opens_orlando_branch.html), who spent days in Central Florida searching for Caylee Anthony, are also heading to Putnam County to help in the search.
Josh Duckett (http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Sidebar/2009/2/6/whos_who_in_the_case_against_casey.html#Others), the father of missing Lake County toddler Trenton Duckett, was also in Satsuma Wednesday to help with the search.
Meanwhile, bounty hunter Leonard Padilla (http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Sidebar/2009/2/6/whos_who_in_the_case_against_casey.html#Experts_an d_Consultants) is offering a reward of $25,000 for the safe return of Haleigh by midnight Saturday.
Authorities said until they have other evidence, they are treating this as an abduction case.
If you have seen Haleigh Cummings, call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office (http://www.putnamsheriff.org/) at (386) 329-0808 or 911.

http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2...continues.html (http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2009/2/12/amber_alert__search_for_haleigh_continues.html)

[sarahhod]

SATSUMA, Fla. -- After two days of searching, there are still no signs of a missing 5-year-old girl from Putnam County.
Haleigh Cummings has been missing since Monday night. However, investigators still don't know for sure if she was abducted or wandered out of her home.
Deputies said there were no signs of forced entry, but a back door was open.
On Wednesday, searchers went door to door in the area and also searched a river near the girl’s home to see if she may have somehow ended up in the water.
According to Haleigh's grandmother, she believes her granddaughter is still alive, but is no longer in the Putnam County area.
Crystal Sheffield, Haleigh’s mother, admits the girl has wandered off before and was found in a canal.
"It wasn’t like she wandered out. I mean, we were getting ready to leave. I told her father to get her and put her in the car. I had already put Junior, the baby, in the car. I went back in to get the bags and the baby's stuff. I come out, Haleigh was not in the car, and I ran straight down to the canal, and that's where she was," Sheffield said.
Members of Texas EquuSearch (http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2008/12/2/equusearch_opens_orlando_branch.html), who spent days in Central Florida searching for Caylee Anthony, are also heading to Putnam County to help in the search.
Josh Duckett (http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Sidebar/2009/2/6/whos_who_in_the_case_against_casey.html#Others), the father of missing Lake County toddler Trenton Duckett, was also in Satsuma Wednesday to help with the search.
Meanwhile, bounty hunter Leonard Padilla (http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Sidebar/2009/2/6/whos_who_in_the_case_against_casey.html#Experts_an d_Consultants) is offering a reward of $25,000 for the safe return of Haleigh by midnight Saturday.
Authorities said until they have other evidence, they are treating this as an abduction case.
If you have seen Haleigh Cummings, call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office (http://www.putnamsheriff.org/) at (386) 329-0808 or 911.

http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2...continues.html (http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2009/2/12/amber_alert__search_for_haleigh_continues.html)

[sarahhod]

Day 3 in the Search for Haleigh Cummings: Volunteers Get Ready



Posted By: Patricia Jimenez (http://www.firstcoastnews.com/inside/contactus/default.aspx) http://www.firstcoastnews.com/graphics/bullet1.gif Created: 2/12/2009 8:09:15 AM http://www.firstcoastnews.com/graphics/bullet1.gif Updated: 2/12/2009 8:22:08 AM

PUTNAM COUNTY -- It's a new day and Haleigh Cummings' parents still don't have her with them. The five-year-old was last seen Monday night. She was in bed with her little brother and her dad's girlfriend.
Investigators with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office are now treating this as an abduction.
First Coast News talked with a dispatcher Thursday morning who said tips are coming in. She also told us detectives will be able to focus more on the investigation once the volunteer search gets underway in the small town of Satsuma. Detectives will be able to put more emphasis on a timeline of where Haleigh was before she disappeared and will be able to take some deputies off of the streets.
Tim Miller said deputies called and asked for his help. He is the Founder and Director of Texas EquuSearch, an organization of volunteers that travels all over the country looking for missing people.
Miller told us the first step will be to map out a plan. "There are a lot of woods."
He arrived Wednesday night. He says his team will come to town Thursday. They will see where they need to look and determine how many volunteers will be needed. They will bring in equipment like sonar equipment for dive teams. They will search for Haleigh on foot and on horseback. Miller said despite the rainy weatherhttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/mag-glass_10x10.gif (http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=131154&catid=3#) Thursday, he and other volunteers will not lose sight of the main goal - to find Haleigh and bring her home alive.
Miller said the real search for his team will begin Friday. This does not mean deputies will stop their efforts. They plan to continue looking for the little girl.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/l...131154&catid=3 (http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=131154&catid=3)

[sarahhod]

Investigators think missing Fla. girl was abducted

23 minutes ago
SATSUMA, Fla. (AP) — Investigators were treating the disappearance of a 5-year-old north Florida girl as an abduction and continued searching for the child Thursday.
The Putnam County Sheriff's Office said investigators assume Haleigh Cummings was abducted because house-to-house searches of the neighborhood Wednesday found no evidence that she wandered away.
Haleigh's father Ronald Cummings also said he didn't believe she had left their home in the middle of the night.
"I know somebody took her. I know for a fact she didn't wander off — she's afraid of the dark," Cummings told NBC's "Today" on Thursday.
Haleigh was last seen Monday night in her father's mobile home in Satsuma. The rural community along the St. Johns River is about 70 miles north of Orlando.
She was reported missing when her father returned home from work early Tuesday. His girlfriend had woken up and discovered the child was missing.
The girlfriend, 17-year-old Misty Croslin, told a 911 dispatcher that a back door that was usually locked had been propped open by a brick.
Sheriff Jeff Hardy told NBC's "Today" that searches for Haleigh by air, ground and water would continue Thursday. Investigators also were interviewing the 44 sex offenders living within 5 miles of Ronald Cummings' home.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...oHBzgD96A2NTG0 (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h1Nac1XKmGDPZKMEdJOz4f2oHBzgD96A2NTG0)

[sarahhod]

Vigils Held For Missing Putnam Co. Girl

Searchers To Focus On Canal On Thursday

http://images.ibsys.com/2009/0212//18697601_200X150.jpg

WESH.com
updated 8:46 a.m. ET Feb. 12, 2009

SATSUMA, Fla. - The search for a missing Putnam County girl will resume on Thursday.
Haleigh Cummings, 5, disappeared from her home in Satsuma early Tuesday morning.
Law enforcement agencies from across the state joined the FBI on Wednesday to search for the girl.
The community gathered Wednesday night for a pair of candlelight vigils in Haleigh's honor.
The girl's parents are separated, so both held their own vigil. Her mother and grandmother said they won't give up hope.
"I don't know where she is or who has her. I just want her home," mother Crystal Sheffield said.
"Haleigh is living and breathing. I don't feel there's anything that's happened to her bad," grandmother Marie Griffiths said.
Investigators said the case is being considered an abduction.
Searchers will focus on a canal behind Haleigh's home on Thursday.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29157929/

[sarahhod]

Day 3 in the Search for Haleigh Cummings: Volunteers Get Ready


Posted By: Patricia Jimenez (http://www.firstcoastnews.com/inside/contactus/default.aspx) http://www.firstcoastnews.com/graphics/bullet1.gif Created: 2/12/2009 8:09:15 AM http://www.firstcoastnews.com/graphics/bullet1.gif Updated: 2/12/2009 9:54:42 AM
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/genthumb.ashx?e=3&h=240&w=320&i=/assetpool/images/090212094903_021209_haleigh_vigil.jpg

PUTNAM COUNTY -- It's a new day and Haleigh Cummings' parents still don't have her with them. The five-year-old was last seen Monday night. She was in bed with her little brother and her dad's girlfriend.
Investigators with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office are now treating this as an abduction.
First Coast News talked with a dispatcher Thursday morning who said tips are coming in. She also told us detectives will be able to focus more on the investigation once the volunteer search gets underway in the small town of Satsuma. Detectives will be able to put more emphasis on a timeline of where Haleigh was before she disappeared and will be able to take some deputies off of the streets.
Tim Miller said deputies called and asked for his help. He is the Founder and Director of Texas EquuSearch, an organization of volunteers that travels all over the country looking for missing people.
Miller told us the first step will be to map out a plan.
"We got a lot of woods out here, we got a lot of water out here," said Miller. "There are a lot of things we're real concerned about."
He arrived Wednesday night. He says his team will come to town Thursday. They will see where they need to look and determine how many volunteers will be needed. They will bring in equipment like sonar equipment for dive teams. They will search for Haleigh on foot and on horseback. Miller said despite the rainy weatherhttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/mag-glass_10x10.gif (http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/mostpopular/news-article.aspx?storyid=131154&provider=top#) Thursday, he and other volunteers will not lose sight of the main goal - to find Haleigh and bring her home alive.
Miller said the real search for his team will begin Friday. This does not mean deputies will stop their efforts. They plan to continue looking for the little girl.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/m...4&provider=top (http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/mostpopular/news-article.aspx?storyid=131154&provider=top)

[sarahhod]

Story is all-too familiar in Florida

By Anthony Violanti (anthony.violanti@starbanner.com)

Published: Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 6:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 6:13 a.m.

This nightmare feels like a rerun. A child disappears in the middle of the night. Then comes an Amber Alert, a media blitz and pleas from anguished parents. There are gritty cops, sympathetic neighbors, Web chatter, billboards and, finally, the cable TV coverage.

Police: missing girl probably abducted (http://www.ocala.com/article/20090212/ARTICLES/902120998)


And at the top of the newspaper page is an angelic picture accompanied by a terrifying headline: Search is under way for missing 5-year-old Putnam County girl.
Her name is Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings. She is a kindergarten student at Browning-Pearce Elementary School in San Mateo, which is southeast of Palatka.
The names change but the story lines remain depressingly familiar when it comes to missing children in Florida. Recent past cases - Trenton Duckett in Leesburg, Jessica Lunsford in Homosassa, Caylee Anthony in Orlando - have turned into horror shows that play out on the local 6 p.m. news, CNN, Fox, Internet sites and the front page of the newspaper. Only time will tell how this story turns out.
Haleigh has golden hair, dark eyes and a smile to melt your heart. She was reported missing around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday from her home in the Hermit's Cove area of Satsuma, about 10 miles south of Palatka.
Authorities said a rear door at the home had been found ajar and they had no suspects in the case.
Haleigh was "stolen out of my home," said Ronald Cummings, the 24-year old father of the child. "Somebody came in my back door and stole my child," he added before collapsing to his knees in emotion.
A reminder of how horrible these cases can turn out was, coincidentally, playing out on Tuesday, the same day that Haleigh vanished. A memorial service was being held for Caylee Anthony in the First Baptist Church of Orlando.
The 2-year old was reported missing in July, and her remains were found in December. Her mother, Casey Anthony, has been charged with murder.
That story has become a never-ending media circus. But Tuesday, a community took time to honor the memory of one little girl while the fate of another one was precariously uncertain.



http://www.ocala.com/article/2009021...iar_in_Florida (http://www.ocala.com/article/20090212/ARTICLES/902121007/1402/NEWS?Title=Story_is_all_too_familiar_in_Florida)

[sarahhod]

Sheriff: 'A lot of misinformation' in search for Haleigh Cummings



(NECN: Satsuma, FL) - "We are now at right over 50 hours in our search and we have still not been able to locate Haleigh," this morning said Putnam County Sheriff Jeff Hardy.
"We've stretched out to at least a five mile area," said Hardy. "We'll expand the investigation as far as it needs to go."
Investigators are treating the disappearance of five-year-old Haleigh Cummings as an abduction. She was reported missing when her father, Ronald Cummings, returned home from work early Tuesday. His 17-year-old girlfriend said she had woken up and discovered the child was missing. Haleigh was last seen Monday night in her father's mobile home in Satsuma. The rural community along the St. Johns River is about 70 miles north of Orlando.
Investigators also are interviewing the 44 sex offenders living within five miles of Ronald Cummings' home.
"There is a lot of misinformation going on around here," said Hardy.

http://www.necn.com/Boston/Nation/20...234455366.html (http://www.necn.com/Boston/Nation/2009/02/12/Sheriff-A-lot-of/1234455366.html)

[sarahhod]

EquuSearch joins search for Florida girl


http://cdn.necn.com/themes/necn/img/but2.gif Play video (http://javascript%3cb%3e%3c/b%3E:void(0);)


(NECN: Satsuma, FL) - Investigators in Florida are treating the disappearance of Haleigh Cummings as an abduction.
The five-year-old was last seen Monday night in her father's mobile home in Satsuma, Florida, about 70 miles north of Orlando.
Haleigh was reported missing when her father returned home from work early Tuesday. His girlfriend says she had woken up and discovered the child was missing.
Misty Croslin, 17, told a 911 dispatcher that a back door that was usually locked had been propped open by a brick.
Tim Miller, founder and director of Texas EquuSearch, a mounted search and recovery team, is in Florida with his team to assist in the search efforts.
Click here to visit the EquuSearch website. (http://texasequusearch.org/)
Miller says it's warm in Florida and if Haleigh had wandered away she would be able to survive in these conditions, on day three.
Miller says "volunteers are extremely important." "There is strength in numbers."

http://www.necn.com/Boston/NECN-Extr...234452572.html (http://www.necn.com/Boston/NECN-Extra/2009/02/12/EquuSearch-joins-search-for/1234452572.html)

[sarahhod]

Disappearance Treated as Abduction
Police: 'All the World is a Suspect'


By GIGI STONE and LEE FERRAN
Feb. 12, 2009
http://a.abcnews.com/assets/images/showlogos/carousel_gma_logo.gif

Florida police are treating the disappearance of 5-year-old Haleigh Sheffield (http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=6861870) as an abduction, investigators said, after concluding she did not simply wander off alone.

Girl's father returned home from work and found his daughter was gone.

"All the world is a suspect," Detective John Merchant of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office told reporters. "We are going to treat everybody, every family member, every associate, like a suspect until we eliminate them."

As police launched a massive search effort (http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=6854563) that included divers and K-9 units, Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield, begged for her daughter's return.

"Whoever has her, I know you're watching," Crystal told "Good Morning America." "She ain't done nothing wrong. Please bring her back."

Haleigh, whose parents do not live together, disappeared from the Satsuma, Fla., home of her father, Ronald Sheffield, Tuesday. He reported her missing in an desperate 911 call.

"I just got home from work and my 5-year-old daughter is gone," he told a dispatcher. "If I find whoever has my daughter before you all do, I'm killing them. I don't care if I spend the rest of my life in prison."

There are 44 registered sex offenders within a five-mile radius of the home.

Ronald Sheffield had left Haleigh and her 3-year-old brother in the care of his 17-year-old girlfriend, Misty Croslin.
"She was sleeping right next to me," Croslin told the Palatka Daily News. "I can't believe I didn't hear anything."
Ronald Sheffield told police that when he returned from work early Tuesday morning, the back door was propped open and Haleigh was gone.
"Somebody came in my back door, broke into my home and stole my daughter," he said.
On Wednesday night friends and neighbors held a small vigil for the little girl. The search effort has also attracted several volunteer groups that could join the search today, according to The Associated Press.

After a six-month search that garnered national attention, Caylee's remains were found less than a mile from her family's home.
Crystal Sheffield is desperately hoping for a different fate for her little girl.

"I don't know why somebody would take her," the mother said. "I'm scared for her. She is probably scared and cold and hungry."

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Story?id=6862469&page=2

[sarahhod]

Two Amber Alerts in effect and updates on Haleigh 10:45 am EST

February 12, 10:51 AM
by Trina Hoaks, Everyday People Examiner (http://www.examiner.com/x-3035-Everyday-People-Examiner)

Updates at bottom

In addition to the Amber Alert of Haleigh Cummings, another Amber Alert has been issued for a missing Arkansas boy. Both of the Amber Alerts follow:

http://image.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/Dominick_Arceneaux.jpgThe new alert is for a 3-year-old boy named Dominick Wesley Arceneaux. He is 3 feet tall and weighs 38 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes.

The description says he has a dark complexion and short hair.

He was last seen wearing a pair of blue jean shorts with red stitching on the pockets.

He is from Chidester, Arkansas. He has been missing since February 10th at 2:30 pm.

If you have any information on this missing boy, please call 870-837-2200.


The other Amber Alert follows with all the information that is known thus far.

Most recent update at bottom.
http://image.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/amber_alert.jpg
Haleigh Cummings is missing.
The father of the missing Florida girl made a 911 call when he came home from work at 3:30 am to find his daughter missing. Supposedly the back door was open and there was a brick on the floor.

While talking to a 911 operator, he said that if he finds who abducted his daughter before officials do, he will kill him.

An Amber Alert has been issued for a missing girls who was last seen in her bedroom early Tuesday morning.
Haleigh Cummings was last seen wearing a pink t-shirt.

She is five years old. She is a white female with blonde hair and brown eyes.

She weighs 39 pounds and is three feet tall.

She is a resident of Satsuma, Florida - Putnam county.

Anyone having information is asked to call 1-888-FL MISSING.


Following is the transcript from MSNBC of the 911 call. Apparently the father's girlfriend was initially talking to the 911 operator. She reportedly discovered the girl missing right before the father came home.

<LI itxtvisited="1">Caller:I just woke up and my back door was all open, and I can't find my daughter. <LI itxtvisited="1">Operator:Can't find what? <LI itxtvisited="1">Caller:My daughter. <LI itxtvisited="1">Operator:OK. When did you last see her? <LI itxtvisited="1">Caller:We just like, you know, it was about 10 o'clock. She was sleeping <LI itxtvisited="1">Operator:OK. How old is your daughter? <LI itxtvisited="1">Caller:She's 5. <LI itxtvisited="1">Operator:OK. What was she last seen wearing, Ma'am? <LI itxtvisited="1">Caller:She was in her pajamas. She was sleeping. <LI itxtvisited="1">Operator:OK. Alright, you said your back door was wide open? <LI itxtvisited="1">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. <LI itxtvisited="1">Operator:OK. Was your back door locked? Do you know? <LI itxtvisited="1">Caller:Yes. That door always stays locked. <LI itxtvisited="1">Father:I just got home from work. My 5-year-old daughter is gone. I need someone to be here now. I'm telling you, if I find whoever has my daughter before you all do, I'm killing him. I don't care. I'll spend the rest of my life in prison.
Operator:It's OK sir. We got them on the way.
Update Feb 11:
A press conference was just held with officials investigating the disappearance of Haleigh.

Officers are considering that this could be an abduction or that the girl wandered off.

When they were asked if any family members were suspects, an officer said that it is "not safe to say that family members are not suspects." He went on to say that everyone is a suspect right now as no one has been ruled out.

Officers have dogs on the scene as well as divers and helicopters. It was said that they have a large investigative team on the case.

It was said that all family members as well as friends are being cooperative.

Officers have many leads that they are considering. They have asked that if anyone has a lead that they call them at 386-329-0809.
Update Feb 12:

It was reported on MSNBC that officials are now treating Haleigh's disappearance as an abduction.

It was reported that Haleigh was sleeping in the same bed as Haleigh's father's girlfriend when she was abducted. It is being questioned how she could have slept through such a thing.

Officers said that there is no evidence of forced entry.

Police investigators in conjunction with the FBI are questioning the 44 known sex offenders that live within 5 miles of Haleigh's home.

Officer's are setting up a polygraph though they didn't say specifically to whom it would be administered.

They have received many leads... so many that they had to bring in additional staff to help handle the calls. Unfortunately, none of the leads are solid.

Officers say that family members and friends continue to be cooperative.
Update Feb 12 - 10:45 am EST:

Sheriff Jeff Hardy said in a news conference moments ago that evidence has been gathered in the case of Haleigh. He would not comment on what was included in the evidence. He said that the evidence is at a lab being analyzed.

Haleigh's father's girlfriend, Misty, has undergone a polygraph test. Hardy said he would not reveal the results of the test.

They have a dive team involved.

Hardy restated that the family has been extremely cooperative. He also said that the community has been extraordinary in helping organize and participating in voluntary search parties. They have also been opening their homes to investigators and provide them food and drinks.

http://www.examiner.com/x-3035-Every...gh-1045-am-EST (http://www.examiner.com/x-3035-Everyday-People-Examiner~y2009m2d12-Two-Amber-Alerts-in-effect-and-updates-on-Haleigh-1045-am-EST)

[sarahhod]

Florida Sheriff: Girlfriend of Missing 5-Year-Old's Father Took Polygraph

Thursday, February 12, 2009 http://www.foxnews.com/images/foxnews_story.gif

The 17-year-old girlfriend of the father of a missing Florida girl took a lie detector test, a local sheriff said, but he wouldn't reveal whether she passed.
Putnam County Sheriff Jeff Hardy declined to disclose the results Thursday of the polygraph given to Misty Croslin in the disappearance of Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings, 5.
"Misty has been interviewed extensively and yes, she did take a polygraph," he said.
Croslin was the one who reportedly discovered that Haleigh had vanished from her bed before dawn on Tuesday.
She is one of several people police and the FBI have interviewed in the case. All have been offered the chance to take a lie detector test, according to Putnam County Sheriff's spokesman Gary Bowling.

Detectives believe Haleigh was abducted — and they aren't overlooking anyone, including family members, as suspects.
Haleigh is 3 feet tall with blond hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a pink shirt and underwear.

Hardy said ground and searches continued for a third day on Thursday. Bloodhounds have been used, but haven't turned up any clear evidence.
"We have nothing definitive to say where the child is based on the bloodhounds," Hardy told reporters at a Thursday news conference.
He said evidence has been collected from the mobile home where Haleigh lived with her 3-year-old brother Junior, her father Ronald Cummings and Croslin — but declined to describe it.
"I can't discuss what evidence was taken into custody," Hardy said. "I don't want to reveal what was found or not found."
The child's father, Ronald Cummings, told FOX News' Greta Van Susteren that Croslin was watching his daughter while he was at work as a crane operator.
According to Cummings, Haleigh had gotten up to use the bathroom. When she didn't return, Croslin went to look for her and noticed the back door was open.
"I locked doors before I left for work. My child cannot unlock the deadbolt, you have to force the door shut all the way ... and she doesn’t open door to strangers," Cummings said.
Croslin and Cummings called 911 after discovering the girl was missing, according to the police report. The tapes were released Wednesday.
In addition to Croslin, Cummings and the child's mother, Crystal Sheffield, as well as several others have been questioned in the case.
"It is never safe to say that a family member is not a suspect," Bowling said Wednesday. "However, all the world is a suspect right now."
Police have ruled out the possibility that the girl ran away.
"This child didn't voluntarily walk out of her home. If she did, someone took her," Bowling said.
Cummings, who has custody of Haleigh and her brother, said his daughter was scared of the dark and would not wander off.
"Somebody stole my child," he said. "Trust me when I tell you that I know my child."
Police had never been called to the home in the past — but there have been prior problems with Cummings, Croslin and the children, according to Putnam County Capt. Steve Rose.
"There have been some investigations done through the department of children and family," Rose told FOX News on Wednesday. He didn't elaborate.
Sheffield's mother, Marie, told Van Susteren that the children seemed to be doing well living with their father.
"Haleigh told us they’ve been hit, and stuff like that, but to this point, everything was fine," Marie Sheffield said.
There were still no firm leads in the case. Detectives wouldn't say whether Croslin, Cummings or anyone else in the family were a focus of the investigation.
Haleigh's grandfather, Johnny Sheffield, said he was distraught about the girl's disappearance and characterized Croslin as suspicious, though he admitted he didn't know much about her, according to MyFOXOrlando.com.
Sheffield told van Susteren that her children loved their father's girlfriend, whom he'd been dating for 4 to 6 months.
"She seemed like a really nice person, but I never sat down and had a conversation with her," she said.
Sheffield doesn't live in the area but traveled to Putnam County after she learned of her daughter's disappearance and has been interviewed, according to Rose.
"She is cooperating," Rose told FOX News Wednesday.
Cummings said his girlfriend was awake and frantic after she found Haleigh was gone. But in the police report, obtained by FOX News, Cummings reportedly told officers that his "dumb bitch girlfriend" told him Haleigh was gone when he got home from work.
"Ronald said that he did not know what Haleigh was wearing, and that all he knew was that the back door was standing open. Ronald repeatedly said that someone had taken his child and also said 'When I find him I'll kill him,'" police wrote in the report.
He referred to a 9mm Beretta handgun he owns and said if authorities found his daughter's kidnapper, "he would shoot them through the back window of the patrol car," the police report said.
Detectives wrote that they followed a path that led behind the home and found what appeared to be a child's footprint in the dirt, though Cummings said his daughter's shoes were in the house.
Deputies say they are in the process of questioning 44 registered sex offenders who live within five miles of Haleigh's home, according to MyFOXOrlando.com.
An air conditioner repair man who was at the home on Monday was questioned after police found out about his house call but cleared him of any wrongdoing.
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/0,2933,491485,00.html

[sarahhod]

Day 3 in search for
Haleigh

Last Edited: Thursday, 12 Feb 2009, 11:34 AM EST

Created On: Thursday, 12 Feb 2009, 11:34 AM EST

Valerie Boey | FOX 35 News
http://media2.myfoxorlando.com//photo/2009/02/12/haleigh_and_dad_20090212094114985_320_240.JPG


SATSUMA, Fla. - Putnam County Sheriff's Deputies are on day 3 of searching for 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings. Haleigh was last seen on Monday night at 10 p.m. in her mobile home on Green Lane in Satsuma. Investigators said she was sleeping in the same bed as her 3-year-old brother and her father's 17-year-old girlfriend, Mistie Croslin. When Croslin woke up around 3:30 a.m., the same time Haleigh's father Ronald Cummings got home from work, they realized Haleigh was gone and called 911.
> Click here for a LIVE Web cam in Satsuma (http://www.myfoxorlando.com/subindex/web_cams/mobile_cam_1)

Sheriff Jeff Hardy says they have been searching for more than 55 hours. They plan to bring in more aviation assets, dive teams, boats and ground crews. They also have a fresh team going back to the house, tracing any steps they can find. Hardy says right now they do not have any suspects.
Hardy said both Cummings and Croslin have taken polygraph tests, but would not say if they passed. When FOX 35 asked if they tested their vehicles for evidence, he could not comment saying it was part of the investigation. He also said they have collected evidence, but could not say what items were taken.
Sheriff Hardy said investigators have been going from home to home searching for the little girl. They are also searching the homes of 44 sex offenders within a 5 mile radius. Hardy says neighbors have been cooperative and so has the family.
Last night Ronald Cummings told FOX 35 that it has been difficult dealing with this. Haleigh's mother Crystal Sheffield says it has been hard controlling her emotions. "I don't know where she is or who has her, I just want her home," Crystal said.
Hardy says Ronald has legal custody of Haleigh and their 3-year-old son.
Meanwhile, Texas Equusearch, the team that helped look for Caylee Anthony is back assisting deputies to help them find Haleigh. Founder Tim Miller says deputies called him for help. He had not planned to be back in the Sunshine State so soon.
"We didn't think we'd be back in Florida this close to where Caylee disappeared in the short period of time so it brings back some painful memories to say the least so we just have to focus on this, the more we stay focuses the better chance we have of bringing her home," Miller said.
He says the cases are very similar. "Too close to Caylee's memorial. Ironic, a matter of hours before Caylee's memorial, Haleigh disappears. The names rhyme and so close. It will bring tears to your eyes," he added.
Miller hopes Haleigh's case will have a different outcome. "We hold on to those good feelings and success stories and hope we can put another one into the successes, but we got to realize we can't sugar coat anything. This doesn't look good at this time, but we'll just do what we do," he said.
Miller says he plans to fly in 9 members of Equusearch from other parts of the country. He has around 200 members in Orlando. "Today's going to be a big mapping day. Planning day and then it appears tomorrow is when the big serach is going to start, but it's important. We try to do something to get her home alive," Miller said.
Scattered rain in Satsuma isn't making it any easier. The Equusearch group said the weather will slow them down but they do not consider it an inconvenience because they are trying to find a little girl.
Miller says he will need volunteers to help search on Friday. However, he hasn't determined where everyone will meet yet.
Haleigh is 3 feet tall and weighs 39 lbs. She has blonde hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information about her whereabouts should call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office. The number is (386) 329-0800.

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news...ch_for_Haleigh (http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/local/021209Day_3_in_search_for_Haleigh)

[sarahhod]

Fresh Set of Eyes in Field to Find Haleigh



Posted By: Gary Detman (http://www.firstcoastnews.com/inside/contactus/default.aspx) http://www.firstcoastnews.com/graphics/bullet1.gif Created: 2/12/2009 10:48:30 AM http://www.firstcoastnews.com/graphics/bullet1.gif Updated: 2/12/2009 11:54:06 AM

SATSUMA, FL -- The Putnam County Sheriff's Office is getting a fresh set of eyes in the field in the search for Haleigh Cummings, the five-year-old girl who vanished from her home.
Sheriff Jeff Hardy says his team is working with Texas EquuSearch (http://texasequusearch.org/), a volunteer search team known for helping in missing persons cases across the country, to help find Haleigh.
"A child is missing and that's what we're most concerned about," said Sheriff Hardy.
Haleigh Cummings hasn't been seen since Monday when she went to bed at her father's home in Satsuma.
Sheriff Hardy says boats and divers are in the water, and bloodhounds and crews are searching the woods again, just to make sure they didn't miss anything. The sheriff says air support will also be brought in, but the early morning clouds and drizzle hampered that effort at the outset. The skies are overcast but helicopters are now in the air.
Civilian volunteers are being kept at bay for right now, except for EquuSearch, a volunteer search team out of Texas that has been on the front lines of many high-profile missing persons cases.
EquuSearch director Tim Miller says his crews will focus on the woods behind Haleigh's home sometime Friday and use this day as a day to map out the area.
The sheriff says his teams have collected evidence but would not comment on any of it. Hardy also would not say whether investigators are following up on any leads out of state.
Hardy says the 17-year-old girlfriend of Haleigh's father has taken a polygraph exam, but wouldn't discuss its results.
Haleigh's younger brother has a birthday on Sunday. He turns 4 years old.
The white fence around Haleigh's neighborhood just north of Satsuma continues to be adorned with cards, teddy bears, blankets and notes of support for her family and safe return.
Faculty and classmates at her elementary school are collecting supplies and food to bring to her family as they wait through the ordeal.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/b...31162&catid=17 (http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/breaking/news-article.aspx?storyid=131162&catid=17)

[sarahhod]

Haleigh's father appears on 'Nancy Grace'

By Lise Fisher (fisherl@gvillesun.com)
Staff Writer

Published: Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 8:04 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 8:04 a.m.

PALATKA - The father of missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings asked for her safe return in a nationally televised interview Wednesday night.
Ronald Cummings, 24, spoke on CNN's "Nancy Grace" show. He was asked about a cinder block that supposedly had been used to prop open a back door at the home. Authorities reported the door was discovered ajar and, in a 911 call, Cumming's girlfriend said the door normally was locked.
Cummings said he didn't think he had seen the block before but he could have been mistaken. Officers confirmed this week that they were looking at the block.
Cummings also talked briefly to reporters near his neighborhood late Wednesday and said he had taken and passed a lie detector test.
Investigators reported they were offering the tests to anyone they have interviewed but said they would not confirm who took the tests or the results.
Haleigh's case has been receiving national attention from media with local, state and federal officers working to locate the little girl. But authorities have not reported any new leads in the case. On Wednesday, officers announced they were treating the child's disappearance as an abduction after finding no proof the child simply wandered away from her home in Satsuma, located in southern Putnam County about 10 miles south of Palatka.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/2...n__Nancy_Grace (http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090212/ARTICLES/902120978/-1/magazine?Title=Haleigh_s_father_appears_on__Nancy_ Grace)_

[sarahhod]

Missing 5-year-old Florida girl likely was abducted, police say


Helen Eckinger | Sentinel Staff Writer 11:40 AM EST, February 12, 2009
SATSUMA - 11:40 a.m. Texas EquuSearch, which assisted the Orange County Sheriff's Office in its search for Caylee Marie Anthony, has arrived in Satsuma where it will help investigators search for Haleigh.

EquuSearch founder and director Tim Miller told the Orlando Sentinel that a member of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office contacted him yesterday afternoon.

"He said 'We sure could use your help,' and I said, 'Well, we will be on our way," Miller said.

Miller said that EquuSearch members from across the country are on their way to Putnam County, and that the group will be putting out a call for local volunteers after it sets up a staging area.

The group plans to use searchers on ATV, horseback, and foot to search for Haleigh. They will also be bringing in sonar equipment.

"The good news on this one is that it's not a month-plus before Haleigh's been reported missing," Miller said, referring to the Caylee case. "We're certainly optimistic - we have to be optimistic."

11:09 a.m. Putnam County Sheriff Jeff Hardey just wrapped up a news briefing about the search for Haleigh Cummings. He said searchers have focused on 5-square-mile area and will continue looking for the 5-year-old girl. "We'll expand the investigation as far as it needs to go,'' He said. "As far as whether or not Haleigh is still in the area, that is an unknown." He said family members, including the 17-year-old girlfriend who found Haleigh missing Tuesday morning, have cooperated with investigators. He wouldn't provide details about evidence investigators have collected.

10:45 a.m.: Haleigh's father and his family are "hanging in there," according to Josh Duckett, who is acting as a spokesman for the family. "They're doing as well as can be expected," Duckett told the Orlando Sentinel this morning.

Duckett said that he had no qualms about encouraging Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, to interview with CNN's (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/economy-business-finance/media/news-agency/cnn-ORCRP000008070.topic) Nancy Grace last night. In 2006, Duckett's estranged wife, Melinda Duckett, committed suicide after filming a interview with Grace, during which Grace grilled her about her missing son, Trenton Duckett (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/crime-law-justice/crimes/trenton-duckett-PECLB002294.topic). Melinda Duckett's adoptive parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Grace and CNN, alleging that Grace provoked Melinda Duckett's suicide. Josh Duckett was initially named as a co-defendant in the suit, but he was dropped after a magistrate determined that the family could not establish a claim against him.

"I don't have a problem with Nancy Grace's show," Josh Duckett said. "She does things that need to be done, she asks questions that need to be answered and as long as you tell the truth you won't have a problem."

From today's Orlando Sentinel

The search for Haleigh Cummings turned more desperate Wednesday after officials said someone likely abducted the 5-year-old from her bedroom in rural Putnam County.

"There is no longer any reason to believe that the child simply wandered off outside," said Maj. Gary Bowling of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

Family members begged for the safe return of the girl they call Doodlebug on the second day of a massive search in this sparsely populated county about 80 miles north of Orlando.

"Just bring her back," said Haleigh's maternal grandmother, Marie Griffis. "There are plenty of places you can drop off a kid, no questions asked."

Haleigh lives with her father, Ronald Cummings, 25, and his girlfriend in a double-wide in Satsuma, an isolated riverfront community northeast of Ocala National Forest (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/environmental-issues/natural-resources/forests/ocala-national-forest-PLREC000081.topic).

The girlfriend, Misty Croslin, 17, put Haleigh to bed about 10 p.m. Monday while Cummings was working at PDM Bridge.

Croslin woke up about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, noticed Haleigh was missing and called 911 for help.

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

A screen door on the side of the couple's Satsuma home had been propped open with a cinder block. The main door was slightly ajar, but authorities found no obvious signs of forced entry.

Cummings just returned home while Croslin was talking to the dispatcher.

"I just got home from work, and my 5-year-old daughter is gone. I need somebody to be here now, I'm telling you," he told the dispatcher. "If I find whoever has my daughter before you do, I'm killing them. I don't care if I have to spend the rest of my life in prison."

Officials issued a statewide alert for Haleigh on Tuesday, triggering a search that quickly drew as many as 130 officers from several law-enforcement agencies with bloodhounds and helicopters.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, FBI (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/crime-law-justice/crimes/fbi-ORGOV000008.topic), and Volusia, Marion and Flagler sheriff's offices are helping Putnam County deputies and investigators.



The search continued Wednesday and included divers exploring the nearby St. Johns River.

Bowling said 44 sex offenders live in a 5-mile radius of Cummings' home, but most have been contacted by law enforcement since Haleigh disappeared. Many sought out authorities on their own.

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

No suspects have been named, and no one has been ruled out.

"All the world's a suspect right now," Bowling said.

Family members said Haleigh was unlikely to leave on her own.

"Haleigh is a very indoor-type child," said Griffis, her grandmother. "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.

Her mother, Crystal Sheffield, 23, was at her home in Baker County near the Florida-Georgia state line at the time of her daughter's disappearance. She was in Putnam County on Wednesday, talking with investigators and waiting for news on her daughter's whereabouts.

She gets custody of Haleigh and her 3-year-old brother, Ronald Jr., every other weekend. This weekend the family was planning to celebrate Ronald's fourth birthday.

Joshua Duckett, father of missing Lake County toddler Trenton Duckett, stepped in Wednesday as a family spokesman.

"I've been through it, and it definitely helps the family to have someone who can say, 'Hey, I know what you're going through,' " said Duckett, whose son was last seen Aug. 26, 2006.

Also Wednesday, bounty hunter Leonard Padilla, who inserted himself in the case of missing Orlando toddler Caylee Marie Anthony (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/crime-law-justice/crimes/caylee-anthony-PECLB004332.topic), joined the ranks heading for Putnam County. At a staging area near Cummings' house, he said curiosity had drawn him to Haleigh's search.

Meanwhile, a volunteer group from Houston that helped look for Caylee 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, 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, he said.

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

Anyone with information about Haleigh's whereabouts is asked to call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0808.


Amber Alert Name: Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings Race: White Sex: Female Age: 5 Height: 3-feet-3 Weight: 39 pounds Hair: Blond Eyes: Brown

*Have a tip on her whereabouts? Call the Putnam County Sheriff's Office: 386-329-0808.

What is an Amber Alert? It was begun in 1996 as a quick way to broadcast critical information about a child abduction to the public. Ways to get the word out include radio, television, highway message signs, billboards and lottery machines, as well as participating businesses. It's named for Amber Hagerman (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/crime-law-justice/crimes/kidnapping/amber-hagerman-PECLB002351.topic), 9, who was bike riding near her grandparents' Texas home earlier that year when she was abducted and killed. The case remains unsolved.

How does it work? For law enforcement to issue an Amber Alert, the case must meet certain criteria: *The child must be younger than 18. *There must be a clear indication of an abduction. *Law enforcement must conclude the child's life is in danger. *There must be a detailed description of the child and/or abductor/vehicle to broadcast to the public. *Local law enforcement must recommend the alert.

Are there other active Amber Alerts in Florida? No. Haleigh Cummings is the only current Amber Alert in Florida. There are five other Amber Alerts that remain unsolved in Florida, including Trenton Duckett, who disappeared from Leesburg, and Jessica Vargas, who was reported missing from Sanford.Were there successful Amber Alerts last year?In 2008, 10 children were found after Florida Amber Alerts were issued, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. A 15-year-old from Putnam County was with a man wanted in a homicide. A citizen called police after seeing the alert on television to report that the girl was seen panhandling along Interstate 10 in Texas.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-b...8.story?page=2 (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-bk-missing-florida-girl-haleigh-021209,0,5779988.story?page=2)