I just received this update from TJ Hart of The Sky 97.3 and wanted to pass it on to our readers. I think that one thing is becoming abundantly clear, it can be summed up in one word ‘frustration’. Simon
“We are working on it every day,” are the words of detectives and officers at the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office in Palatka, Florida tasked to solve the case of missing five-year-old Haleigh Cummings who was last seen February 10, 2009 in her father’s Satsuma home.
Lt. Johnny Greenwood said, “There has been a high level of frustration from the beginning of not being able to get to the logical conclusion, solve the case and return Haleigh to her family.”
Frustration is the word that describes the feelings of Haleigh’s family members, law enforcement, local officials and those who simply follow the case.
One person contacted me Monday nervously asking why the electronic sign in front of the Putnam County Emergency Operations Center no longer displayed Haleigh’s Amber Alert message and the picture of the little girl.
Thinking something had broken in the case, I called Putnam County authorities who told me “Unfortunately, the only thing that has broken was the sign.” They said they hoped to get it fixed soon with the Amber Alert displayed once again.
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office first learned of Haleigh’s disappearance in a 911 call from Misty Croslin, the 17-year-old live-in girlfriend of Ronald Cummings, the girl’s father. Misty told investigators Haleigh was missing when she awoke at about 3 a.m. and saw the back door was propped open with a brick. Cumming ,arrived home about that time from his job on the night shift at a bridge company, .
Police sealed off the area, searching it on foot with dogs and later horses. Airplanes and helicopters looked from the air, while investigators and divers searched with the use of boats on the nearby St. Johns River.
The investigation has gone non-stop since day one.
After a round-table discussion in early June with the sheriff’s office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the FBI and the State Attorney’s Office, it was announced that there were still more than 4,000 leads being followed.
A second meeting was intended, but never convened.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has also assisted in the case. But just what is FDLE’s role in these situations?
The FDLE employs analysts and forensic experts it can deploy to assist local departments. FDLE supervisors also can take over an investigation that might grow beyond the capabilities of a smaller force.
“The extent of our involvement is going to vary from case to case and agency to agency,” FDLE spokeswoman Kristen Perezluha said.
Generally, FDLE takes the lead in multi-jurisdictional crimes and assists with local cases, she said.
“Definitely our role is not to step on anyone’s toes but to offer assistance,” Perezluha said.
When help is needed, local law enforcement knows whom to contact. FDLE’s seven regional offices have long-established relationships with local departments and sheriff’s offices, she said.
FDLE has a Child Abduction Response Team, which pools resources from several agencies to help with searches. CART members go door-to-door and ask specific questions, allowing investigators to cover ground that would otherwise take officers days.
Another notable FDLE program is the Regional Domestic Security Task Force. Created after 9-11, it operates much like CART, pooling resources and preparing to handle a domestic-security issue.
Many concerned citizens have been applying pressure to local and state office holders, law makers and commissioners with emails demanding prompt and responsible action in solving the case.
Law enforcement has its hands full as they are now plowing through over 5,000 leads.
Lt. Johnny Greenwood with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office has told me over and over again, “No one wants a resolution to this case faster than they do.”
TJ Hart
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38 users commented in " Haleigh Cummings Update: Frustration In the Investigation "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackLt. Johnny Greenwood said, “There has been a high level of frustration from the beginning of not being able to get to the logical conclusion, solve the case and return Haleigh to her family.”
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Does that mean PCSO thinks she is alive? Because I don’t. I think that she was dumped in the St. John’s River and is long gone. I feel she will never be found and they messed up on this case back in February.
LE has stated that with no evidence of a murder (blood, weapon, body, etc.), they must operate on the assumption Haleigh is alive.
So LE has no evidence what so ever? Nothing was taken from Rons house to prove anything? No fingerprints? No evidence from the van that was supose to be moved? Something is fishy.imo
Please read all the words:
LE has stated that with no evidence of a “MURDER” (blood, weapon, body, etc.), they must operate on the assumption Haleigh is alive.
If there is no evidence of a murder, then you would have to look at the people who were there when this occured, which means maybe Misty is forgetting things for a reason. Were there no strangers fingerprints? Is all fishy to me. Is it possible that Misty went to meet someone during the night, and Haleigh woke up not finding misty around, went out the door to look for her and then ended up God knows what?
Heck yes its frustrating. Its nonsense. FIND HALEIGH NOW.
tj, is le starting over? was the screen door really lost? have they(le) followed up on any of the leads that have already been called in since the last round table? and if so why wont they say who or what has been elimenated?
tkc, it has been reported that haleigh was scared of the dark, so id say the theory of her wandering off is a no.
tj, also what is your take on johnny sheffield. why is it that everytime someone mentions his name, they defend him as if he is the president?
i feel he is involved because of his involvment with the fake search.
also why didnt cobra being the law abidding citizen that he is call le the day johnny called him about the clove and etc?
imo cobra should have called le immetatley after recieving this phone call.
Ksue, Johnny is not involved in the abduction of HaLeigh.
I did not call the police as there was nothing to report. It is a crime to call the law and make false reports, knowing them to be false.
JOHNNY SHEFFIELD FOR PRESIDENT
So Cobra, you don’t think that this ‘FALSE’ search isn’t something that needed to be reported to the law? What of the bloody glove and suitcase with the bus ticket stub? If this truly was an honest to goodness search, those would be VITAL pieces of evidence and perhaps lead us to Haleigh herself. And what did you do with the keys that were found? Did you find anything that they belonged to? Turn them in for fingerprinting? And don’t you think that by John Regan impersonating a FBI Agent, that would be something to report le if not FBI themselves! So now you’re the judge to determine what piece of evidence is or isn’t useful? I’m not trying to bash, just curious
Also, what kind of a sick game are the Sheffields/Griffis playing at when they are faking this search for the their missing granddaughter??? To me, that is pretty darn twisted and very inconsiderate and not of a grieving grandparents at all. If they were so worried about this evidence being found, wouldn’t they turn it in and be releasing this information for the public and le to know about?
Why can’t we get a solid timeline for the Griffis/Sheffield family? I don’t understand that. Why so long in the time Crystal finds out until the time she gets to Satsuma? Why didn’t le call Crystal themselves instead of letting Teresa call them? And also, why would Crystal and Marie call John Sheffield and ask if it was a prank instead of le??? Please answer back soon
Am I missing out on a news source? I’ve never heard of keys being found, a false search, a clove, or a guy named John Regan impersonating an FBI agent. Is this just from blogs or a news source?
Just a note regarding any sarcasm toward, or criticism of Cobra: If you have not personally gone to Satsuma and worked your butt off for many months trying to find someone else’s precious child, on your own dime, you really are not in a position to judge.
THANK YOU – Cobra, Art, Simon & TJ for working to keep Haleigh’s case alive.
It’s quite entertaining to hear people tell others
“they don’t know anything unless they’ve been to Satsuma”
have you been to Satsuma?
I used to bring water to the officer as they met on the corner of 17 & 309
to get ready to do their runs and searches for Haleigh. The city of Satsuma looks like an abandoned town with one place to eat
and one place to pump gas. Thats it!
So if the leading detectives in this case are failing at their job in
searching for Haleigh… It damn well is our position to pass judgement.
This is about finding Haleigh not about your next blog.
So you are right thanks Simon and TJ for your dedication.
She will b found, God willing
Keshala, it seems to me that a LOT of questions we have are about the way LE “conducted” the investigation from the get-go. And why they have and have not done certain things since then. Like why call off the search when they did? And why even agree to search the Griffis’ property? The Griffis’ can’t make LE conduct a search there. LE has to agree. Why did they spend the time and money on it? The only reason to conduct a search in a specific place like that (to me) would be if they had a credible tip or something. Not to indulge a local family who wants to try to clear themselves of suspicion. IMO it did not clear them. So what if a body or evidence was not found there? They could have put in anywhere else. I’m afraid local LE has been doing a lousy job since the 911 call came in. For example, they should have called Crystal immediately and/or just sent police to her house as it was the most logical place to look first (as well as other searches in the area of the trailer). Because a huge majority of kidnappings are “custodial” meaning one of the parents took the child. That should have been checked immediately along with a lot of other things.
All of the law enforcement authorities whether it be Sheriff’s office, FDLE, etc., have worked days and hours on end chasing empty leads. They all worked 80-100 hours each week for MONTHS and are still working on it. Don’t discredit their efforts unless you can prove that you can go out and do better! Solve it and then talk your talk.
I believe this sweet little girl got into an illegal substance during Misty’s get together with her friends and they dumped her body somewhere that it will never be found. Or the dad sold her out for some money he owed with the drug dealing situation. Notice they got married so they wouldn’t have to testify against each other when it surfaces. Sad that they won’t fess up to what really happened to this child. This will be another Casey Anthony case, but it may be years before they locate this precious little one.
Of course, this is only an opinion.
janel – the questions I asked are perfectly valid ones. Logical things that could have been done right away- like contacting the mother. I don’t understand why they didn’t do that. They can work as hard as they want but if they aren’t working “smart” then what’s the use? I doubt they have much experience with missing children so maybe they didn’t know what to do or maybe operated under some incorrect assumptions. I usually stick up for LE myself but some of the things this group has and hasn’t done baffle me.
M2c – I think the reason they didn’t contact the mother was because Misty misrepresented herself to the dispatcher as the “mother”. With all the priority data they needed to collect to begin the search, with two very difficult people to get information out of (one liar, and one “how the f___ do I know!?” it’s no wonder it took a while to sort out the truth and who the mother really was.
LindaOz- I have to disagree. They knew exactly who the mother was. This is a small town where everybody knows everybody. And it should have been LE contacting Crystal not Teresa Neves. Any other LD that I know, would have contacted the persons involved in the family themselves. And not only that, LE knew after arriving on the scene if not before that Misty wasn’t the mother.
Thank you TJ & Simon, for the update. I’m sure it is frustrating for LE as it is for Haleigh’s family and all concerned. So…has LE in Putnam county asked for help from FDLE or the Fed’s. Heck, the military would probably be willing to help, if a request was made. Sure looks as if they could use the help. Haleigh needs to be found, and if they don’t have the manpower necessary to cover priority/high profile cases, I believe there would be other agencies willing to help.
IMO no matter what is said on a 911 call, it’s standard procedure when police arrive on the scene to ask the names of the two main (only) people on the premises and their relationship to the child in the house (Jr) and the child reported missing (Haleigh). If LE skipped that step and assumed that Misty was the mother OR they knew she wasn’t and still did not contact the mother right away or send a car over there to see if Haleigh was there or what the mother might know, then – to me – those are just very basic screw ups.
I’m not saying that Crystal took her but the other parent is always one of the first to be suspected – just statistics. Just like when a person is murdered LE usually looks at the spouse first – again, statistics.
I just can’t figure out what LE was thinking at the time. Why they did and didn’t do some things. It’s very strange and I wish the Feds would get involved or some other agency. That community is just too close-knit for me to trust everyone with no “outside” involvement or oversight. JMO
Keshala, I don’t read these sections all the time, but i did notice that you had some questions for me, i did not want to appear to advoid you, but the information you request information on is under investigation. I have been ask not to disclose certain intel. There is much we can discuss, but lets see if we can find out why Ronald is using Misty for cover, and why?
“And Baby, IF you are reading this, your daddy ain’t looking for you anymore” I don’t think he ever was.
FYI, FDLE is involved.
Thank you TJ and Simon for not giving up. Bring HaLeigh home to her Daddy and brother!
Cobra, you don’t have any “intel” and there is no “investigation” going on about the search in San Mateo. LE thinks Gunny’s owner is a wacko, and hates you enough to arrest you. Hey Cobra, if your documentation cleared you, how come the charges haven’t been dropped against you? You’ll probably end up pleading guilty to the charges, just to save your own butt. You know nothing, you keep telling everyone you’re involved or on the inside, but HaLiegh’s immediate families and LE wouldn’t give you the time of day. And you’re working with LE in Miami? With who Cobra. I’d like to call and confirm this claim of yours.
I had hoped that Cobra had started looking for Haleigh and when he said Tennessee,I thought the tons of relatives there and in Kentucky.But,it seems he’s back with the Ron did it and Misty is covering bs,because there’s no evidence.I’m done with listening to him.Sounds like the whole circus that took media attention away from finding Haleigh in the first place.Don’t send donations,FBI should be the only ones looking for this child.All these parents that have thier children taken from their homes will get blamed unless the person is caught,as if it’s not horrible enough.
Cobra, is this meant to downplay the “circus sideshow?” If so, you’ve missed the mark.
“And Baby, IF you are reading this, your daddy ain’t looking for you anymore” I don’t think he ever was.
Keshala, you obviously don’t know how many LE departments work, and haven’t been around too many investigations, or you wouldn’t haphazardly throw out comments like:
“keshala said And it should have been LE contacting Crystal not Teresa Neves. Any other LD that I know, would have contacted the persons involved in the family themselves.”
Are you presuming to know more than law enforcement?
TN called Crystal at 3:45 AM. That’s 15 minutes after police got on the scene. The police were focused on trying to find Haleigh. I doubt the police thought to stop and ask where the bio mom was in the middle of a frantic search for a 5 year old who could at any minute fall into the river or get hit by a car in the middle of the night when her bio dad was there. Keshala, you don’t seem to know too much about how police work.
keshala, i agree with you. le should have called crystal themselves or sent le from baker co. to her house. as m2c said above the absent parent is always the #1 suspect, so why act like crystal didnt even exsist. after all johnny sheffield was there and he could have told le that misty wasnt the bio mom and that crystal was.
also simple simon if you go read the police report you will see that crystals name and address is right on top with rons. i believe witness #3.
so yea le did mess this case up from day one. very unperfessinal in my opinion.
and cobra you say you never called le because there was nothing to report. what the heck do you call a man impersanating a F.B.I agent? A GAME?
kuddos ksue, imo johnny sheffield is involved just as much as cobra. imo, misty was slapped around and haleigh taken. after all its his m.o.
Cobra I have to say I am just shocked, although I shouldn’t be, by your statement:
“And Baby, IF you are reading this, your daddy ain’t looking for you anymore” I don’t think he ever was.”
You have no clue what Ron or his family are doing or not doing. Just because they did not jump on the circus side show does not mean in any way that they are not looking for HaLeigh.
They believe that HaLeigh is alive and that is where their efforts are focused.
It is time to stop the BS and snotty remarks and get the focus back on finding HaLeigh.
I guess at first LE operated under the theory that Haleigh wandered out the door but hadn’t Ron already screamed something about people taking her? I just don’t understand why LE did not contact the bio mom somewhat sooner or, even better, go visit her.
I also wonder why Crystal would call – who was it? Johnny Sheffield? And ask if this was a prank? Why even THINK it was a prank? And, better yet, why ask HIM????
m2c-I agree completely. Although LE may have been operating under such assumptions, they should have listened to the fact that Ron SAID someone took her! And I don’t claim to know more about le then they themeselves know. I do know what I have been around and subjected to as far as the law goes. My father-in-law is a Lt. in the police department. I have asked him questions and too has said that LE themselves should have contacted the bio mom themselves, or had the county sherriff where she’s from, go to her door and let her know. My father-in-law has also stated that a canine dog would grab the scent of anyone on those sheets, not just Haleigh. Makes you wonder who’s scent exactly did that dog follow??
Keshala, give it a rest already! TN called Crystal within 15 minutes of finding out herself. So what. Get over it. She did what she thought was right. The cops were busy looking for a kid whose father was on scene. She could have been in the river for all they know, and you’d have them stop and try and track down the bio mom, possibly letting whomever might have taken her get away, or worse, hurt her while they were busy making a phone call? Please. You keep saying the exact same thing over and over. Are you expecting someone to agree with you if you ask the question just right? You, your mom, and all your pseudonyms on here need to worry about YOUR part in this circus side show that’s been created, in no small part by your mom. Let the professionals find this little girl, hopefully without any more fame seeking from your family!
XFACTOR,what does a dispatch get paid to do? do you know what a dispatch is?
let me refresh your memory. they get paid to dispatch calls, they get paid to awnser calls, they get paid to contact other le to ask them to contact absent family, and they get paid to call family.
so why did teresa take it upon her self to call crystal? just the facts please. no rumors.
Keshala if the K-9 was following the scent of Misty or Ron as you seem to be implying, do you not think that the dog would have tracked right to the front yard where Misty and Ron were standing with LE?
The K-9 picked up the scent, tracked it out the back door and into the woods. As far as I know K-9′s do not have to be given a scent from an article to be able to track. I mean after all K-9′s track criminals all the time when LE does not have a scent article to give them.
I think you are confusing the K-9 and the bloodhounds. It was the bloodhounds, who arrived later that morning, that were given the scent off of HaLeigh’s bedding.
xFACTOR! I am not on here to fame seek. But, I do want my opinion to be heard as well as you want your opinion to be the only opinion out there. If you got the impression that fame is what I’m after, then I’m sorry to hear that. Instead of being rude to me, why don’t you kindly explain things in such a manner as to why things would or wouldn’t be possible. I’m just trying to come up with theories about Haleigh disappearing without nobody noticing or hearing a thing. Why would the dog track the track that it followed? That is my question. If you have a logical answer, please by all means, go for it. Since everyone seems to think that I’m after “fame” then I am done on here. I am disabling my account immediately. Sorry to have wasted anyone’s time on here.
From my understanding, LE followed the CART protocol almost to the letter. In fact, I also heard that they have been praised by several in the LE community for how they handled the initial call and later days of the investigation. Their actions that morning have already been used by many as a model for CART protocol implantation.
Its easy to blame the local agency for not finding the child, but we need to remember that there are thousands of children that go missing every year and never get found, even by the BIGGER agencies. This type of case is not good for any size agency.
For those questioning calling the bio mother, as someone noted, she was aware of her missing child 15 minutes after law enforcement arrived on scene. She lived 2.5 hours away from the scene. Investigators were at her residence in Baker County that morning and did not find anything. I heard she came to the scene hours later, after she got up.
Its easy for us to cast stones towards LE, but from my following of the case, they have done things the way they should. Other large agencies have been involved with this case from day 1, and they haven’t found her yet either. I’m not saying LE is perfect, but I think they are doing the best they can under the circumstances. I’m sure that they would do anything to find Haleigh and bring her home.
What the hell kind of parent would worry more about his weddin to a kid herself then findin his lil gurl ( lil angle from god)that has been missing. why would anyone in the right mind if theywere going to take anything take the time to stop find a brick prop open the door then go get the gurl.If she was the so b soon to be step mom that she says she is then she GROW UP FROM HER CHILDHOOD DAYS AND ACT LIKE ONE.ye my child has run off in the store and i got scared but i am sorry i think she is involved.Everyone makes mistakes of all diff things but i have a 5 year old that has downsydrome and wonders al lthe time when there that age they tend to have to be looked afteralot better then a teenager.MISTY if you goin still live your teenage years then live them but not with kids if you want to be a mom grow the hell up.
COME HOME SAFE BABY GURL KNOW GOD IS WATCHING OVER YOU AND HE LOVES YOU VERY MUCH AND THAT YOU ARE LOVED VERY MUCH HUGZZZZZZZ
R.I.P CAYLEE ANTHNEY SADLY MISSED AND LOVED.
its really sad how things are going about this beautifull little girl. next week will be 6, month and her birthday. what i found srtange was when ronald cummings bewed, misty so soon when his daughter haleigh cummings vanish, i do believe god is going to take care of it.the lady who called on the blog radio i believe her this items where found than this men john regan impersonating as F.B.I.AGENT. why, william staubs as cobra was doing his job and i feel he should be sent back to finish his duty what he need to do. i never seen anything wrong on the video when he got dan, a men who stand in front a front of a men face with diginty. especially who have done brutal crime with kids.where is Haleigh.
Simon: Good show today! Lots of good details to think on.
Did I read somewhere that Crystal and Ronald were going back to court because Crystal wants Ron, Jr. to see a child psychologist, and Ronald is against it? If that is true, that would be a good idea, because that little boy knows more than he is able to express. If asked the right questions, he might be able to tell them alot of little details that could be useful.
I keep going back to what White Boy Greg said about Misty and Ron having trouble over Misty telling Ron she was pregnant, and that she knew Ronald already had children, but she wanted a baby of her own with Ronald. A drug debt might not have been the only motive for Haleigh’s disappearance.
I think Ronald is, definitely, guiding Misty in the cover-up. I think LE aren’t fooled by any of these people, and I think there will be an arrest before long. LE knows alot more than they are letting out to the public.
Another thing I keep going back to is the canine searching dogs going straight from the house to the water, first, and a child’s footprint being found close to the water.
What were the children doing sitting outside in the dark and cold eating at 7:00 p.m.?
Another thing I meant to ask if anyone knows if Misty’s brothers and Mother were given a lie detector test? I feel like they were, but I haven’t heard anything about it. They seem to be laying kind of low during all of this.
There was that van that was moved that night that had Haleigh’s blanket in it, according to Misty. It was parked at Misty’s brother’s house that night, and a scratch had been put on it. I don’t believe all of that was a co-incidence.
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