This just in from TJ Hart – Jan Barrett

The list of new leads in the abduction case of HaLeigh Cummings last February is almost non-existent these days.  So far, all anyone really knows is that HaLeigh is described as a 6 year old white female.  She is approximately 3’0, 39 lbs, blonde hair & brown eyes. Her clothing description is unknown.

HaLeigh was last seen at her father’s home in the Hermit’s Cove area of Putnam County on February 9, 2009 between the hours of 8-10pm.

A statewide Amber Alert has been issued.  More than $30,000 in rewards has been posted.

After that, the rest is really up for grabs.

There has been no solid timeline provided by the last person to see her who is Misty Croslin– the child’s babysitter-turned stepmom-turned ex-stepmom all in the last ten months. Investigators say some of what Croslin has told them about the night HaLeigh was taken conflicts with the physical evidence gathered in the case.

Police don’t even know for sure if Croslin was even home at the time the child disappeared.

Beyond that, it has been mostly a job for the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, FDLE and the FBI to chase down and follow up on tips, rumors and agenda-driven information provided by many.

Family members on all sides of this case in which police say is a non-stranger abduction appear to be somewhere between optimistic and doubtful. They say they are optimistic that HaLeigh will be found, but have recently told reporters they don’t know whether or not to completely trust LE with anything anymore.

Then there are the others in the mix who have been taking turns going to jail or acting out in a manner that one would not associate with that of a family who is missing a child—but those stories are a sideshow attraction and have nothing to do with this missing child.

Ever since HaLeigh disappeared, there have been those who have wanted to insert themselves into the story for some reason or another that only they can rationalize. Some are good-hearted well-intended folks with a desire to help while others are simply off the chain looking for their 15 seconds of fame.

The ones I believe who were only trying to help include the list of psychic visionaries who have come up empty so far and those people who have reported the alleged sightings of HaLeigh that have wound up being dead ends.

The rumor starters are not helping:

·         HaLeigh was being held at a safe house in Georgia

·         She was taken by a trucker from Texas, but is now living in the Midwest with a photographer

·         HaLeigh is being held against her will in a bunker

·         The girl was taken away by foreigners

·         She’s living in Mexico

·         Drug dealers are holding her hostage

·         He did it

·         She did it

Neither are those who try to physically participate:

·         The woman who dropped off that “tip” at the St. Augustine newspaper office after leading police on a wild goose chase

·         Unofficial searches

·         Those who willfully distorted and continue to manipulate and rearrange the facts to suit their personal agendas online (this is a very long list….and it continues to grow)

Who to trust and who to disregard can be difficult when you are consumed with only trying to find your child or grandchild.

At the end of the day, the families of HaLeigh Cummings do not care about anything else but finding her.

Most of them have said to those of us in the press on more than one occasion in past several months, “Please, find her! This has gone on too long and whoever did this need to pay, and we don’t care who it is.”

TJ Hart

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