Haleigh Cummings #4 3/04/09 - 3/08/09

[islandmonkey]

Family straightens up in Cummings home while others prepare to move vigil site

By Chris DeVitto
Published: Friday, March 6, 2009 1:29 AM EST
SATSUMA - Members of Ronald Cummings' family spent Thursday afternoon sorting and picking up the contents of the mobile home where 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings was last seen.

"I'm just picking up the mess that was made, I guess, when everybody was going through everything," said Annette Sykes, Haleigh's paternal great-grandmother.

"They even tore out the wall where the hot water heater was."
 


She said when the media is allowed to tour the house, it will look as close as possible to when Ronald Cummings, his daughter Haleigh and son Ronald Jr., lived there.



"The toughest part was working in her room," she said. "It's when I come out, when I'm done, when I leave."

Teresa Neves, Haleigh's paternal grandmother, said she tried to help, but couldn't because it was emotionally too difficult.

"I couldn't do it. My sister tried and she couldn't do it," Neves said.

"I can't imagine how they're doing it; she filled that house with a lot of laughter. I just don't know how they're doing it."

She said she told her mother when she went to the mobile home to pack and clean she didn't know how they could emotionally do it.

At 3:27 a.m. Feb. 10, Haleigh was reported missing by Misty Croslin, the girlfriend of Haleigh's father, who was babysitting the girl when she vanished.

Croslin told deputies she put Haleigh and Haleigh's little brother in the same bed at about 8 p.m. the night before, a Sheriff's report said.

The report said that at 10:30 p.m. both children were put to bed and Croslin laid down with them.

When Croslin awoke at 3 a.m. she discovered Haleigh was missing, the report said.

An Amber Alert was issued a short time later that triggered a massive search and investigation involving local authorities and the FBI.

Tips called in to law enforcement for the missing Satsuma girl are up to 2,400, said Capt. Dick Shauland, spokesman for the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

"Some are valid and some aren't, but we have to check them all," he said. "We still have five detectives working on the case, running down leads."

On Thursday afternoon, Neves said Ronald was passing out flyers for his missing daughter.

"He found some places that didn't have flyers and that's what he's doing today, passing out flyers."

Neves said family members missed a certain item while cleaning inside the Cummings home.

"There is something missing from the trailer that should be there," she said. "I don't know if it was taken for evidence or whoever took Haleigh took it."

The missing item belongs to Haleigh, she said.

"It's something that should always be there for her," she said.

Neves said she could not explain what the item was because of the ongoing investigation.

Shauland said he had no idea what Neves was talking about, when authorities removed items as evidence a receipt for each item was issued to the family.

"We turned the house back to them sometime last week," he said. "We've not had anything to do with the house since then."

According to Marie Griffis, Crystal Sheffield's mother and Haleigh's grandmother, their tent at the entrance to Tyler Street off Buffalo Bluff Road may have to be moved.

"Right now I don't know if we will have to move or not," she said. "The owner of River Villas requested we find a place to move."

She said the family would try to move across the canal into a field that Texas-based Equusearch used for staging purposes.

"We may go to an empty lot on Hoot Owl Ridge Road," she said. "Crystal (Haleigh's mother) wants to stay as close as she can and I will be here as long as I can."

cdevitto@palatkadailynews.com




D@mn~I just noticed that part, hmmmmmm

[Brandi]

Image of the "backdoor" from the inside.

Hard to tell, but there MIGHT be a deadbolt where I put the arrow. Not sure.

[leslee]

Has this been posted already, soory if it has I am way behind here.


http://www.palatkadailynews.com/articles/2009/03/06/news/news01.txt

Neves said family members missed a certain item while cleaning inside the Cummings home.

"There is something missing from the trailer that should be there," she said. "I don't know if it was taken for evidence or whoever took Haleigh took it."

The missing item belongs to Haleigh, she said.

"It's something that should always be there for her," she said.

Neves said she could not explain what the item was because of the ongoing investigation.

Shauland said he had no idea what Neves was talking about, when authorities removed items as evidence a receipt for each item was issued to the family.

Interesting.

Very Very interesting.  Medication bottle???

  very good guess.............

Her favorite book, toy?

[leslee]

Image of the "backdoor" from the inside.

Hard to tell, but there MIGHT be a deadbolt where I put the arrow. Not sure.

Isn't there a deadbolt right above the regular door handle?

[Brandi]

Image of the "backdoor" from the inside.

Hard to tell, but there MIGHT be a deadbolt where I put the arrow. Not sure.

Isn't there a deadbolt right above the regular door handle?

Appears to be, yes. Looks like a keyed one to me. Let me see if I can blow it up.

[klaasend]

Image of the "backdoor" from the inside.

Hard to tell, but there MIGHT be a deadbolt where I put the arrow. Not sure.

[alagary]

Image of the "backdoor" from the inside.

Hard to tell, but there MIGHT be a deadbolt where I put the arrow. Not sure.

the deadbolt is the top gold colored circle .  I thought RC said there was something up high that was hard to work .

[Brandi]

Image of the "backdoor" from the inside.

Hard to tell, but there MIGHT be a deadbolt where I put the arrow. Not sure.

Isn't there a deadbolt right above the regular door handle?

Appears to be, yes. Looks like a keyed one to me. Let me see if I can blow it up.

Not much help, unfortunately:

[no rose colored glasses]

Thank-you for the pictures, certainly different inside the trailer than I thought it would be.

[klaasend]

Looks like a sincle cylindar deadbolt.  Key on the outside and latch on the inside:

[Brandi]

Image of the "backdoor" from the inside.

Hard to tell, but there MIGHT be a deadbolt where I put the arrow. Not sure.

the deadbolt is the top gold colored circle .  I thought RC said there was something up high that was hard to work .

Yes, I did too. That is why I was trying to locate something higher than the lock near the doorknob.

[islandmonkey]

 

Sorry~just curious about why LE tore out a wall????? Anyone


From my previous post upthread they tore a wall out..............why?

[Brandi]

Thank-you for the pictures, certainly different inside the trailer than I thought it would be.

You are welcome. I think with Klaas' door pictures and this one, we have posted most of them.

[alagary]

Image of the "backdoor" from the inside.

Hard to tell, but there MIGHT be a deadbolt where I put the arrow. Not sure.

I consider myself a handy man and I see nothing on that door other then the deadbolt and knob that are on almost every door . The peep-hole looks homemade though.

[leslee]

Sorry~just curious about why LE tore out a wall????? Anyone


From my previous post upthread they tore a wall out..............why?

Looks like the door by the washer/dryer might " house" the HW heater. Maybe they were trying to tie off the plumbing to the washer so they could inspect the washer and bashed the wall ( those walls aren't really drywall, their thinner).

[klaasend]

Thank-you for the pictures, certainly different inside the trailer than I thought it would be.

Mobile homes, especially double wides, can be really nice inside! 

[leslee]

That deadbolt is NOT high up and hard to reach! Its a matter of turning the lever to get out albeit holding the door in.... which I am sure Haleigh has seen her dad do time and again. WHY did he lie about that 

[klaasend]

Alagary - thanks, I don't see any special locks either.  Just typical, lower cost original type door knob with a single cylindar dead bolt.

[luckyday]

Quote from: islandmonkey on Today at 01:30:33 PM
 

Sorry~just curious about why LE tore out a wall????? Anyone


From my previous post upthread they tore a wall out..............why?


Looks like the door by the washer/dryer might " house" the HW heater. Maybe they were trying to tie off the plumbing to the washer so they could inspect the washer and bashed the wall ( those walls aren't really drywall, their thinner).

I wonder if LE tore out the walls to look for stashed drugs. Just a thought. And ITA - the dead bolt would be very easy for a 5 year old to reach. Nothing special about the lock at all. Now, I am really suspicious. Doesn't Ron know the media w/be all over that house this weekend?

[islandmonkey]

That deadbolt is NOT high up and hard to reach! Its a matter of turning the lever to get out albeit holding the door in.... which I am sure Haleigh has seen her dad do time and again. WHY did he lie about that 

Me too   My son used to crawl out of his crib when he was 2yrs old, and those are the type locks we had~he could opne it and I once found him climbing the wood pile next to the neighbor's fence trying to look at their pool........scared the sheet out of me, so we had to put those spinning round handle covers over the door handle, all to keep a mischevious 2 yr old inside.