Timeline of events in the Haleigh Cummings case
Last Modified: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 7:17 p.m.
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This timeline shows events in the case of Haleigh Cummings, a missing Putnam County girl:
Feb. 9, 2009 — Family members say Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings, 5, is last seen at about 10 p.m. at her Satsuma home, 202 Green Lane, in south Putnam County.
Feb. 10, 2009
* 3 a.m. — Misty Croslin, 17, Ronald Cummings’ live-in girlfriend, wakes up to use the bathroom at around 3 a.m. On her return, she says she notices Haleigh is missing.
* 3:30 a.m. — Haleigh is reported missing to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office soon after Haleigh’s father, Ronald Cummings, 25, returns home from his job at PDM Bridge in Palatka.
* 9:30 a.m. — A nationwide Amber Alert is issued for Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings.
* A back door at the mobile home is found ajar, propped open by a cinder block, and no initial signs of forced entry are discovered, according to Putnam County sheriff’s officials.
* More than 130 officers from at least 10 county, state and federal law enforcement agencies continue the search for Haleigh Cummings. They converge on Satsuma, population 5,500, located about 10 miles south of Palatka.
* The search includes helicopters, water units and bloodhounds, which are searching a 5-mile radius around the girl’s home, including the banks of the St. Johns River, which is about 300 yards from the residence.
* Ronald Cummings issues a tearful plea for the return of his daughter as her mother, Crystal Sheffield, 23, stands by also in tears and holding a portrait of the child.
* The families of Crystal Sheffield, Haleigh’s mother, and Ronald Cummings hold an evening vigil. Regular vigils take place for many nights afterward.
Feb. 11, 2009 -
* The search continues for Haleigh with about 150 officers and 20 law enforcement agencies.
* Divers check the St. Johns River following initial signs of Haleigh’s scent picked up by canine search dogs.
* The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office releases redacted copies of 911 calls made Tuesday morning by Ronald Cummings and Misty Croslin.
* 4 p.m. — Putnam County sheriff’s officials declare the case an abduction. There is no evidence around the house that would lead one to believe the girl wandered away on her own.
* The girl’s family and friends are questioned by law enforcement officials, who describe the people being interviewed as “cooperative.”
* Officers confirm that all of the people interviewed have been offered the chance to take a lie detector test.
* County officials, with assistance from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI, report they are checking on the whereabouts of 44 sex offenders who live within a 5-mile radius of the home.
* Homes in the area are canvassed, including those that appear unoccupied.
Feb. 12, 2009 -
* The search continues for the 5-year-old, and law enforcement officers say they will expand the investigation “as far as we need to go.”
* Ronald Cummings pleads again with the public on TV for the return of his daughter. He also states that he had no involvement in his daughter’s disappearance and that his girlfriend, Misty Croslin, is not at fault for being the last known person to see Haleigh.
* While speaking to the media, Marie Griffis, Haleigh’s maternal grandmother, is critical of Croslin and questions Croslin’s account of Haleigh’s disappearance.
* Ronald Cummings, who has primary custody of Haleigh and Ronald Jr., disputes the idea that the girl’s disappearance has anything to do with custody. Crystal Sheffield, the children’s mother, has them every other weekend. Putnam County sheriff’s officers say they believe custody is not an issue.
* Texas-based EquuSearch, a mounted search-and-recovery team, offers its assistance in search efforts. More volunteers arrive.
* Relatives of other missing children, including George Anthony, the grandfather of Caylee Anthony, and Joshua Duckett, the father of a missing Leesburg boy, visit Haleigh’s family in a show of support.
* Crime Stoppers offers a $1,000 reward for information solving the case, and Leonard Padilla, the bounty hunter who worked on the Caylee Anthony case, offers a $25,000 reward if Haleigh is found.
* Crystal Sheffield appears on CNN’s Nancy Grace show.
Feb. 13, 2009 -
* Investigators find several “items of interest” during a fresh search of the area near Haleigh Cummings’ home. They decline to specify what the items are and where they were found.
* Investigators announce they will conduct more interviews of relatives and others, including some re-interviews, but decline to list names or discuss results of polygraph tests.
* All 44 registered sex offenders who live within a 5-mile radius of the Cummings home have been interviewed or have had their whereabouts confirmed.
* Investigators say they have received more than 350 leads since Tuesday.
Feb. 14, 2009 -
* The search continues despite scattered showers. About 250 volunteer searchers and law enforcement officials from 17 agencies, including divers and air units, scour the area.
* Officials announce that Friday’s “items of interest” have yielded nothing of significance.
* Marie Griffis, Haleigh’s maternal grandmother, issues an apology to Ronald Cummings and his girlfriend, Misty Croslin, for raising suspicions with the media concerning the couple’s possible involvement in the 5-year-old’s disappearance.
* Officials say they are “as optimistic now as we were on day one” that Haleigh will be found alive.
Feb. 15, 2009 - Another search is held for Haleigh, but it leads to no new evidence. Officers announce they will end ground searches unless there is new information to undertake one. Officers are interested in speaking with a registered Marion County sex offender who was arrested in 2004 on a lewd and lascivious case in Putnam County but later learn he was accounted for on the night Haleigh disappeared. Meanwhile, officers move their command post from Satsuma to Palatka to the agency's Emergency Operations Center. Haleigh's relatives hold a birthday party for her younger brother, now 4, who also was supposed to be in the home when his sister vanished.
Feb. 16, 2009 - The search group Texas EquuSearch is set to end searches unless there are new details in the girl's disappearance.
Feb. 17, 2009 - Deputies announce they have new leads after canvassing about 300 homes and stopping more than 200 vehicles but don't elaborate on the information.
Feb. 18, 2009 - Officers confirm a tip in the case that Croslin was not at the home at the time Haleigh supposedly was sleeping. Both Cummings and Croslin have told media they passed polygraph tests. Information in an Amber Alert for Haleigh is revised, eliminating an initial report that she had been wearing a pink shirt the night she vanished when the clothing was later found. The reward for information leading to Haleigh's return increases to $16,000. question about reward answered -Lise Fisher 2/3/10 9:34 AM
Feb. 19, 2009 - Officers arrest a sexual predator who was living near Haleigh's home and who violated his curfew in the days after she was reported missing. But his GPS tracking device shows he was not in the area of her home the night she was last seen.
Feb. 21, 2009 - The search for Haleigh is again scaled back although officers continue to pursue leads. Investigators confirm they have interviewed a cousin of Croslin's who lives in Tennessee and had recently visited the area but say he is not a suspect or person of interest in the child's disappearance. The reward for Haleigh's return continues to climb. A trespass warning is issued to Geraldo Rivera, who anchors Fox News' "Geraldo at Large," after he reportedly confronts Cummings regarding questions over Haleigh.
Feb. 24, 2009 - Deputies confirm Haleigh's younger brother talked about a man in black who entered the home and took his sister. Authorities do not comment on the boy's statement. But his maternal grandmother says he could have just been repeating something he overheard. Cummings later dismisses the boy's remark. Five of 17 detectives at the Sheriff's Office are now assigned to the case. The reward in the case is now at $25,500.
Feb. 25, 2009 - Those contributing to the search for Haleigh and her family are warned about fake online solicitations.
Feb. 26 and Feb. 27, 2009 - Cadaver dogs are used to help search for Haleigh. One alerts on a Dumpster near her home, but nothing is found. Investigators remove crime scene tape from around the mobile home where she was last seen. Officers confirm DNA samples have been taken from Cummings and Sheffield. Cummings reportedly has no immediate plans to return to the home and is living in a travel trailer lent to him.
Feb. 28, 2009 - Haleigh is one of four children featured on the weekly Fox television show "America's Most Wanted."
March 2, 2009 - Relatives report Haleigh has a genetic abnormality known as Turner syndrome that affects one in every 2,500 female babies born alive and is marked by features ranging from major heart defects to minor cosmetic indicators. Haleigh has two brown birthmarks on her left cheekbone and right jawline. Her fingers and toes are chubbier than most children her size and age, and her left eye is slightly smaller and unaligned, a condition called "lazy eye." She also is below average height for her age at about 3 feet tall.
March 4, 2009 - Investigators maintain this is not a cold case although Haleigh has been missing for almost a month.
March 9, 2009 - The father and brother of missing University of Florida student Tiffany Sessions meet with a relative of Haleigh's to offer their support and encouragement to keep the case in the public eye in the hopes of finding the girl.
March 10, 2009 - A reward in the case of Haleigh Cummings now stands at $35,000 after help from the Justice Coalition, a Jacksonville-based group that assists crime victims.
March 12, 2009 - Cummings and Croslin marry in the yard of a friend's mobile home. The next day, they travel to New York City and appear on the "Today Show" where Cummings says the wedding is part of his personal life and no one's business. Haleigh's mother criticizes the marriage and the trip that occurred while the search for Haleigh is ongoing. A ground search of U.S. 17 is held near Haleigh's home from Buffalo Bluff Road to Paradise Shores north of Crescent City. It turns up no new evidence. About 100 people participate.
March 17, 2009 - Sheffield and family friends announce the opening of the Haleigh Bug Headquarters where Sheffield can stay and remain near the location where her child was last seen. Donations to aid in the search also are collected at the building, and tips in the case can be collected at the location. question about headquarters answered -Lise Fisher 2/3/10 9:34 AM
March 20, 2009 - Both of Haleigh's parents have announced that they are being represented by attorneys. Over the year, who is representing them as well as Cummings' wife, Misty Croslin-Cummings, will change.
March 30, 2009 - Sheffield has a minor vehicle accident when she runs into the back of a car on State Road 20, Palatka police report. Sheffield also tells police she had a seizure prior to the accident.
April 27, 2009 - Sheffield has another seizure, reported due to stress, at the Haleigh Bug Center. Soon afterward, she begins to limit her time in Putnam County and eventually the Haleigh Bug Center in Satsuma closes with reports it has been relocated to Baker County, where Sheffield lives.
April 28, 2009 - Investigators dismiss rumors that there had been an arrest in the case.
May 19, 2009 - Cummings' family rejects any help from the grandparents of Caylee Anthony, a missing Central Florida girl later found dead, saying that family has its own agenda and the facts of the Anthony case are "in no way similar" to Haleigh's disappearance.
June 4, 2009 - Authorities from different agencies involved in the case meet, and the Sheriff's Office stresses the case is not cold because there are investigative leads to follow. Agencies in the meeting include the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the FBI, the Sheriff's Office and the State Attorney's Office.
June 26, 2009 - Authorities dig up animal remains at the Baker County home of Haleigh's maternal grandmother during what officers called secondary searches related to the child's disappearance. They have no information the child is buried on the property but say they want to make sure they leave no stone unturned in the investigation.
July 16, 2009 - An attorney for Cummings, Greg Kimball of Palatka, announces the Florida Department of Children and Families has cleared his client of any abuse of his daughter prior to her disappearance. Cummings retains custody of his son, and both he and his wife, Croslin-Cummings, agree to attend parenting classes. The boy's mother has visitation rights.
Aug. 6, 2009 - Cummings is arrested on a charge of burglary with assault or battery after he was accused of hitting his brother-in-law, Hank "Tommy" Croslin Jr. Croslin told officers the fight occurred after his sister contacted her family and said she didn't want to stay at a home with her husband any longer. Cummings, however, signed affidavits saying his brother-in-law and father-in-law were the aggressors.
Aug. 7, 2009 - The Sheriff's Office rebuts a rumor that Haleigh's body has been found, saying officers wanted to quell such rumors so the focus can be maintained on finding the girl.
Aug. 8, 2009 - Cummings is questioned by officers after a dead rat ended up in his brother-in-law's mailbox. He is not charged.
Aug. 17, 2009 - Officers mark Haleigh's sixth birthday by announcing they considered Croslin-Cummings "key" in Haleigh's disappearance and that physical evidence contradicts her "sketchy account " of what she was doing the evening the girl was last seen. The Sheriff's Office also reports it no longer thinks the girl was taken by a stranger and that her parents, Ronald Cummings and Crystal Sheffield, are not considered suspects.
- Haleigh's father invites people to participate in a balloon release while the girl's maternal family plans a school supply drive, both in connection with her birthday.
Aug. 19, 2009 - EquuSearch director confirms Croslin-Cummings underwent a polygraph in Orlando and that the test "showed huge deceptions." This was done, Tim Miller answered (LF) / Who is he? -Sean McCrory 2/5/10 12:04 PM said, at her request in an effort to clear her name and focus the investigation on Haleigh. Later hypnosis and voice analysis tests also were arranged. But Croslin-Cummings' attorney said she took the tests because she was told if she didn't, EquuSearch wouldn't help with the search.
Aug. 29, 2009 - A search conducted by EquuSearch looks for clues of Haleigh but finds nothing, searchers say. Participants look in an area Croslin-Cummings talked about while taking tests to clear her name. She tells searchers to look for a red rose in a wooded area running from the St. Johns River east behind the house where the girl lived.
Aug. 31, 2009 - The Sheriff's Office confirms Hank "Tommy" Croslin Jr. had been interviewed after remarks made by his sister to EquuSearch about his behavior around the time of Haleigh's disappearance.
Sept. 5, 2009 - More of Croslin-Cummings' relatives are interviewed, this time in Massachusetts. Officers speak with another brother, Timmy, and his wife. The Putnam County Sheriff's Office will not discuss the reason for the interviews.
Sept. 15, 2009 - Hank "Tommy" Croslin Jr., Misty Croslin-Cummings' brother, is arrested on a grand theft charge regarding a gun missing from a neighbor's home. That same week, officers confirm he was questioned about Haleigh's disappearance.
Sept. 19 and 20, 2009 - L Pond in southern Putnam County is drained. It becomes public knowledge that officers have a tip that Haleigh may have been taken to a party where she died from a drug overdose and then was taken to the pond. A search of the pond reveals nothing about the girl, investigators say.
Sept. 22, 2009 - The Putnam County Sheriff's Office reveals that the husband and relatives of Croslin-Cummings couldn't reach her the night she said she was taking care of Haleigh and her younger brother. Cummings made 20 attempts to reach her by phone that evening, according to phone records, and when her brother went to check on her, no lights were on inside and no one answered the door when he banged on it. Later that night Haleigh vanished.
Sept. 28, 2009 - A letter dropped off at a North Florida newspaper contains information about a possible burial site for Haleigh but does not lead to any new information about the girl, officers say. The tip is one of more than 4,000 the agency has received since the girl vanished from her Satsuma home.
Oct. 6, 2009 - Attorneys for both Croslin-Cummings and her husband confirm their clients are contemplating a divorce, with stress cited as the likely reason for the break-up.
Oct. 7, 2009 - Croslin-Cummings is a passenger in a car pulled over in an alleged road rage incident in Seminole County.
Oct. 9, 2009 - Croslin-Cummings appears on the "CBS Early Show," where she says that other family members have not been as closely scrutinized as she has in the disappearance case. She also says stress is behind her upcoming divorce and that she is innocent in Haleigh's disappearance.
Oct. 12, 2009 - Croslin-Cummings' attorney at the time, Robert Fields of Putnam County, confirms he is no longer representing her. He apparently made the decision on Oct. 9 shortly after she appeared on the "CBS Early Show." He reportedly had advised her not to appear on the program.
Oct. 15, 2009 - St. Johns County court records show a divorce for Ronald Cummings and Misty Croslin-Cummings has been finalized.
Oct. 19, 2009 - Misty Croslin is one of three people robbed while trying to buy illegal drugs at a Palatka apartment complex, police report.
Oct. 21, 2009 - Investigators find the body of Somer Thompson in a Georgia landfill. The Clay County girl disappeared on Oct. 19 while walking home from school, and there had been comparisons by the public, although no connections according to police, to Haleigh's disappearance. Investigators confirm that, as in the search for Somer, they organized a search of garbage picked up from the area where Haleigh was last seen and at landfill near the Clay County line used for household garbage collected from south Putnam County, where Haleigh was living at the time she vanished.
Nov. 5, 2009 - Hank "Tommy" Croslin Jr., Misty Croslin's brother, is arrested on drug charges after he is found in a car with a variety of narcotics.
Nov. 24, 2009 - Misty Croslin's father, Hank Croslin Sr., is arrested and accused of doctor shopping after law enforcement receives information alleging he was fraudulently obtaining prescription drugs.
Jan. 20, 2010 - Following a month-long investigation into the trafficking of prescription medications, Misty Croslin, Ron Cummings, Misty's brother Hank Croslin Jr., Hope Sykes and Donna Brock are arrested. Misty Croslin faces six counts of trafficking in prescription medications. Three counts of the same charge are pending against Cummings and one against Hank Croslin Jr., Sykes and Brock.
Jan. 26, 2010 - Investigators release records relating to the arrests that allege an undercover officer purchased hundreds of prescription pills from the suspects. Since the arrests, Sheffield has been granted temporary custody of her son.
Feb. 3, 2010 - Warrants for two additional charges related to the sale of prescription narcotics are filed against Ronald Cummings and Misty Croslin, bringing the total charges to eight against Croslin and five against Cummings. Cummings' bond is increased to $1.35 million, while Cummings' bond is raised to $900,000. The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office also releases hours of video captured from jailhouse visits involving Misty Croslin and Hank "Tommy" Croslin Jr. In a visit with his daughter, Hank Croslin Sr. is seen telling her, "Misty, don't be lying about nothing because all it's going to do is bury you deeper. ... The Haleigh stuff has got to come to an end. It has to, Misty."
Feb. 4, 2010 - The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office releases almost an hour's worth of redacted audio recorded from phone conversations between Misty Croslin and her family. In one conversation between Croslin and a man she identifies as her brother, Croslin is heard saying, "You know I'm going to be taking a ride, Timmy; I'm going to be going to prison. ... Bub, I'm going to prison, I'm telling you. ... Eight trafficking charges."
Feb. 18, 2010 - Ronald Cummings and Misty Croslin entered not guilty please to trafficking prescription narcotics in Putnam County.
April 13, 2010 - The Putnam County Sheriff's Office confirms there is a new search in the Satsuma area regarding the missing girl.
http://www.ocala.com/article/20100413/ARTICLES/100419871/-1/news?p=all&tc=pgall
