Dorothy Annette Sykes

[Heart]

Annette Sykes, father's obit from www.findagrave.com  IMO


Birth:  unknown
Death:  Dec. 8, 2002

George Robert Stallings, 93, of Welaka died Sunday, December 8, 2002 at the residence of his son in Francis following an extended illness.

He was a native of Lowell County, Georgia. He served in the U.S. Navy on the U.S.S. Missouri.
He later owned and operated a barber shop in Boston, Ga. before moving to Brunswick, Ga., where he worked in a defense plant for several years.

He had been a resident of Putnam County for the past 59 years, first living in Francis and after 1968 in Welaka, where he had been a member of the Welaka Baptist Church for many years. He worked for the City of Palatka as a policeman up until 1948 when he went to work at the former Hudson Pulp and Paper Corp. in Palatka. He helped to construct the mill and remained employed there until 1959 when he retired on disability.
He was preceded in death by his wives: Iliff Stallings, Martha Stallings and Vera Stallings; one daughter: Hildred Stallings; and one son: George Martin Stallings.

He is survived by four sons and daughters-in-law: Carl and Neville Stallings, Wayman and Jean Stallings, and Ormand and Ruby Stallings, all of Francis; and Homer and Brenda Stallings, Satsuma; one daughter: Annette Sykes, Welaka; 18 grandchildren; 39 great grandchildren and 11 great great grandchildren.
Flowers are gratefully accepted or memorial gifts may be sent to Hospice of the Lakes, 6400 St. Johns Ave., Palatka, FL 32177.

Calling hours will be from 5 until 7 p.m., Wednesday at Masters Funeral Home, Palatka.
Funeral services will be 11 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 12 at the funeral home, with the Rev. Sonny Pipkins officiating.

In honor of Mr. Stallings life a video tribute will be shown during the service.
Interment will follow in Palatka Memorial Gardens.
Masters Funeral Home of Palatka is in charge of arrangements
 
 
Burial:
Palatka Memorial Gardens
Palatka
Putnam County
Florida, USA
 
Created by: Kristy Thomas
Record added: Mar 02, 2008
Find A Grave Memorial# 24993154
 
Cemetery Photo
Added by: Rose SMITH BOYD
 

 Thank u for ur Service to our Nation. God Bless u & Rest in Peace..
- Robert C. Hill, Sr.
 Added: Aug. 8, 2008
 

http://scaredmonkeys.net/index.php?topic=5032.msg815879#msg815879

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Nancy Grace transcript April 22, 2010 GGm Sykes and Flora Hollars

ANNETTE SYKES, HALEIGH`S GREAT-GRANDMOTHER: I stopped by about 7:30 to drop off some laundry that I had done. I always did the children`s laundry just because it`s something I`ve always done. And the children were on the front porch with Misty. They were eating supper. And when we drove up, Haleigh jumped out of her chair and come running up and gave me a hug. And Junior came out and gave me a hug, and I gave them a kiss. And Misty walked out. She helped carry some of the clothes into the house and got the children`s shirts on, and they got back up to eat supper. I gave them a kiss, told them good-bye, and I got back in the car and left.

SYKES: I heard what she said on your show about Ronald being responsible because he left the children with her and she was all strung out. But I was there, and she was not strung out. I mean, she was walking and talking just -- I mean, I talked to her. Like I said, she helped me carry the laundry in. She had fixed supper for the children. They were eating.

SYKES: That`s the first time I`ve ever heard that. I`ve never heard that before. I was not aware of that. I`ve not ever heard that story before. I really don`t know. I -- it`s -- I mean, I don`t see how anybody could do that, if it`s true. But I don`t know. I`ve not ever heard that story before. I`ve heard so many stories. We all have. And you never know what to believe anymore. My thing is that they`re going to have to prove to me anything that they tell me. If they want me to believe it, they`re going to have to prove it.

SYKES: Well, evidently, they had some tip. Somebody called them. And they were down there searching. And I went down there early that morning and didn`t -- you know, they wouldn`t tell me anything. And I wasn`t -- I knew what they were searching -- you know, I knew they were looking for something participating (SIC) to Haleigh, but I didn`t really know what.

SYKES: Yes, she did. Ms. Hollars called me and told me -- she certainly did -- that she had called down here and told them what Tommy had told her. And Teresa and I went and -- over to that area and walked around all afternoon and looked in the woods over there. But of course, we didn`t find anything.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1004/22/ng.01.html

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A Look Inside The Home Of Haleigh Cummings

"The fact that it's empty and she's not there is -- I don't know how to describe it," said Annette Sykes, Haleigh's great-grandmother.

Sykes said she did not know how she found the strength to go back to her grandson's home, but she wants to keep the memories of her great-granddaughter alive.

"Books, and her Hannah Montana she loved, and even more toys that they never got to play with," Sykes said.

Haleigh and her little brother had their own room to play in at the home, but they slept in the same room as their father, Ronald Cummings, and his girlfriend, Misty Croslin.

"I could see how they could get in there, with the TV going and everything. It goes most of the time," Sykes said.

"He got as far as the bed, and that was as far as he made it," Sykes said. "He just fell down there crying, begging somebody to bring his baby back home."

http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2009/3/7/take_a_peek_inside_haleigh_cummings_home.html

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Haleigh Cummings' Great Grandmother Annette Sykes: 'We Still Have a lot of Faith'

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. -- Haleigh Cummings' great grandmother said she will continue to pray for Haleigh's safe return until police can prove the 5-year-old is no longer alive. Today, Sheriff Jeff Hardy said in a news conference that police believe Haleigh is dead.

"We fully believe that until (investigators) can show us proof that Haleigh is dead, she will remain alive (to us)," Annette Sykes said, adding that faith in God keeps them hopeful.

Police gave the family the news Tuesday and in the days since, relatives have watched the St. Johns River search on television. They were surprised to see Misty Croslin led to the site Wednesday.

"We were not aware that she was down there! So, it was a shock to us as well as everyone else," Sykes said.

Police said Croslin is the last person known to have seen Haleigh.
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=154830&catid=3

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Cummings Family Faces Holidays Without Haleigh

Annette Sykes, Haleigh's great-grandmother, said her family is having a hard time this Thanksgiving.

"It's really hard to give thanks when part of your heart and family is not here and you don't know where they are," Sykes said as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Sykes said her family doesn't feel much like decorating for the holidays, but it was important to do it for Haleigh's younger brother.

"If it weren't for Junior, we probably wouldn't," Sykes explained, "but he has to have some kind of normal life."

"Somebody's got to know something, and that person can come forward" without being identified, Sykes said.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=148710&catid=3

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Backyard Wedding for Haleigh's Father and Teen Bride

"She was a beautiful bride," said Annette Sykes, the great-grandmother of the missing five-year-old girl.

We spoke with Sykes shortly after the wedding. The ceremony took place in the backyard of her home.

"It was something bright and happy for a change," said Sykes. "The happiest thing would be if Haleigh were to come home. But, they plan on when Haleigh comes home to have a big church wedding, and she can be the flower girl."

The family spent the day preparing for the wedding, from the flowers to the wedding cake. Sykes says this was something the couple had always planned to do, and it's what Haleigh wanted.

"They got married because they love one another. It's time for something happy to happen."

For now that's what this day is to them, something good, as they wait for Haleigh to come home.

"After weeks and weeks of Haleigh being gone, plus all of the trashing that Ronald took, it's just time for something good, just time for something good," said Sykes.

Sykes says the couple was married by a notary public with only close family members present. She says the location of the ceremony was finalized late Wednesday night.

The couple flew to New York City to appear on The Today Show on NBC Friday morning, right after Good Morning Jacksonville. Sykes says they will also use that time for their honeymoon.

Ronald Cummings' son will stay with his mother through the weekend while the couple is away.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/amberalerts/news-article.aspx?storyid=133610&catid=295

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Video: WFTV Talks to HaLeigh's Great Grandmother
http://www.wftv.com/video/18748628/index.html

Annette Sykes is Haleigh's great grandmother. She said people should be searching for the little girl and not shifting the focus to Misty.

"I know everybody makes a big deal, she's only 17 and that's true, but she's a lot more mature than a lot of people that I have seen and that I know that are 25 and 30," Sykes said.

Sykes remembers seeing Haleigh hours before she was abducted.

"She was sitting on the front porch when we drove up and junior was just sitting up there with a plate in the lap eating," she said.

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A year later, HaLeigh leaves behind family falling apart

Anger and a sense of remoteness had marked Cummings for years, said his grandmother Annette Sykes, who reared him and his sister until Sykes' husband became debilitated by Alzheimer's. Annette and Kirby Sykes had guardianship of the two children beginning when Ronald was 3. He moved out as his grandfather became increasingly ill and was back with his mother, Teresa Neves, in Sumter County by the time he was a young teenager.

Cummings changed

After Cummings graduated from high school in Leesburg, he and his girlfriend, who became pregnant with HaLeigh about that same time, moved back to Putnam County. They went to his grandparents in Welaka but Cummings had changed, his grandmother said.

"He just had a dirty mouth," she said. "He was very disrespectful."

She attributed his ill manners to a bad crowd but found that as her husband -- the man Cummings called "Daddy" -- worsened and died, her grandson changed, too.

"He doesn't really want anybody to be close to him, I don't think," she said.

Cummings never saw much of his birth father, who lives in Putnam County, she said.

"Everything Kirby did at home, Ronald was right with him," Sykes said. "Every step Kirby took."

Cummings was never the same after his death in January 2002, she said.

Sykes' first impression of the petite teen came from the children.

"The kids adored her and she seemed to adore them back," Sykes said. "I mean they'd cry to go back to her."

Sykes said she saw another side of her grandson's girlfriend in the months after Haleigh vanished, when Cummings, Croslin and Ronald Jr. moved in with her.

"You can't threaten her or do anything to her emotionally or mentally that will affect her," Sykes said. "She doesn't have the ability."

Sykes said even repeated interrogations by investigators had little impact.

"When the sheriff's department was threatening her and doing all their doings and stuff, it didn't faze her," she said.

Sykes said Croslin's childhood may have dulled her emotionally.

"She basically was here, there and yonder," Sykes said. "I don't reckon she knew from one day to the next where she was going to be."

http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2010-02-07/year-later-haleigh-leaves-behind-family-falling-apart

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Emotions flow at vigil for Haleigh Cummings

At Wednesday night's vigil, Annette Sykes, Ronald Cummings' grandmother, read a poem she wrote about Haleigh.

"...Someone took our precious little girl, broke our hearts and shattered our world. Haleigh was taken in the middle of the night, scared and terrified and full of fright," Sykes said. "They searched the river, they searched the ground. Still, our Haleigh was not found ... Haleigh needs to be here with her daddy and brother, grandmas, grannies, papas, sisters and brothers."

The poem continued with a plea to God to return Haleigh. The girl's maternal grandmother, Marie Griffis, also called for prayers for her safe return.

http://www.ocala.com/article/20100211/articles/2111008

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Pond Search Finds Nothing In Cumming's Case
September 19, 2009


Haleigh's paternal great-grandmother Annette Sykes said she is not surprised the search came up empty.

"None of us believes that she's dead. None of us believe it," she said.

http://www.wesh.com/news/21005898/detail.html

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Defending her grandson, Haleigh Cummings' great-grandmother, Annette Sykes, says, "Ronald's a good daddy. I'm not saying he's perfect because he's not. He's a young father, but he loves his children. He provides for his children. He spends as much time as he can with them."

http://www.momlogic.com/2009/03/is_haleigh_cummings_dad_an_unfit_parent.php

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No Evidence Discovered thus far in Search for Haleigh  Cummings
9/18/2009

At her home in Welatka, Haleigh's paternal great-grandmother, Annette Sykes told First Coast News' Jennifer Lindgren she'd gotten word of police activity in the Stokes Landing area south of Palatka.

Sykes says raced to the scene, to find deputies and investigators working in the woods. When Sykes questioned the investigators and asked if they were looking for Haleigh, she says they would not give her a yes or no answer, and told her she could not get any closer to the scene.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/topstories/news-article.aspx?storyid=145240&catid=3

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Hi Heart & Monkey's,

"She was a beautiful bride," said Annette Sykes, the great-grandmother of the missing five-year-old girl.

(Unbelievable)

Thank-you for refreshing our monkey brains, these articles seem to make some sense now.  Who would ever
think (that you would say) these gushing remarks,(MC) who allowed a little girl to vanish and then misled the
detectives?  A.S. Pop was a P.O., how can she ooh and ahh over MC, unless, she herself is a culprit?