Dad Vows To Never Give Up On HaLeigh

Dad Vows To Never Give Up On Haleigh
Haleigh Cummings Missing For 3 Months

POSTED: Thursday, May 14, 2009

http://www.news4jax.com/news/19464575/detail.html#video

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. -- Three months have gone by since 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings vanished in the middle of the night from her Putnam County home.

Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, and her grandmother, Teresa Neves, sat down with Channel 4 Thursday and asked again for the safe return of their little girl.

"Please bring her home. Please bring her home safe. If you're watching, baby, I love you. I'll never give up on you," Cummings said.

He has made the same desperate plea since Feb. 10, and he vowed to never give up on his daughter.

He and Neves showed Channel 4 new pictures of the bright-eyed, smiling kindergartner. A lot has changed since she was last seen tucked into bed in her Satsuma home. Her bicycle and other toys once scattered the yard; however, the home once filled with children's laughter is now quiet.

"You just take it one day at a time, and you keep praying," Neves said.

Cummings has lost his job. He and his new wife, Misty Croslin, live with his grandmother. Two pro-bono attorneys are representing Cummings.

"We have the job situation and the child custody situation, and everybody knows. The media has covered it, and it's been tough," said attorney Jerry Snider.

While much has changed, nightly vigils for Haleigh are still being held and her family continues to hold on to hope.

"I know that somebody has my little girl, and I know that she's a strong little girl," Neves said.

Investigators Dedicated To Solving Haleigh Case

As the search for Haleigh continues, investigators said they have not been getting all the help they need to solve the case.

"They've looked at around 4,000 leads. They've interviewed around 200 people," said Major Gary Bowling, of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

He said they still don't have a complete timeline of the hours before Haleigh disappeared.

"I just think we'd like people to fill in some gaps better, specifically going toward the timeline you're talking about," Bowling said.

He said the last person to see Haleigh, Croslin, has been cooperative but inconsistent.

"There are inconsistencies that have remained since the beginning," Bowling said.

He also said other people aren't giving them the whole truth.

"It's not just one individual that we want to fill in those gaps," Bowling said. "All of the reasons people would be fearful about cooperating with police are all roadblocks here."

Roadblocks in the case are what the Haleigh Bug Foundation has been trying to help overcome. Haleigh's mother's attorney opened the Haleigh Bug Foundation in Satsuma, where they're gathering information from the community to help police and do what they can to keep the missing girl's picture in the public.

As friends and family continue hold out hope, investigators said they are doing the same and hoping that today is the day they'll get a break in the case.

"When every second of the timeline is filled in, then well know what's happened to Haleigh," Bowling said.

Anyone with information that could help solve Haleigh's case is asked to call Crimestoppers at 888-277-TIPS.

Haleigh Cummings' dad: 'She's still out there somewhere'
updated 7:28 p.m. EDT, Fri May 15, 2009

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/15/haleigh.cummings/index.html

By Mallory Simon

(CNN) -- More than three months after 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings disappeared from her home in Satsuma, Florida, her father took to the Web to beg anyone with information about his daughter's whereabouts to call police.



"It's been a long time, but she's still out there somewhere, and the one tip you think might be nothing might be the one that brings her home," Ronald Cummings said in a video posted on the findhaleighnow.com Web site. "And we still need her to come home."

In his emotional plea, Cummings also spoke to his missing daughter.

"Haleigh, if you are watching, baby I love you, and we are still looking for you," he said.

Cummings thanked everyone who has called police with tips or who have helped comb the neighborhood for clues.

Police and family members have searched for more than 90 days, but they still have no answers.

Cummings' lawyer, Jerry Snider, asked the public to remain diligent and to report anything they say or have heard, regardless of how miniscule it may seem.

"[It] may be the one piece of information to bring Haleigh home," Snider said.

Cummings has made several public pleas for information about his daughter's disappearance, even begging whoever might be holding her to just return her home.

Police have said they think Haleigh was abducted but have provided few details.

In March, Cummings married his then-girlfriend Misty Croslin, who was the last person known to have seen the child alive, saying it was what Haleigh would have wanted.

Croslin, 17, said she tucked Haleigh and her 4-year-old brother into bed about 8 p.m. February 9.

She said she went to sleep herself about 10 p.m. but woke at 3 a.m. to find Haleigh missing and a back door propped open by bricks.


Ronald Cummings called police and reported his daughter missing when he returned from work at dawn.

Authorities have collected DNA samples from Cummings and Croslin, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said.