Chris's Crime Forum

This case reminds me so much of the Caylee Anthony case.I think this is because one she is a beautiful little girl,two the parents,girlfriend,cousins etc..cannot yet be excluded.I am curious what everyone else thinks about this case.I honestly don't know what to think yet.With all the dirt coming out about all parties involved it is hard not think badly.My hinky meter is saying the girlfriend Misty knows more tha she is saying.Now I don't mean she hurt this gorgeous little girl,but I think she was either not there when she says she was,or there is something else that has been going on that we have not heard about yet.When you have court cases having to do with drugs,custody fights,domestic abuse etc.. it makes you really wonder.

Geraldo faces his nightmare

It's hard to pick a single favorite Geraldo moment.

I'm sure some of you will point to Al Capone's empty vault or the diagram in the Iraq sand. And it's always tempting to go with the show on plastic surgery where Geraldo had fat sucked from his buttocks implanted in his forehead.

But if forced to choose one defining Geraldo Rivera moment, I think I'll go back to the 1990s and a confrontation at a rally with a neo-Nazi named John R. McLaughlin.

I dug up a New York Times story about it. In theory, the goal of the show was to illustrate the absurdity of the rallying skinheads and KKK members. Geraldo accomplishes this by wandering through the crowd, delivering quips like, "Neat outfits you have on." There is (surprise) a confrontation (huge surprise) in which Geraldo punches McLaughlin and ends up getting arrested.

When Geraldo tells viewers about this later - describing blood and sweat dripping down his face - he looks into the camera and deadpans a line that, if delivered by Stephen Colbert today, would be comedy. Only in this case, the guy delivering it was serious.

"A professional nightmare had come true. I had become a part of the story."

Geraldo becoming a part of the story? That's like Madonna making an album that turns controversial. (Actually, that's not fair to Madonna. She likely would admit controversy was part of the plan from the start.)

In his long career, Geraldo has done good stories, important stories. But whatever the story, from war to hurricanes, The Story inevitably seems to be Geraldo.

So was anyone surprised that when Geraldo came to Putnam County, the focus of the Haleigh Cummings story shifted from a missing 5-year-old girl to an omnipresent 65-year-old TV journalist?

You've probably seen the video of Geraldo interviewing Haleigh's father outside the family's trailer. I purposefully describe it that way - Geraldo interviewing Ronald Cummings - because, of course, the video isn't just of Cummings. It is as much about Geraldo asking the questions as it is about Cummings responding to them. And it illustrates that Geraldo came to Florida and accomplished something as difficult as making skinheads look absurd.

He went to a divided, dysfunctional family, two weeks into its own nightmare, and got people to point fingers, hurl accusations and eventually call the police.

Bravo.

Beyond the questions about interview style, there are more significant ones. Like whether some of the allegations tossed out to a national television audience are even true. And whether any of this was relevant to Haleigh's disappearance. Or if it just made for good TV and further fueled message board judges and juries.

Some have defended Geraldo, saying he was getting to the bottom of the story. I'd put it a little differently.

I'd say he got in the middle of the story.

Yes, somehow it happened again. Geraldo's professional nightmare came true.

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I think this guy should seriously consider retirement.At the link on the bottom are the videos mentioned.

Transcripts of the Geraldo interview that turned confrontational

The partial transcript of Geraldo Rivera's interview with the mother and father of missing five-year-old Haleigh Cummings is below. It was provided by Fox News Channel to the Times-Union.



INTERVIEW # 1 WITH RONALD CUMMINGS

FEBRUARY 21, 2009

[00:00:13]

RONALD CUMMINGS : This is uncalled for.

GERALDO RIVERA : Chad and Marcus told me that during the vigil, you told them you were 75 percent sure who took Haleigh.

RONALD CUMMINGS : There is no way -- I do not know who took Haleigh. If I had -- if I had, uh, five percent of where Haleigh was at, I would be there now and not here.

[00:00:43]

GERALDO RIVERA : Did you tell them that, though? Maybe you weren’t -- maybe you were just [OVERLAP] were just -- are they lying?

RONALD CUMMINGS : Yes, they’re absolutely lying. No, for no reason have I ever told anybody that I have any clue where my child is at. If I had any clue where my child -- you know, national TV, they’re a bunch of liars. Chad and whoever told you this are a bunch of liars. I never even spoke with them.

GERALDO RIVERA : They told -- they told me that you hit Haleigh. Is that true?

[00:01:13]

RONALD CUMMINGS : No. Never, ever have I ever hit my child. Me and my child have an agreement. Daddy, daughter. She has been spanked on her behind the way DCF says that you can take care of disciplining your children.

GERALDO RIVERA : You never backhanded her to the face?

RONALD CUMMINGS : [OVERLAP] Never. Never have I ever backhanded my child in the face, ever.

GERALDO RIVERA : Did you hit Crystal when she was pregnant?

[00:01:37]

RONALD CUMMINGS : No. I did not. Never.

GERALDO RIVERA : You didn’t hit her in the back of the head and kick her?

RONALD CUMMINGS : No. No. I never have.

GERALDO RIVERA : You swear to God you never hit your pregnant woman?

RONALD CUMMINGS : [OVERLAP] Never. Never, never have I ever hit any woman, period. Never. And I’d like to know where all these allegations are coming from because I would like to talk -- talk to law enforcement and have these false allegations, um, known that, um, the false allegations against me, somebody needs criminal charges pressed against them.

[00:02:02]

GERALDO RIVERA : What about the allegations of cocaine use, methamphetamine use?

RONALD CUMMINGS : There’s nothing. I do not do drugs.

GERALDO RIVERA : You don’t do drugs? All those arrests were all --

RONALD CUMMINGS : No.

GERALDO RIVERA : Do you work for the police? Are you an informant?

RONALD CUMMINGS : No, I am no an informant. I do not work for the police. I work for PDM, which is a, um, bridge building company. That’s who I work for.

GERALDO RIVERA : And you’ve never been involved in the drug trade?

RONALD CUMMINGS : No.

GERALDO RIVERA : And when they tell me they saw bricks of marijuana that you had in the house, plants all around the house, is that a lie?

[00:02:31]

RONALD CUMMINGS : It is absolutely a lie and I would like to know where the information is coming from so that I can get, um, the proper authorities to take care of this.

GERALDO RIVERA : You’re -- put all this stuff aside. If some associate of yours, some associate that had something to do with drugs and this is not about drugs but if these people are on the dark side of life, don’t you think that you should share that information? Share -- tell us about -- when you told Marcus and Chad that you were 75 percent sure and you had your gun ready and your -- and you had your gun ready and you were gonna go get em, didn’t you say that? Isn’t that a fact, Ron?

[00:03:09]

RONALD CUMMINGS : No, it is not a fact.

GERALDO RIVERA : Why would they make that up? Why would they make that up?

RONALD CUMMINGS : I don’t know why they would make [OVERLAP] for you. But I -- I am fixing [OVERLAP] to have the law called right here, right now because you’re making up things or they’re making up things and you’re getting into --

GERALDO RIVERA : I am -- I am relating to you what they are saying.

RONALD CUMMINGS : [OVERLAP] My face, man.

MALE : You need to back off, man. That’s my son.

[00:03:29]

GERALDO RIVERA : Alright. Well I’m sorry -- I am sorry for what has happened.

FEMALE : No, you’re not sorry. [OVERLAPPED CONVERSATION]

MALE : You need to go.

FEMALE : We are -- [OVERLAPPED CONVERSATION] Listen. You wanna come up here and make [OVERLAP] allegations. Why don’t you go back to --

GERALDO RIVERA : These are not my allegations, mamn. These are not my allegations. You have to understand that.

FEMALE : [OVERLAP] Okay. [OVERLAP] All we care about --

[00:03:46]

GERALDO RIVERA : You have to understand this is not my allegation. Don’t touch him, don’t touch him, please. We’re leaving. Come on, let’s go. Let’s go.

RONALD CUMMINGS : [OVERLAP] I wanted you to see that all this is about is my daughter. I love you, baby. [OVERLAP] If you are out there, I want you to know that I love you and I will find you, baby. I love you. And two, whoever -- whoever has you, please bring my daughter home to me. I love my daughter. I love you, baby. I will find you.

[00:04:15]

GERALDO RIVERA : You believe she’s alive then?

RONALD CUMMINGS : I’m always gonnd believe that my daughter’s alive until they find her. [SILENCE]

[END OF TRANSCRIPT]



INTERVIEW #2 WITH HALEIGH’S MOM CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD & HALEIGH’S GRANDMA MARIE GRIFFIS

FEBRUARY 21, 2009



[00:00:08]

GERALDO RIVERA : When Ron Cummings is seen on television, most often, he is crying or in mourning or other conduct appropriate to a father whose daughter has gone missing. But the family on the mother’s side tells a much different story and a much different image emerges of Ron Cummings. Crystal, is not a fact that he was abusive to you?

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD : Yes he was. He -- when I first got pregnant with Haleigh, he punched me in the back of the head and before then, he was verbal. I mean he was just very abusive.

GERALDO RIVERA : What did he call you?

[00:00:43]

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD : Stupid [BLEEPED: *****.] You stupid [BLEEPED: — —.] You [BLEEPED: *****]. I mean you name it, he said it.

GERALDO RIVERA : Describe when he punched you when you were pregnant.

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD : We were living in Leesburg at his mother’s house. And I had just found out I was pregnant. We were both doing cocaine and I stopped and I walked in the bedroom and he was doing it.

[00:01:14]

And I was like, you know, how are you gone do this in front of me after I just found out I was pregnant and I just stopped? And he got very ****** off and I had my -- I was facing -- I had my back turned to him. He punched me in the head and then I turned around and he kicked me off the bed.

GERALDO RIVERA : And he knew you were pregnant when he kicked you?

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD : Yes he did. He knew.

GERALDO RIVERA : And was he abusive, basically, throughout your relationship?

[00:01:43]

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD : The whole time. I mean his mother knew, his granny knew. His granny even told me once, um, I don’t know why you’re with him.

GERALDO RIVERA : Why did you stay with him?

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD : Because I was scared to leave.

GERALDO RIVERA : Are you frightened of him even today?

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD : Yes I am.

GERALDO RIVERA : Why?

[00:02:02]

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD : Just because of all the things he’s done to me.

GERALDO RIVERA : Are you fr-- frightened that he’ll come after you?

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD : Sometimes I am. I mean he’s called and wanted me to come back several times and I have went back a couple times just to be with my kid and he was still the same and I left. It hurt to leave em but I’m not gonna put myself through that.

[00:02:30]

GERALDO RIVERA : Do you believe his story about what happened?

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD : No, I don’t. I mean I know he loves Haleigh and -- [PAUSES] -- his temper, I mean it could get bad enough for him to hurt Haleigh. But I do know he loves Haleigh. Haleigh is his heart and everybody knows that.

[00:03:02]

GERALDO RIVERA : Has he ever hit Haleigh?

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD : Um, my cousin, Candice, told me when we got down here for this incident, that, um, he come to her house -- it was Ronald, Haleigh, Junior and Misty. And Haleigh bumped into him or smarted off to him and she said he just backhanded her. And she fell flat on her face on the porch.

[00:03:29]

GERALDO RIVERA : Marie, you have a picture of Haleigh.

MARIE GRIFFIS : Yes.

GERALDO RIVERA : Do you want me to see it?

MARIE GRIFFIS : Yes. You get it.

GERALDO RIVERA : Alright this is a picture, a disturbing picture, that shows Haleigh with an obvious black eye, a cut on her nose and the -- a bruise that goes from the top of her left eye all the way down to the left side of her cheek.

[00:03:58]

Now I understand the school records indicate that she had an accident at school. Are these injuries the result of that accident?

MARIE GRIFFIS : Uh, that’s what we were told, that she fell at school and -- or who was pushed at school by -- by another child and that she fell catching the sidewalk and that was the results of it. But if you fall on the sidewalk, why didn’t her hands get skint, her knees get skint?

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD : [OVERLAP] The nurse said that all she had was a scratch on her nose.

GERALDO RIVERA : So you -- you -- do you believe that Ron Cummings hit this child?

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD : I don’t know if he hit her or if she fell down or any other incident happened. But that did not happen at school. The nurse said she had a scratch on her nose.

[00:05:22]

GERALDO RIVERA : And you have witnesses that he has hit this child?

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD : Yes.

MARIE GRIFFIS : Yes.

GERALDO RIVERA : Do you believe that Ron Cummings knows who took Haleigh?

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD : Yes. I mean he’s told my brother and my fiancé that he knows -- he’s 75 percent sure he knows where his daughter is. He said on TV that he had no enemies.

GERALDO RIVERA : Is that true?

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD : No. He’s got plenty of enemies.

CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD: I KNOW WHEN HE’S REALLY CRYING, THAT IS FAKE

[END OF TRANSCRIPT]

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Haleigh search on 'Most Wanted' tonight

Haleigh Cummings will be one of four children featured tonight during the weekly Fox television show "America's Most Wanted."

The 5-year-old girl missing from her father's Satsuma home for more than two weeks has been the focus of an intense search that has generated more than 2,000 tips and leads for investigators to track down.

The FBI, Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Putnam County Sheriff's Office have been working around the clock since Haleigh was reported missing from a bedroom at 3 a.m. on Feb. 11.

"America's Most Wanted" airs locally at 9 p.m. on Fox.

The other children being featured on tonight's program are a small boy from Florida and two older girls from Southern California.

The search for Haleigh included the use of cadaver dogs in the area near the Cummings family home on Thursday and Friday. Although three dogs alerted on a Dumpster near the home, a subsequent search of the contents turned up nothing, according to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff's Capt. Dick Schauland downplayed reports about a DNA sample being taken from Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield, and said no one should try to read anything into it.

"This is something that is done routinely by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement so that we have the DNA cataloged," Schauland said. "A sample was taken from the dad (Ronald Cummings) early on. You can imagine why we would want to have DNA on file — in case there is a situation where we need to match DNA."

The investigation has proceeded to the point where officials were able to remove the crime scene tape from Ronald Cummings' home and turn it back over to him. The tape had been strung around the mobile home while it was considered a crime scene and evidence was being gathered from it.

Cummings' relatives said he has no immediate plans to begin living in the home again. Instead, he and his pre-school son have been living in a travel trailer lent to him earlier this week and set up near his home.


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SATSUMA, Fla. -- Nearly three weeks after 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings disappeared from her bed in the middle of the night, her family said dealing with the pain is becoming increasingly difficult.

Putnam County investigators have followed thousands of leads, but the family told Channel 4 that authorities said they are no closer to finding Haleigh than they were the morning of Feb. 10 -- the day an Amber Alert was issued.

"He point-blank told us: 'We have no clues,'" Marie Griffis, Haleigh's material grandmother, said about the family's latest briefing from a Putnam County investigator.

Volunteers from across the state continue to arrive in Satsuma offering to help the family. Some searched the area around Haleigh's house Saturday on horseback. Others came simply to talk and pray with the family.

While media attention has not always been the family's liking, it realizes that keeping Haleigh's story in the public eye is its best hope to find her.

Saturday night Haleigh was featured on the Fox TV show "America's Most Wanted." Her relatives are hopeful that the broadcast will reach people who don't normally watch the news.

Relatives continue to believe that the girl is alive, and they have a message for anyone who might know where Haleigh could be.

"Whoever might have Haleigh, please just take her somewhere," Griffis said. "Call 911 and say 'I'm dropping this child off her,' and drop her off and go."

Anyone who has any information that could help find Haleigh is asked to call Crimestoppers at 888-277-TIPS.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/18819357/detail.html

Misty Croslin's Family Points Finger at Relative


JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Twenty-three days into their investigation, law enforcement officers are still trying to find Haleigh Cummings.

The five-year-old was last seen when her father's girlfriend, Misty Croslin, says she put her to bed.

Investigators have not fingered a suspect, but today members of Croslin's family spoke out about the search.

Croslin's mom and dad, Lisa and Hank, spoke out about a 19-year-old cousin who lives in Tennessee. His name is Joe. We are not identifying his last name because police have not named him a suspect in the case.

Police confirm the FBI has talked to Joe. Croslin's father says he spoke to police about the teenager on Tuesday. "I was into the police station yesterday telling them everything. I hope I don't get in trouble for saying, but ya know. I don't know what else to do."

The First Coast News I-team has found Joe's myspace page. The last posting on his site is from February 22, 2009.

A friend by the name of Thomas told Joe, "Just go back down there and help find the lil girl it just might clear your name."

The Croslins say about two weeks before Haleigh disappeared, Joe and Haleigh's dad, Ronald Cummings, had an issue over a gun. "He stole Ronald's gun. One morning, on the porch, said, Ronald will get what's coming to him. It was dropped, he left and Haleigh was gone," says Lisa Croslin.

Police confirm they are investigating the information about the stolen gun.

A week and a half ago, when police were asked if Joe was a suspect police said, "The one in Tennessee? No, he is not at all."

But then later, police changed their comment to no one has been ruled in or out as a suspect.

"The way I understand it, they're not ruling them out. I don't want to get in trouble for things I say, I don't know. The police is doing their jobs," says Hank Croslin.

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Haleigh 'not a cold case,' says Putnam official

Putnam County detectives continue to follow a growing number of leads in the case of missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings, although the Sheriff's Office reported Wednesday they have no new information about the child's whereabouts.

The agency has no information indicating that Haleigh can't be found and investigators haven't given up that they will find her safe.

"This is not a cold case," said Capt. Dick Schauland.

Five detectives, as well as officials with the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, are involved in the investigation that now has generated about 2,300 tips, according to the law enforcement agency.

Inside a tent outside the Satsuma neighborhood that is Haleigh's home, the child's mother and maternal grandmother said they too haven't given up hope, even as the case entered its fourth week.

Looking over a collection of stuffed animals from well-wishers, Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield, who is from Baker County, said she has no plans to leave the area until her daughter is found.

"I'm not leaving till she's home," she said.

Marie Sheffield, Haleigh's maternal grandmother, echoed her daughter's remarks and those of officers who continue to work toward finding the girl alive.

"Until they bring me Haleigh's body and lay it in my arms, I'll believe Haleigh is alive," Marie Sheffield said.

No new searches have been planned for the girl, who family members say was last seen at the home she shared with her father and brother on Feb. 9.

Family members say the child vanished overnight after she had been up watching a favorite movie, "Air Bud." She was sleeping in the same room as her younger brother and her father's girlfriend, Misty Croslin.

Croslin said that when she awoke in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, she realized the child was missing. Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, came home from an overnight shift at work to find his daughter had disappeared.

Schauland said the public can help by remembering that the little girl is missing, watching for the child and calling in any tips they think could lead to the child's safe return.

http://www.gatorsports.com/article/2009 ... /903050987

Haleigh Cummings Investigators Request DNA Samples
Posted on March 8th, 2009
by Stone in All News, Florida News, Society and Culture
Read 1,160 times.

Satsuma Florida- Investigators searching for Haleigh Cummings have requested samples from her family and those involved in the case. They have gotten DNA samples from Haleigh’s mother Crystal, her father Ron, and Misty, Ron’s girlfriend who was home at the time Haleigh disappeared. Investigators believe Haleigh was abducted. They have given few details or statements regarding the investigation. Investigators told Haleigh’s biological grandmother Marie Griffis that they have no clues. Haleigh’s younger brother Jr. told their mother Crystal that “a man in black took Haleigh”.

The double wide trailer that Haleigh shared with her father Ron and Misty, his girlfriend and younger brother Jr. has been released from a crime scene back to Ron. He declines to stay there though knowing his daughter was taken out of her bed. Misty was the last adult to see Haleigh before she was abducted. Misty has told different accounts as to what she remembers happening the night Haleigh disappeared. She claims she put Haleigh and Jr. to bed at 8 pm on February 9th and stayed up to do some laundry then went to bed at 10 pm. She says she woke up around 3 am and found the back screen door propped open with bricks and the kitchen light on. Haleigh and her brother and Misty were all sleeping in the same room together when Haleigh was abducted. Her little mattress is on the floor not even four feet from where Misty was asleep.

The back screen door was propped open with the bricks, because it slams loudly when opened. Haleigh’s bed is maybe 25 feet from the back door that was suspected of being used to exit when taking Haleigh from the home. Misty has said that investigators should check into her cousin “Jo” who is known for breaking into homes and propping the doors open with bricks. Investigators have received 2,400 tips from all sorts of people including psychic’s. Haleigh has been missing for almost one month. That is a long time for a small child her age to be missing. I pray they find her.
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More news...
Haleigh's Father Gets Engaged To 17-Year-Old Girlfriend
PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. -- Ronald Cummings, the father of missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings, proposed to his girlfriend Monday night. His girlfriend was the last person to see his daughter.

Cummings asked his 17-year-old girlfriend, Misty Croslin, to marry him just four weeks since his daughter disappeared from the bedroom of her Putnam County home in Satsuma.
"Everybody is going to take this marriage thing the wrong way, but its not. Everything is still focused on Haleigh. This is what Haleigh wanted," said Croslin.

Croslin showed off her engagement ring (see ring) on Monday after she and Haleigh's father picked up their marriage license.

Croslin told investigators she put 5-year-old Haleigh to sleep and the child was gone when she woke up. Investigators said she passed a lie detector test.

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