« Precious Lives Wasted | Main | Willie Crain Still Trying »
February 13, 2009
Putnam hopes for a miracle; horseback riders set to join search
Topics: News
Palatka Daily News
SATSUMA - The search for Haleigh Cummings enters its fourth day today.
Volunteers on horseback are expected to canvass woods not far from the missing 5-year-old's home in South Putnam County.
"We're not sure how many will participate," Rick Ryan, chief deputy of the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, said Thursday night. "They're going to help us search a swampy area of preservation land."
Haleigh
Mounted patrols will be an added dimension to the intense search for Haleigh, a blonde-haired kindergartner missing since Tuesday.
The horsemen will join a massive effort that includes concentrated searches of woods, door-to-door canvassing of nearby homes, divers and boaters checking the St. Johns River, and officers in helicopters.
Federal and state investigators also are interviewing the 44 registered sex offenders who live within 5 miles of Haleigh's home in the Hermits Cove neighborhood.
Thursday's developments include:
� Authorities said they had not found any trace of the youngster. No arrests or suspects were reported.
� Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, and his girlfriend, Misty Croslin, acknowledged taking polygraph tests.
� FBI agents, including two profilers, spent more than an hour inside the Cummings home.
� Searchers from the sheriff's office, the Palatka Police Department and Florida Highway Patrol walked shoulder-to-shoulder over a swampy area of woods and brush between the home and the river 300 yards away.
� Croslin, in an interview Thursday with a Jacksonville newspaper, denied any role in the girl's disappearance.
"I don't care what people are saying about me because I didn't do it," Croslin told the Florida Times-Union. "I was sleeping. I don't know what happened."
Haleigh's disappearance has attracted the attention of regional and national news media, with several teams of reporters, camera operators and satellite trucks staging inside the River Villas subdivision.
Ronald Cummings told television interviewers he didn't believe Haleigh had wandered away from home in the middle of the night.
"I know somebody took her. I know for a fact she didn't wander off - she's afraid of the dark," Cummings told NBC's "Today" on Thursday.
Ryan said the case's high profile made people aware of the disappearance.
"The media has been very cooperative with us, which we appreciate," he said.
Haleigh was reported missing when her father returned home from work early Tuesday.
John Harrell, spokesman for the northeast region of the Florida Department of Children and Families, said Thursday that his agency "was involved with the family." Harrell would not offer any details, citing state confidentiality laws.
Audrey Strickland, a waitress at Mema's restaurant in Satsuma, said the abduction was the talk of the town, worrying many of her customers.
"It's too weird," she said. "It's every parent's worst nightmare."
Members of the Crescent City Junior-Senior High School softball team gathered in a pregame prayer Thursday for missing Haleigh. The Raiders agreed to devote the remainder of their season to the girl, and coach Larry Corbitt said they played with a greater sense of dedication during a 14-4 victory over visiting Lighthouse Christian of DeLand.
Also Thursday, a series of rumors - termed unfounded by authorities - spread across the county. The rumors ranged from Haleigh being found alive to the discovery of a body to a murder confession from a relative.
"There was absolutely no validity to that," Ryan said of the rampant speculation.
Officials are considering establishing a rumor control hotline, Ryan said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
lsullivan@palatkadailynews.com
Candles raised in vigils for Haleigh
BY KRISTIN CHAMBERS
Published: Friday, February 13, 2009 12:30 AM EST
Palatka Daily News
SATSUMA - Dozens of candles flickered through Thursday evening as a pair of vigils were held in hope of guiding Haleigh Cummings home.
Crystal Sheffield, Haleigh's mother, held the first public vigil at 7:30 p.m. near the entrance of River Villas. Teddy bears and handmade signs displaying support for the family lined the fence as grieving friends and family wept over the unresolved case.
Pastor Thomas Pratt, of God's Miracle Ministries of Seville, led the group in prayer and passages from the Bible.
*
"I pray for this girl, and that God would bring her home safe," Pratt said. "If I didn't believe it, I wouldn't say it."
Approximately 30 people gathered in a circle under a donated tent to comfort the family and pray for Haleigh's safe return at the first vigil, which could be seen clearly from the road.
After prayers, the group sang popular hymns including "Amazing Grace."
Johnny Sheffield, Haleigh's grandfather, encouraged the public to do whatever they could to find the girl.
"If people would just get out, look in your back yards, get out your flashlight, look under your trailer, in your shed, look everywhere you can- just help us out," Sheffield said. "We don't want a tragic ending like the Caylee Anthony story. She's our Haleigh bug - we want her home."
Approximately an hour later, a second vigil took place just a short distance down the road.
The father's side of the family and friends gathered under a tent loaned by Watts Funeral Home, while a television projected a local news station in the background.
Jamie Watts, owner of the funeral home, donated buttons and T-shirts to the family with Haleigh's picture on the front.
"We want to reach out to them any way we can," Watts said. "I went into my 3-year-old daughter's room three times last night just to check on her and make sure she was OK. My heart goes out to them."
About 50 people gathered in a circle on the street holding candles and each other, while Pastor Dave Speddon of Living Hope Family Worship Center led the prayer.
"We just trust that God is going to bring Haleigh home safely, and bring encouragement to the family to stay strong," Speddon said. "You have to hang on to hope. If you don't, you give up, and there's no strength in that."
Speddon proudly spoke of the community when asked about how the local public was handling the situation.
"This is a very tight community, and it doesn't surprise me they're coming out and stepping up to support the family. It's just kind of who we are around here."
A vigil will be held at Dunns Creek Baptist Church on Tuesday if Haleigh is not yet found.
Posted by admin at February 13, 2009 9:19 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.amandabrownfoundation.org/mt/mt-tb.cgi/379
