Judge Gives Misty Croslin 25 Years for Drug Conviction

CNN.com- Misty Croslin, the last person known to see a 5-year-old Florida girl before she was reported missing in February 2009, was sentenced to 25 years in prison Friday on an unrelated drug charge.

Circuit Judge Wendy Berger also ordered Croslin to pay $500,000 and to follow her prison time with five years of drug-offender probation.

Croslin had pleaded no contest in the St. Johns County courtroom to a single count of trafficking oxycodone.

She faces sentencing on October 19 in a Palatka, Florida, courtroom for a conviction on similar charges.

At the time Haleigh Cummings went missing, Croslin was 17 and residing in the family's mobile home with her then-husband, Ronald Cummings, Haleigh and her 4-year-old brother.

Croslin and Ronald Cummings were both arrested in January along with three others after allegedly selling about $3,900 worth of drugs to undercover officers, authorities said. The two divorced after Haleigh's disappearance.

Croslin told police she tucked Haleigh and the brother into bed about 8 p.m. February 8, 2009, and went to sleep two hours later.

She said she awoke at 3 a.m. to find Haleigh missing and a cinder block propping open a back door. Ronald Cummings reported Haleigh missing when he returned from work at dawn.

Authorities previously said physical evidence contradicts Croslin's account of events that night. However, police have stopped short of naming Croslin as a suspect.

In televised interviews, Croslin has said she does not know what happened to Haleigh but believes "the other side of the family" knows where she is.

Police have said Cummings and Crystal Sheffield, the girl's mother, are not considered suspects. Authorities believe Haleigh is dead and are treating the case as a homicide investigation.

Haleigh Cummings: Haleigh’s Great-Grandma Fights Back!

CNN- The great-grandmother of missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings, Annette Sykes, has had enough of Misty Croslin’s grandmother’s tales.

She doesn’t really care what Flora Hollars has to say about her own grandkids, but she does not want her talking about her grandson, Haleigh’s father Ron Cummings.

Hollars has been talking for weeks about how her grandchildren, Misty Croslin, Tommy Croslin and Joe Overstreet, were allegedly all involved in the disappearance of the little Florida girl. She has told the media five different theories about what happened to Haleigh and finally, she implicated the girl’s own father, Ronald Cummings. She claims that Ronald knows more than he is saying and she thinks he was involved to some extent.

Sykes blasted Hollers for her comments. Hollars also claimed that Misty Croslin was still coming down off of drugs when Cummings left his children with her and went to work. Sykes said that is completely false and that she was at the house that night and Croslin was not high. She went on to say that Misty Croslin even made the kids dinner. Sykes says her grandson would have never left his children with Croslin if he thought she was “strung out.”

Attorney: Ronald Cummings, Haleigh’s Family Told to Make Funeral Plans

Sadly, we all knew this is how it would end... R.I.P. Haleigh. You were taken too soon.
CNN- Ronald Cummings’ attorney says investigators told the family to make funeral plans for Haleigh.

This on the heels of an announcement by Putnam County’s sheriff that Haleigh is likely dead.

Have investigators found her body? After a massive three-day search at the St. Johns River near Satsuma, Florida, the focus is now shifting to alleged evidence pulled from the waters and sent to a state crime lab for testing.

Among the items retrieved, WJXT is reporting there are 2 cinder blocks.

ArtHarris.com also reporting that investigators took yellow rope from the home of Misty Croslin’s brother, Tommy Croslin. The blocks and yellow rope jell with what Misty Croslin’s grandmother told us on our show last week. That she was told a rope was placed around Haleigh, weighted down with a brick and then the 5-year-old was tossed into the river. It looks like Ronald Cummings is still standing by Misty Croslin, even after she was spotted on video with investigators down on the dock of the St. Johns’ River in prison blues and handcuffs and the sheriff said she knows “she’s in trouble”.

According to Cummings’ attorney, Terry Shoemaker, Cummings believes if Croslin knows something about what really happened to Haleigh, he hopes she was forced or threatened by someone involved to keep her mouth shut. Shoemaker also says investigators previously told Ronald Cummings if he divorced Misty Croslin or if she landed in jail, they could probably get her to crack. Since then, both of those things have happened. Speaking of Ronald Cummings, it looks like Haleigh’s father could be out of jail soon. There’s word that Leonard Padilla is interested in helping Cummings make bail.

Missing Haleigh's Dad, His Ex-Wife Arrested in Drug Sting

(CNN) -- The father of missing child Haleigh Cummings and his ex-wife have been arrested on drug-trafficking charges in Florida, authorities said.

Ronald Cummings, 26, faces three counts of trafficking prescription medication -- including Oxycodone and Hydrocodone. He is being held in jail on $500,000 bond, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said.

Misty Croslin, 18, faces six counts of trafficking prescription medication and is jailed on $950,000 bond.

The former couple was arrested Wednesday along with three others after allegedly selling about $3,900 worth of drugs to undercover officers, sheriff's officials said.

Cummings, Croslin and the others made brief court appearances Thursday morning, said Lt. Johnny Greenwood. But the court clerk's office said it had not yet received information about whether they had been assigned attorneys.

An undercover investigation was launched after authorities received information about suspected drug dealing, Greenwood said. He added that this probe was separate from the investigation into Haleigh's disappearance.

"Even though these are totally separate, they are parallel cases, and there's no doubt in my mind these cases will cross some day," Greenwood said. "I hope that somewhere through this, the investigators in the Haleigh case will find the information they need."

Two of the counts against Croslin are felonies that carry mandatory 25-year sentences if she is convicted, Greenwood added.

Haleigh Cummings, then 5, vanished February 9 from the couple's Satsuma, Florida, mobile home. Misty Croslin was the last person known to have seen Haleigh the night she disappeared.

She said she tucked Haleigh and her 4-year-old brother into bed about 8 p.m. and went to sleep herself two hours later. She awoke at 3 a.m. to find the girl missing and a cinder block propping open a back door.

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

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office said in August that "the evidence and investigatory effort has minimized the likelihood that Haleigh's disappearance is the work of a stranger."

Ronald Cummings and Crystal Sheffield, Haleigh's mother, are not considered suspects, police said.

Investigators said in a statement last August that they believe Croslin "continues to hold important answers in the case" but has not provided "any sort of detailed accounting of the hours during the late evening and early morning of Haleigh's disappearance."

Investigators also said that physical evidence contradicts Croslin's account.

Croslin has not been named a person of interest or suspect in Haleigh's disappearance. In televised interviews, she has said she does not know what happened to the little girl but believes "the other side of the family" knows where she is.

Misty’s Brother Tells Police No One Was Home

PALATKA -- A published report says Hank Croslin, Jr. told authorities no one was home when he went to Haleigh Cummings' house, just hours before the girl was reported missing.

According to the Palatka Daily News, Croslin, Jr. made the claim during questioning last week at the Putnam County Jail.

His statement contradicts his sister's story.

Misty Cummings said she was babysitting Haleigh that night. She said she went to sleep, but when she woke up, Haleigh was gone.

Croslin, Jr. told investigators he went to the house about 10 p.m. at the request of Ronald Cummings, Haleigh's father.

He said he had been trying to reach Misty by telephone for two hours, but his calls went unanswered.

So Croslin, Jr. went to the house, but no one was home.

Misty Fails Polygraph MISERABLY.

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Misty (Croslin) Cummings was babysitting Haleigh Cummings when she vanished from her father's Putnam County trailer in February.

A man who recently gave Croslin a lie detector test says she “failed miserably.”

In video taken by a freelance photographer at the request of Texas Equusearch founder, Tim Miller, you can't see the administrator of the voice analysis, but he worked with Miller in Aruba on the Natalie Holloway case.

He says Misty is hiding something.

"There's things going on with you about Haleigh going missing that you know about that you're not telling me about," he says. "There's nothing I'm not telling nobody. I told you and everybody everything I know. I don't know what you're trying to get out of me. I'm 17-years-old...come on...how much can a 17-year-old take?" responds Croslin.

During a couple hours of this voice analysis, a polygraph and even hypnosis; misty again and again points the finger at other people. Miller says the polygraph test was not effective, adding that misty was not cooperative, even though she was the one who requested it be conducted.

"If it's her mother's side of the family... they came in and took her because they didn't want to pay child support.... or if it was somebody else.... I keep hearing things about my brother... I have no idea if he took her," said Croslin.

Investigators say Croslin insists sometime between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m., the morning of February 9, while she and Haleigh slept in the same room, someone came in and took the child.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office says misty is their person of interest right now adding that her only consistency is her inconsistency.

In one of the polygraph questions, Croslin is asked, “Have you intentionally withheld any information about Haleigh's disappearance?" to which she answered, “No.” According to the polygraph technician, her answer indicated a 99 percent deception rate.

When asked if she knew the whereabouts of Haleigh, again she answered, “No.” According to the polygraph technician, her answer indicated a 95 percent deception rate.

But when asked if she knew who took Haleigh, again the answer was, “No.” This time, according to the polygraph technician, her answer indicated a 46 percent deception rate.

Haleigh Cummings: Investigators Change Stance on Missing Girl's 6th Birthday

SATSUMA, Fla. -- Investigators in Putnam County marked the sixth birthday of Haleigh Cummings with a news release stating they believe the missing girl was likely kidnapped by someone she knew.

Putnam County Sheriff's Office Lt. Johnny Greenwood said evidence and the work of investigators have minimized the likelihood that Haleigh's disappearance is the work of a stranger.

Greenwood said the missing girl's biological parents, Ronald Cummings and Crystal Sheffield, are not considered suspects in the case, but Cummings' current wife, Misty Croslin-Cummings, has not been cleared.

"Investigators believe that Misty Croslin-Cummings continues to hold important answers in the case," the news release stated. "She has failed to provide any sort of detailed accounting of the hours during the late evening and early morning of Haleigh's disappearance."

Greenwood said physical evidence found at the Cummings' home contradicted Croslin-Cummings' account of her evening activities. Authorities asked anyone with direct knowledge of her activities around the time of Haleigh's disappearance to contact the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0800.

Haleigh Remembered On 6th Birthday

The thought of Haleigh's sixth birthday transformed her grandmother's face into a portrait of anguish.

"You can't celebrate a birthday when she's not here," grandmother Teresa Neves said.

Haleigh vanished from her bed on a cold February morning.

"I can definitely say she has not been forgotten," Greenwood said.

The news release from the Putnam County Sheriff's Office stated that investigators don't believe a stranger kidnapped Haleigh, but they are looking for more information from Croslin-Cummings. Haleigh disappeared on her watch.

"All it's going to take is one small piece of information. Like I said, somebody out there knows what happened," Greenwood said.

Countless searches have been completed since Haleigh's disappearance. and 4,000 leads have been received by authorities. Some of them have taken investigators as far away as Tennessee.

And there were the unexpected events like when Haleigh's father proposed to his 16-year-old girlfriend. A recent family feud ended with him being jailed.

On Haleigh's birthday, her father and his new wife were together, but six months have passed, and the girl remains missing.

Investigators said they believe Haleigh could still be alive, and they have no evidence to believe otherwise. Greenwood said they're waiting for new leads and reworking old ones.

"We've actually got an agent with the (Florida Department of Law Enforcement) right now who is assigned to us to go back through tips, just reviewing to see if there's any tip that might not have been investigated," Greenwood said.

Balloons Released With Fliers Inside

On her birthday, Haleigh's family didn't miss the chance to get her face back out in the public. They sponsored a nationwide balloon release, with fliers containing her information.

"When they take it out of the balloon, or when it falls, they'll look at it, and possibly, hopefully, if they've seen Haleigh, they'll recognize her and call law enforcement," great-grandmother Annette Sykes said.

Haleigh's family keeps reminders of her everywhere. Shrines contain pictures, pieces of her little-girl makeup and presents she has never opened.

And there's pain.

"It just hurts, and it's a lot of pain. You get up every day, praying this is the day she comes home, and you go to bed praying," Neves said.

Haleigh's family can't forget, but their biggest fear is that the rest of the world will.

More Searches Planned

Orlando attorney Make NeJame and Texas EquuSearch founder Tim Miller also announced they're teaming up to search for Haleigh.

Miller said the search will take place in four to six weeks, when he believes weather conditions and vegetation will be more conducive to finding the girl.

The search has spanned thousands of acres of land to date, including all of the area near the Cummings' home. Aerial and underwater searches have also been conducted.

Miller said about 50 EquuSearch members and volunteers will conduct the search. The group has searched for the girl previously and also searched for Caylee Anthony.

In-Laws Say Haleigh's Dad Put Dead Rat In Mailbox

SATSUMA, Fla. -- The father of a missing Putnam County girl is having more trouble with his in-laws.

Ronald Cummings, father of 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings, stuffed a dead rat into his new father-in-law's mailbox, Hank Croslin told the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

Croslin filed the report Wednesday, saying that a neighbor saw Cummings put the rodent in his mailbox at about midnight Tuesday.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office is investigating the claim.

This latest scuffle comes just days after Cummings was booked into the Putnam County Jail on charges that he beat up Hank Croslin and his wife Misty Croslin's brother at the couple's home.

During that incident, the Croslins said Misty called them in the middle of the night asking them to pick her up because she didn't want to live with Cummings anymore -- so they went to get their daughter. The family was finally able to drive away and dialed 911 for help. Deputies eventually spoke with Cummings.

Haleigh Cummings, 5, was reported missing from her home in Satsuma in February, and no trace of the girl has been found. A $35,000 reward remains available for her return.

The Department of Children and Families closed an abuse investigation into Ronald Cummings last month and found no evidence against him in his daughter's disappearance.

Cummings proposed to Croslin in a Palatka Chili's on March 8 and the two wed shortly after.

Previous Stories:
August 6, 2009: Haleigh Cummings' Father Bonds Out Of Jail
July 16, 2009: Father Of Haleigh Cummings Cleared In DCF Inquiry
June 26, 2009: Investigators Search Haleigh's Family Property
June 9, 2009: Haleigh Cummings Search Headquarters Shut Down
June 5, 2009: Officials Insist Haleigh Case Isn't Cold