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Nancy Grace
Nancy Grace Investigates the Disappearance of Haleigh Cummings
Aired October 01, 2009 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight, a 5-year-old Florida girl tucked into bed. Five hours later, she`s gone, vanished, the back door propped wide open. Daddy comes home from the night shift to find not a trace of little Haleigh. Police say the last person to see Haleigh alive refuses to give straight answers about the night the child goes missing, unable to account for crucial hours surrounding the alleged kidnap.
In a stunning twist, the brother of girlfriend-turned-stepmom Misty Croslin confesses he goes to Haleigh`s house the night she goes missing, pounds on the door repeatedly. Nobody home. Croslin`s own mother and father also publicly state they doubt her story. As girlfriend-turned stepmother Misty Croslin flunks another polygraph, where is little Haleigh?
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: 911. What`s your emergency?
MISTY CROSLIN, BABY-SITTER/STEPMOTHER: I just woke up and our back door was all open, and I can`t find our daughter.
911 OPERATOR: Can`t find what?
CROSLIN: Our daughter.
911 OPERATOR: OK, what`s your address?
CROSLIN: Green Lane (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: What`s the numerical?
CROSLIN: The numerical? What`s that?
911 OPERATOR: The number. (DELETED) Green Lane?
CROSLIN: Yes.
911 OPERATOR: OK, when did you last see her?
CROSLIN: We were just, like -- you know, it was about 10:00 o`clock. We were -- she was sleeping (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: OK. How old is your daughter?
CROSLIN: She`s 5.
911 OPERATOR: OK, what was she last seen wearing?
RONALD CUMMINGS, FATHER: (INAUDIBLE) middle of the night.
911 OPERATOR: Ma`am?
CROSLIN: She was in her pajamas. We were sleeping.
911 OPERATOR: OK. All right. You said your back door was wide open?
CROSLIN: Yes, with a brick. Like, with a brick on the floor. Like, when I went to sleep, it was not like that.
911 OPERATOR: OK, the back door...
CROSLIN: (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: Listen to me. Your back door was wide open. What are you talking about a brick?
CROSLIN: Yes.
911 OPERATOR: What -- what is the brick?
CROSLIN: It`s on the back door, on the -- on the stairs. Like, we have a walkway.
911 OPERATOR: And there was a brick laying there?
CROSLIN: Yes. It`s still there.
CUMMINGS: Tell them they better come on!
CROSLIN: They are!
911 OPERATOR: We`ve got them coming. Tell him we`ve got them coming.
CROSLIN: They`re coming.
911 OPERATOR: OK, what`s the color of your house, ma`am?
CROSLIN: It`s blue.
911 OPERATOR: Blue? OK. What -- what does she look like? How tall is she? Give me some description of her.
CROSLIN: She has, like -- like, long hair, curly -- like, curls.
911 OPERATOR: Long curled. What color?
CROSLIN: She`s white.
911 OPERATOR: OK, what color hair?
CROSLIN: (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: Brown hair?
CROSLIN: Yes. Oh, my God! (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: OK, how tall is she, about? Or how much does she weigh? Do you know that?
CROSLIN: What?
911 OPERATOR: About how tall or how much does she weigh?
CROSLIN: Like, four something. Like, I don`t know. Like, she`s not that tall.
CUMMINGS: (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: OK. Tell your husband we got them coming, OK?
CROSLIN: OK.
911 OPERATOR: How much does she weigh, do you know?
CROSLIN: What?
911 OPERATOR: How much does she weigh?
CROSLIN: Like, 40, 50 pounds, 60 pounds...
911 OPERATOR: Forty to sixty pounds?
CROSLIN: Yes.
911 OPERATOR: OK, was your back door locked, do you know?
CROSLIN: Yes. The back door always stays locked.
CUMMINGS: We need somebody to get here now!
CROSLIN: She`s coming!
911 OPERATOR: OK, let me speak to him.
CROSLIN: Yes, here he is.
CUMMINGS: I just got home from work. My 5-year-old daughter is gone.
911 OPERATOR: OK.
CUMMINGS: I need somebody to be here now! I`m telling you...
911 OPERATOR: Listen to me. Listen to me. We`ve got two officers...
CUMMINGS: If I find whoever has my daughter before y`all do, I`m killing him. I don`t care.
911 OPERATOR: OK. OK.
CUMMINGS: I`ll spend the rest of my life in prison. I`m telling you. You can put it on recording, I don`t care.
911 OPERATOR: OK. It`s OK, sir. We`ve got them on the way. OK, can you give me any -- what kind of description of her pajamas that she was wearing?
CUMMINGS: I don`t (DELETED) know! I was at work!
911 OPERATOR: OK, sir. We`ve got them coming, OK?
CUMMINGS: Hello?
911 OPERATOR: OK, sir, let me talk to your wife. Let me get some information from her.
CUMMINGS: (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: OK, can I talk to her?
CUMMINGS: (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: OK. Listen to me. I need you to answer some questions. Does the door look like it was pried open?
CROSLIN: (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: Does it look like it -- does it look like you had sort of someone try to enter into your house?
CROSLIN: Hold on.
911 OPERATOR: And another thing. Make sure you and your husband don`t touch the door anymore. Don`t mess with the door or anything.
CUMMINGS: (INAUDIBLE)
CROSLIN: No, it doesn`t.
911 OPERATOR: It doesn`t look like it is?
CROSLIN: No.
911 OPERATOR: OK, now listen, tell your husband do not touch anything. Make sure because we`re going to try and get a K-9 out there, OK?
CROSLIN: OK. She says don`t touch anything because they`re bringing K-9 out here.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Listen to me. I`m getting this information. I`m not the officer driving out there, OK?
CROSLIN: OK.
911 OPERATOR: They`re coming out there to handle that situation. I need to gather all the information from you over the phone.
CROSLIN: OK.
911 OPERATOR: It has nothing to do with me driving out there. The officers are taking care of that, OK? They`re coming out there, OK?
CROSLIN: OK.
911 OPERATOR: OK, I`m going to stay on the phone with you, OK?
CROSLIN: OK.
911 OPERATOR: Until they get there, all right? Tell him we got them coming. He needs to try to calm down a little bit, OK? The officers are going to come out there and do what they can. We can`t have him screaming and yelling at the officers whenever they get there, OK?
CROSLIN: OK.
911 OPERATOR: Tell him we got them coming. He needs to try to calm down a little bit, OK? The officers are going to come out there and do what they can. We can`t have him screaming and yelling at the officers whenever they get there, OK?
CUMMINGS: Give me my (DELETED) phone! I got better people to talk to than a (DELETED) (DELETED) that ain`t coming!
911 OPERATOR: What`s her date of birth?
CUMMINGS: Y`all are (DELETED) playing games, man! I`m going to (DELETED) kill somebody!
911 OPERATOR: OK. Tell him we understand. We need to get her date of birth.
CROSLIN: What`s her date of birth?
CUMMINGS: (DELETED) her birthday! We need to find her! (DELETED) her date of birth!
Hello?
911 OPERATOR: OK, sir, let me talk to your wife. Let me get some information from her.
CUMMINGS: (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: OK...
CUMMINGS: (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: Can I talk to her?
CUMMINGS: (INAUDIBLE)
911 OPERATOR: OK.
CUMMINGS: How the (DELETED) can you let my daughter get stole (DELETED)!
(END AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Misty, how are you doing right now?
CROSLIN: I just want her to come home! I want to find her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know that you`re 17. I can`t even imagine at my age going through this.
CROSLIN: It`s horrible! It`s very hurtful. Very.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know -- I know at first, it seems like there`s been a lot of people that have been, kind of, like, I don`t understand how this could be the situation, where you don`t hear her. Did you hear anything?
CROSLIN: I didn`t hear anything at all, nothing. If I heard something, I would have got up and I wouldn`t have let them take her!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So what happened?
CROSLIN: OK. I put her to bed about, you know, 8:00 o`clock because that`s bed time. She had school. I put her to bed. And her blanket and my blanket -- my blanket was in the van (ph) that they took (ph). So we had a blanket hanging on the window, and I had to wash that, and her blanket. Her blanket was -- she had peed on her blanket the night before, I guess, and we couldn`t put it on there. It smelled like pee.
So I washed the blanket, and I gave her a little sheet to cover up with. And she fell asleep. (INAUDIBLE) come in there and put her blanket on her. And then I lay down. And about -- I mean, I`m not positive what time, it was, like, 3:00, you know, I seen 3:00 -- 3:00 o`clock in the morning, I got up. And I got up because I had to use the bathroom, but I didn`t make it to the bathroom.
I seen the kitchen light on and I walked in the kitchen and the back door`s wide open. I mean, I didn`t notice about Haleigh then until I seen the back door open. And then I go to in her room, and she`s gone! And that`s all I know, is when I woke up -- when I went to sleep, she was there. And then when I woke up, she was gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know you`ve been intensively questioned by police. What has that been like for you?
CROSLIN: It`s been hard, but I`m trying to do everything to find her. You know, I`m answering any questions I have to because I know I didn`t do anything to that little girl. I would never hurt her. I mean, they love me. I mean, they look at me like their mom, you know? You ask little Junior, and he`ll tell you, you know? They talk lovely about me, and I`m so good to them kids, real good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you woke up, and that was it. You saw the door open. Did you leave the light or...
CROSLIN: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody turned the light on?
CROSLIN: The lights had to get turned on because I know them lights - - you know, I was in the hallway where the back door is. The dryers are right there. I was washing clothes, and that back door was shut, you know? And I just wake up, and it`s open.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you take a polygraph?
CROSLIN: I did. But I`m not supposed to talk about that. They told me not to talk about that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But you did go...
CROSLIN: Yes, I did take a polygraph.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you passed it.
CROSLIN: I mean, my understanding is that I passed it, you know?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you want people to know?
CROSLIN: I just want everybody to know that I didn`t do anything with that little girl! I loved her like she`s my own. And I`ll do anything to get her back. And if people think that I have something do with it -- if I had something do with it, I knew where she was, we wouldn`t be sitting here today. We would have her. And I don`t -- I don`t know where she is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s a sweet baby, I can tell.
CROSLIN: She`s so sweet. And she`s a smart little girl. She`s intelligent, you know? She`s a real good girl, a real good girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is your heart? You said you think of her like your daughter.
CROSLIN: Like my daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What does your heart tell you right now?
CROSLIN: It just tells me we need to find her, you know? I mean, find her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You believe she`s still out there?
CROSLIN: Yes, I do believe she`s still out there. Someone has her. I mean, I don`t want to think of the bad, you know? I mean, that runs through my mind, but I don`t want to think of the bad.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What about this worker that was at the house/
CROSLIN: The A.C.? You know, I -- my brother was -- the A.C. guy had come and my brother had come, like, you know, 10 minutes after the A.C. guy. And me and my brothers and the kids, my nephews, were out there. You know, the kids were all playing in the front yard. Haleigh was riding her bike, doing wheelies, you know, having fun with my nephews. And the A.C. guy, you know, he was in the house by himself. We didn`t go in the house. You know, I didn`t go in the house with him. I sat on the front porch for a little while and...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don`t suspect him?
CROSLIN: I mean, I don`t know. I mean, they talked to him, and you know, they -- they said that they (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why would someone want to do this? I mean, do you think there`s any reason they`d want to do this to you or to your boyfriend?
CROSLIN: I don`t know, I mean, we`re good people. We don`t -- you know? We don`t really have friends, you know? I really don`t know a lot of people in Palatka. I know a couple of girls, you know? They`re not my friends. They`re just someone, you know, that`s there. I hang out when with them when I need to get away. And I know I shouldn`t hang out with them, but you know, sometimes I just need a break.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
CROSLIN: And I go hang out with them, but not no more.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You said there was a brick. There was a brick that had propped up?
CROSLIN: There was -- there was a brick, like, a cinderblock that was holding the screen door open. And that brick -- that door -- that screen door is always closed, you know? That brick -- I had never seen a brick even around there. The cops said there was a whole bunch of bricks about 50 feet away, but I`ve never seen any bricks at all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So somebody propped open the screen door with a brick?
CROSLIN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. So bring her home.
CROSLIN: Yes. I just want her to come home. That`s it! And I just want her to be OK. And whoever has her, I just want them to bring her home...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Safe.
CROSLIN: ... just safe and...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Calm down.
CROSLIN: I just want her to come home safe. And I thank everybody out there that`s helping us, you know? We really, really appreciate it that everybody`s helping us, you know? Just if anybody knows anything, please call us and let us know (INAUDIBLE) because we just want her home. That`s it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you a really sound sleeper?
CROSLIN: (INAUDIBLE) usually Haleigh will wake up at nighttime. She gets cramps in her legs, you know? And I have to rub her legs to get the cramps out of her legs, to get her back to sleep. And you know, she didn`t make no noise that night. I would have woke up if I heard any noise. I mean, I didn`t hear anything at all. I mean, I was really exhausted that day, you know, really exhausted. And when I lay down, I guess, you know, I just was out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she -- there`s no way she could have wandered off?
CROSLIN: No. She is scared of the dark. She would not go anywhere by herself. She would not (INAUDIBLE) by herself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think that something happened and you just didn`t hear it?
CROSLIN: Yes, I didn`t hear, and I wish I did because I wouldn`t have let no one take her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you blaming herself?
CROSLIN: I just know, like -- I feel like that, you know, I wish that they would had took me instead of her, you know, because I could have fought. You know, she`s only 5. She can`t really do anything. And I just wish they would had taken me instead of her! What do they want with a little 5-year-old?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anything else that you want to say, Misty?
CROSLIN: I just want her home. If anybody knows where she is, please bring her home safe. That`s it. I just want her home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Next, exclusive with Haleigh`s father, Ronald Cummings.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: As the desperate search for 5-year-old Florida girl Haleigh Cummings goes on, investigators bring Haleigh`s father, Ronald Cummings, in for intense questioning about phone calls, calls made in the hours leading up to Haleigh`s disappearance, Cummings trying desperately to reach new stepmother Misty Croslin that night, at least 20 calls. No answer.
Croslin`s brother thrown behind bars on a gun charge, confessing to police he goes to Haleigh`s house the very night she goes missing, pounds on the door, over and over. Nobody home. Where was new stepmother Misty Croslin during those crucial hours?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s been more than seven months since anyone has seen little Haleigh Cummings`s bright smile or heard her laugh. And now we`re getting new information from investigators about the night the 5- year-old was last seen. Police now say Haleigh`s dad, Ronald Cummings, called Misty Croslin repeatedly while he was at work and no one answered. Then, according to deputies, Cummings called down to her family`s home just down the street, looking for her and talked with her brother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hank says that he answered that call from Ronald, which we know was made. He says he answered it. And it was Ronald saying, Go check on Misty, and he says that he complied with that request and Misty did not answer the door. The house was dark and quiet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our camera was rolling after Hank Croslin, Jr., Misty`s brother, was taken from his jail cell to be questioned by police. That`s when deputies say Croslin`s brother told them it looked like no one was home that night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He demonstrated to us loudly and for a few seconds, and then he waited around, you know, to presumably see if someone was going to be roused if they were sleeping or whatever. He made -- he tells us that he made a good effort to see if someone was home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Major Gary Bowling says Croslin`s interview had nothing do with the search of this pond, but he says the interview does cast more doubt on Misty`s story that she was home watching movies with the two kids.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we need is for Misty to come down here and tell us the truth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He says that`s why they`ve released this new information.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know that it applies to pressure in an area where pressure needs to be applied, and that`s on Misty. And Misty can relieve this pressure by telling her attorney that, you know, We need to go down to the sheriff`s office and really lay out in clear terms what I was doing from 8:00 PM until 3:00 AM.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: To Ronald Cummings, joining us tonight. He is Haleigh`s father. He`s joining us exclusively since this arrest. Ronald, what do you make of it?
CUMMINGS: Miss Nancy, I don`t know what to make of it. I just don`t know what -- I don`t know what to think.
GRACE: Well, what is the brother-in-law telling you? What are you hearing from Misty`s family?
CUMMINGS: Miss Nancy, we don`t have much contact with the family. Misty has an injunction against Tommy (ph), so we don`t have any contact with them.
GRACE: To Terry Shoemaker, the attorney for Ronald Cummings. Do you believe he was taken into custody in order to put pressure on him to find out what he may or may not know about Haleigh`s disappearance?
TERRY SHOEMAKER, ATTORNEY FOR RONALD CUMMINGS: Well, you know, like - - like was just said, $50,000 is very high bond for a grand theft, you know? So I would imagine they`re looking at every angle they can. And if they think that they can put a little weight on him and get him to talk about anything he might know, I`m sure they`re going do that.
GRACE: Now, let me ask you this. Back to you, Ronald Cummings. You say that no more communication`s with Misty Croslin`s family. What is Misty Croslin telling you? Is there any possibility that she left the home that evening and hasn`t told you?
CUMMINGS: If there is a possibility of it, I don`t know anything about it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: When we come back, inside the home where 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings vanishes into thin air.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: An exclusive tour inside the home where 5-year-old Florida girl Haleigh Cummings was reportedly snatched from her own bed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: Marlaina, show me the girl`s room. That`s the first thing I want to see.
MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NEIGHBORHOOD: OK, Nancy. Well, we`re standing right here. Right beside me on my left is the bed where Misty Croslin was sleeping, and here on the right, we have the bed where little Haleigh was sleeping. And you can see it is all but about three-and-a-half feet from each other.
And this is right where Misty said she got up and she had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Now, where I`m facing right now, Nancy, is a bathroom. It`s the master bathroom. Through the living room behind me is the other bathroom in the house. And you have to remember she said that when she got up to go to the bathroom she saw that the kitchen light was on. The kitchen is over this way. So that means she would have to have gotten up and gone out this door, and then have noticed.
GRACE: OK, stop. Marlaina, are you telling me that she did not go to the bathroom, the baby-sitter did not go to the rest room, the master bathroom? She chose instead to go out the door, across the kitchen to another bathroom?
SCHIAVO: That is the assumption we`re making. We asked Teresa, Haleigh`s grandmother, who`s standing with us. She wasn`t sure which bathroom she used. But if she saw the kitchen light on, she would had to have used the other bathroom in the home, Nancy.
GRACE: Was the door open or shut, Ms. Neves? Because if the door was closed, that rules out her seeing the kitchen light. So was that bedroom door open when she realized the kitchen light was on?
TERESA NEVES, HALEIGH`S PATERNAL GRANDMOTHER: The bedroom door`s always open.
GRACE: Marlaina, how big is that bedroom?
SCHIAVO: The bedroom is, I would say, about -- I would have to say 11 by 13.
GRACE: OK, let`s go through the rest of the house -- 11 by 13, thanks. Go ahead. Tell me what else you observed.
SCHIAVO: OK, so -- well, basically, Nancy, they kept saying that the door, the back door, which we`re about to go to, is about 16 feet from the bedroom. It`s a little bit more than that, actually. If I had to guess, it would probably be about 25.
But I`m going to show you the back door and show you how both doors close automatically. So -- and I`m also going to show you the lock because the lock is about three feet from the floor, and we know that that`s about as tall as Haleigh stands. So here`s the back door and here`s the lock. It sticks. So -- there you go. Now we open the back door. And here`s the back screen door, the one that was propped open with the cinderblock, OK?
Now, if you see, when it closes, it slams. It makes a loud noise. But if you leave this door, this slowly closes, as well. So it leaves a lot of questions as to what exactly -- how exactly did this person do this?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: Next, was new stepmother, Misty Croslin even home the night little Haleigh goes missing?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Thrown behind bars on a gun charge. We learn the brother of new stepmother, Misty Croslin, confesses during a late-night jailhouse interrogation.
He goes to Haleigh`s house the night she goes missing. Pounds on the door desperately. Nobody home. This, a full seven months after Haleigh goes missing. Then a letter surfaces outlining details of a drug-fueled party where little Haleigh, allegedly, accidentally ingests the heavy-duty painkiller, Oxycontin, and dies.
Cops call the letter a farce publicly, but still investigate and interrogate. This, after girlfriend-turned-stepmother, Misty Croslin, reportedly flunks yet another polygraph.
Ronald, what do you make of Misty flunking a polygraph?
RONALD CUMMINGS, FATHER OF MISSING 5-YR-OLD HALEIGH CUMMINGS: I don`t know anything about her flunking a polygraph. I know what`s been said about it but I`m not a polygrapher myself so I didn`t see any results.
I didn`t get to, you know? I was told by the polygrapher who did the polygraph that it`s not judged in percentages. That the polygraph is either a failed or a pass, not in the percentages.
GRACE: Well, OK. Let`s take with what you know. That you either fail it or you passed it. Well, according to these reports she flunked it. I mean royally flunked it. And that`s got to concern you.
R. CUMMINGS: Well, until I see more physical proof of what`s going on, Miss Nancy, there`s -- my concerns are still on keeping Haleigh`s face on the TV and being sure that she is found. And whoever has done this to her or is put away.
GRACE: OK, Ronald, I understand that you want to keep Haleigh`s face out there. We are doing that. But I know you. And I do not believe you are not concerned about a report that your wife flunked a polygraph. It would concern me.
TERRY SHOEMAKER, ATTORNEY FOR RONALD CUMMINGS: Nancy, if I may, you know, of course, Ronald`s concerned about a lot of things going on right now, but I think the main thing he`s concerned about is making sure that Haleigh`s found. And you know, again, we would like to thank you for keeping Haleigh in the spotlight, making sure everyone continues to look for her, and helping us every way you possibly can.
But -- now we`re more concerned with that aspect, rather than whether or not Misty may or may not have done well on a polygraph.
GRACE: You know, Mr. Shoemaker, you have an excellent reputation. And what you just said does not make one ounce of sense. Of course you want her picture out there. Of course you want the help of the media.
But for the last person known to have seen Haleigh alive, to have reportedly flunked a polygraph, how you can suggest that is not a major concern. You want to find her, you want to find Haleigh, then find out why Misty reportedly flunked a polygraph.
Gentlemen, does that not make sense to you? Ronald Cummings, I would like to hear it from you.
R. CUMMINGS: Nancy, what you`re saying makes perfect sense to me, but why is law enforcement -- I`m not law enforcement. I can`t interfere with their investigation. I can`t do anything about a polygraph or any results.
GRACE: Well, what is she telling you, Ronald? What is she telling you? She took that police polygraph. I don`t believe that she passed it the first time. I don`t believe she did. And then this one and then that voice stressed test. Something is wrong with her story, Ronald.
R. CUMMINGS: I don`t know, Miss Nancy.
GRACE: Ronald, I know that your heart`s desire is to bring her home alive. I`ll never forget the first time I heard your 911 call. And I think that is exactly the way I would have reacted. If I came home and the twins were gone, and I want to know what you want to tell the viewers tonight.
R. CUMMINGS: I want to tell them to keep Haleigh`s face out there and if you have any information leading to her disappearance, to call it in. It don`t matter who it hurts. And I want to let everyone know that I`m not hiding anything for anybody. And if somebody has something to do with it, let them fry, so be it. Whoever it might be, that`s who it is. Let`s bring Haleigh home.
GRACE: Ronald, why did police question Misty Croslin`s brother and sister-in-law? What was that all about? They kept them for hours.
R. CUMMINGS: Miss Nancy, I don`t have a clue what they questioned them about. I`m not allowed around them.
GRACE: That`s right, I understand. Ronald, what do you believe is being done now in the search for Haleigh? I know that they`ve just finished another search around your home. And they did that because your wife, Misty Croslin, directed them to a particular spot.
R. CUMMINGS: Well, I`m happy that they`re still searching. I hope that they found my child alive, obviously. But one way or another I want my daughter to come home.
GRACE: Ronald, you said.
R. CUMMINGS: I need some closure.
GRACE: You said that you don`t care who it hurts and that you`re not covering for anybody.
R. CUMMINGS: That`s right.
GRACE: OK, and I assume, from knowing you, that you mean that. So my question to you tonight is, now that you have been told whether you accept it or not that your wife has flunked a poly have you asked her what`s happened? What does she tell you?
I mean I saw her on the "Today" show, and they asked her, why did you give two different stories? And she said, I don`t know. That doesn`t make sense.
R. CUMMINGS: I asked her, but I don`t get any answers from her about, you know -- I don`t see what -- what she`s telling me is not inconsistent.
GRACE: OK.
R. CUMMINGS: So we may well.
GRACE: And what is it that she tells you? What is her story about what happened that night?
R. CUMMINGS: The same thing that she`s telling police or whoever that she went to bed -- she put Haleigh to bed. Done some laundry. Went to bed. And woke up to the door propped open.
GRACE: Ronald, you and I have been on this story from the very, very beginning. And I don`t even like asking the medical examiner questions like that. While I know you are listening, because you`re holding out the hope, as I am, that she is alive.
R. CUMMINGS: Yes.
GRACE: Once again, I want you to make a plea to the viewers tonight, everyone the tip line is 888-277-8477.
Go ahead, Ronald.
R. CUMMINGS: Please, whoever who knows anything about Haleigh`s disappearance, anything about where she might be now or anything about anything from February 9th to February 10th of 2009, please call the CrimeStoppers or the Putnam County Sheriff`s Office.
GRACE: And please know, Ronald, that you are in our thoughts and prayers, as is little Haleigh.
Miss Neves, at one point I recall that Junior, the little brother, has stated that there were other people in the home that evening. What do you recall about his statement?
TERESA NEVES, GRANDMOTHER OF MISSING GIRL, HALEIGH CUMMINGS: Junior`s initial statement to the law enforcement was that he saw a man in black, I believe was what they said.
GRACE: Yes.
NEVES: And then it changed, you know? But he didn`t change it. Other people changed it.
GRACE: Yes. Miss Neves, what do you make of this letter? Do you put any stock in it?
NEVES: Nancy, I`m like you. I do not think that that many people with a $70,000 reward are not going to sit at home and not say anything. I do not believe for one second that my granddaughter would take something like that because of the taste of it. Just simply for that fact.
GRACE: We`re all throwing around legal theories and this letter, and whether it`s true or not. What is your message tonight?
NEVES: I believe Haleigh is alive. I have faith in God to take care of my baby girl in finding her. And I don`t care who had something to do with it. Those are the people who need to be put away and bring my baby girl home.
GRACE: Miss Neves, why are you so sure Haleigh is still with us?
NEVES: Because I stand on God`s promise that if you pray and believe that he will give you what you pray for.
GRACE: Miss Neves, tell me how Ronald is holding up. I mean, he comes on our show frequently. And he`s always so strong. How is he holding up?
NEVES: He`s not as strong at home as he is on TV. But he has to be strong for Junior, you know? So he does the best that he can. He keeps his crying to his self at night and tries to make Junior happy until Haleigh comes home.
GRACE: How is junior? Does he even realize at this juncture that Haleigh is gone?
NEVES: Junior thinks that Haleigh is lost and she`s finding her way home. He actually drew her a map so she could find her way home. But he doesn`t realize the longevity, I think, of it.
GRACE: You know, I focus so much on where is Haleigh, what happened that night? You know Junior has been lost in the mix. I cannot imagine, God forbid, the thought that I would ever have to explain to one of the twins where the other one was. Why they were not at home.
What do you tell them?
NEVES: That angels are watching Haleigh. And she`ll be home soon.
GRACE: Miss Neves, when you hear about, for instance, this letter.
NEVES: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: How does that affect you? Whether you believe it or don`t believe it, when you hear there might be a break in the case.
NEVES: Miss Nancy, we would love to have a break in this case. And we really would not care who it implicates as long as it brings Haleigh back to us. You know this letter is a little far-fetched, I think, because Haleigh doesn`t like medicine. And Oxycontin, I`ve had to take it.
I think it`s a very nasty taste. And I can`t imagine Haleigh taking it. So -- but you know, anything that would bring Haleigh home, that`s what we want.
GRACE: With me is Teresa Neves, this is Haleigh`s paternal grandmother.
Miss Neves, you stand very strongly behind Misty Croslin`s story. What do you make of police saying that she has the answers?
NEVES: I have to leave the investigative part of this to law enforcement. Because, you know, if I go with every whim and every accusation then I`m going to be flipping back in forth in my life. And what we stand -- you know, we just stand for Haleigh here. We just want Haleigh to come home. And I want them to find whoever this is. And I don`t care who it is. But we want Haleigh to come home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: When we come back, where was new stepmom, Misty Croslin, during the crucial hours when 5-year-old Haleigh disappears?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Failed polygraphs, repeatedly changing the story, physical evidence inside the home. Florida investigators and even family say they don`t believe stepmother, Misty Croslin`s story. The story surrounding Haleigh`s sudden disappearance.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: On Haleigh`s birthday, Misty Croslin-Cummings put posters on the house for her. And when asked about what she thought of the new attorney in Orlando and Tim Miller with EquuSearch helping in Haleigh`s case, she was positive.
MISTY CROSLIN, RONALD CUMMING`S WIFE, LAST SEEN HALEIGH: I think they`re going to be able to (INAUDIBLE) than what (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Miller said she told him she wanted to clear her name. So he set up an independent polygraph. He says she failed it miserably.
TIM MILLER, DIRECTOR, TEXAS EQUUSEARCH: Did you intentionally withhold any information regarding Haleigh`s disappearance? Her answer was no. She failed it miserably with a 99 percent deception.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Miller says Croslin-Cummings wanted to do more so she took a voice analysis test. She failed that too, and he says she was uncooperative with a hypnotist. Miller gave the test information to the Putnam County Sheriff`s Office.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It indicated that Misty was deception indicated, is the official statement, which is no surprise to us. We said all along that Misty has been inconsistent in her statements. And I agree with the point that was made by Tim Miller`s investigator, which is that Misty`s consistency is inconsistency.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Misty signed a paper saying she had an attorney who did not want her to take the test, but that she still wanted to take them. Misty`s attorney Robert Fields says she told him she was pressured to take the test and if that if she did not Miller would not help search for Haleigh.
Miller denies that. Investigators say there`s nothing at this point to charge Misty Croslin-Cummings with regarding to Haleigh`s disappearance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know we think that Misty needs to tell us some things. You know fill in some inconsistencies but that`s about as far as we`re willing to go with that statement. But we`re going to stop just short of saying, and therefore, we have probable cause to make an arrest.
We don`t. If we have probable cause to make an arrest at this point we probably would have.
GRACE: The mother of missing Florida girl, 5-year-old Haleigh, also with her the grandmother, Haleigh`s grandmother, Crystal Sheffield, Marie Griffis.
Thank you for being with us.
First to you, Crystal Sheffield, this is Haleigh`s mother. Crystal, what do you make of the recent developments, the developments especially about Misty Croslin flunking a polygraph?
CRYSTAL CUMMINGS, PATERNAL AUNT OF MISSING GIRL, HALEIGH CUMMINGS: I thought all along that she had something do with it. And now this kind just proves it. I mean.
GRACE: But why do you -- why do you say you thought all along that?
SHEFFIELD: She`s the last one to see our daughter. And her stories just don`t ad up. Everything she says is crazy. I mean, it`s like the cops say, they`re inconsistent.
GRACE: Have you talked to Ronald about the inconsistencies?
SHEFFIELD: I`ve said something to him about her recently. And he pretty much was, like, what do you want me to do? So.
GRACE: What did you say to him? I mean, his response kind of -- to interpret, depends on what you said to him. What did you say to him?
SHEFFIELD: I told him how I felt about her test results. And I told him I really didn`t want to be around her anymore. Like when I picked our son up. And he was just, like, what do you want me to do? So maybe we can talk about it.
GRACE: You mentioned that Misty Croslin`s first polygraph, the one administered by police, was full of inconsistencies. How did you find that out?
SHEFFIELD: No, not the polygraph. Just her stories. I know nothing about the polygraph from the police. They have not revealed that.
GRACE: OK. Why did you -- where did you learn of what she told police was full of inconsistencies?
SHEFFIELD: The -- it was on your show, actually. I think it was one of the investigators? He said that we`ve known all along that her stories was full of inconsistencies.
GRACE: To you Miss Griffis. Thank you for being with us. You stated that at very beginning you doubted Croslin`s story, why?
MARIE GRIFFIS, MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER OF HALEIGH: Because of the inconsistencies with the bed and who was sleeping in what bed. There was four different story.
GRACE: What were the four stories?
GRIFFIS: Well, one minute all three of them were in the -- in the same bed. Then Haleigh was on the different bed. And it was just her and Butterbean. Then -- and Butterbean is Junior, by the way. Then Haleigh was in a totally different room other than her and Haleigh. And it just kept getting bigger and bigger.
GRACE: What, if anything, have you been told about her police polygraph?
GRIFFIS: That they were full of inconsistencies.
GRACE: Such as?
GRIFFIS: As her timeline. They can`t figure out whether she was or was not at home. It`s -- it`s one right after another. It`s all mind- boggling.
GRACE: To Crystal Sheffield, Haleigh`s mother. Crystal, recently she has suggested that the four people were in the home that evening.
SHEFFIELD: No, the only thing I`ve heard was about the AC guy and her brother that stopped by. That`s only people that I know about. And she said they left, both of them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: When we come back, what happened to 5-year-old Florida girl Haleigh Cummings?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Tonight, the desperate search for 5-year-old Florida girl Haleigh. Reportedly snatched from her own bed, vanishing without a trace.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
R. CUMMINGS: Came home this morning to find out that I didn`t have a child, that somebody stole my child. It`s not like a bicycle or a car. Somebody stole my child from me.
SHEFFIELD: I just want whoever`s got her to bring her home. That`s all I want, my baby home.
R. CUMMINGS: Told me she loved me and she`d see me when I got home.
NEVES: She`s a daddy`s girl.
R. CUMMINGS: And she wasn`t there when I got home.
NEVES: She`s the most precious thing in our life. We want her to come home.
R. CUMMINGS: Please, Haleigh, know that I love you. I love you very much. We will find you. God will bring her home.
SHEFFIELD: Haleigh if you`re out there, mommy loves you. And your daddy loves you. We miss you. And we`ll be right here.
Please, whoever has her, bring her home. Please. We need her. We need her home. We need to bring her back. I love you. Your daddy loves you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: Let`s stop and remember Army 1st Lieutenant Tyler Parten, 24, Jonesborough, Arkansas. A West Point grad, fluent in Arabic. Awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Combat Action Badge.
Loved his God, country, fellow soldiers, writing, music, traveling. Leaves behind grieving parents Dave and Lona, brother Daniel.
Tyler Parten, American hero.
Thanks to our guest, but especially to you for being with us. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. Next, a special CNN Heroes announcement. Until tomorrow night, good night, friend.
END
