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Nancy Grace

Missing Florida Girl`s Father, Former Stepmother Arrested on Drug Charges

Aired January 21, 2010 - 21:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, Satsuma, Florida. A 5- year-old girl tucked into bed. Five hours later, she`s gone. Daddy comes home from the night shift to find not a trace of little Haleigh. The last person to see her alive, new stepmother 18-year-old Misty Croslin, who takes to the airwaves to claim she`s innocent. But even in one brief interview, Croslin can`t keep her story straight, including a 180 on a failed lie detector, claiming she passed, then admitting on TV she failed.

Bombshell tonight. As we go to air, Haleigh`s father, Ronald Cummings, and baby-sitter-turned-stepmother Misty Croslin behind bars.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ms. Cummings, you`ve been charged with four counts of trafficking in hydrocodone, Putnam County...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The father and former stepmother of missing Florida girl Haleigh Cummings are in jail on charges of drug trafficking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s a total of five counts of trafficking hydrocodone out of Putnam County and one count (INAUDIBLE) St. Johns County.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police saying they made multiple purchases of oxycodone and hydrocodone, prescription drugs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you do for a living, ma`am?

MISTY CROSLIN, HALEIGH`S BABY-SITTER: Nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m sorry?

CROSLIN: Nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you support yourself?

CROSLIN: My mom and my dad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Authorities allege that Croslin and Cummings participated in transactions of nearly $4,000 worth of hydrocodone and oxycodone. And both could receive a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in jail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For these highly addictive substances, we`ve seen people commit crazy crimes against their own family members because of the drive of these drugs are so strong.

CROSLIN: Some black guy just dumped (ph) in my car and (INAUDIBLE) whole purse and threw me out of the car, and he`s got a gun (INAUDIBLE)

GRACE: You have made an accusation that Croslin was on a drug binge. Do you have any evidence to support that claim.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I don`t.

GRACE: Then why do you say it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was just a thought.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oxycodone is related to more deaths in Florida than any other drug.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Children sometimes think that that`s candy, and we see sometimes accidental death.

CROSLIN: I put her to bed around 8:00 o`clock, and I woke up and she was gone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you believe that Misty was, indeed, home and that she`s been telling the truth?

RONALD CUMMINGS, HALEIGH`S FATHER: Yes, I believe she`s telling the truth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is still the most important witness in this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, live, Windermere, Florida. Golf superstar Tiger Woods drives out of his multi-million-dollar compound barefoot 2:00 AM Thanksgiving and has a head-on collision with a tree and a fire hydrant. He immediately pulls out of his own golf tournament, as alleged mistresses hit double digits, including a swimsuit model, two porn stars and a waitress at a pancake house. Woods gets just a slap on the wrist, even though cops are told he was drinking and prescribed sleeping pills and painkiller vicodin.

Breaking tonight. Tiger Woods in addiction rehab -- sex addiction. Tonight, photos finally emerge of Tiger Woods, coming from "The National Enquirer." They show Woods, head covered, in that in-house rehab facility, Mississippi. Millions in endorsements dry up, the latest being AT&T, and even "Golf Digest" turns their back on Woods.

With Woods in treatment for sex addiction, where -- where -- does that leave wife Elin? Two little children and nearly $1 billion hanging in the balance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think that Tiger is a sex addict?

JAIMEE GRUBBS, TIGER`S ALLEGED MISTRESS: The man that I knew, the Tiger that I knew, I would never think that. You know, it was never about that. He never, you know, just kind of said, Come over and that`s what`s going to happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody has seen Tiger ever since Thanksgiving Day. He`s been absolutely gone, missing in action. Every journalist, every photographer in the world has been trying to get this money shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, it`s -- it`s Tiger. I need you to do me a huge favor. Can you please take your name off your phone? My wife went through my phone and may be calling you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is behavior that goes to the extreme, where he had a dozen or more women, probably each believing they were the only other woman, so he was lying to each of them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tiger has patterns of, obviously, infidelity and risk taking. I think to call him a sex addict is a stretch and actually an excuse for really bad, bad behavior.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So if you can, please take your name off that, and what do you call it, just have it as a number on the voicemail. Just have it as your telephone number, OK? You got to do this for me. Huge. Quickly. All right, bye.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s betrayed a number of people in his life, not the least of which was Elin, his wife, and the public.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight: Haleigh`s father, Ronald Cummings, and the baby-sitter-turned-stepmother Misty Croslin behind bars.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUMMINGS: She put Haleigh to bed, done some laundry and went to bed and woke up to the door propped open.

CROSLIN: And she`s gone! And that`s all I know!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nearly one year after the disappearance, still unsolved, of Ronald`s little girl Haleigh, Misty Cummings, her brother, Hank Croslin, Jr., and Ronald Cummings all in court this morning charged with drug trafficking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an outstanding drug-trafficking investigation that culminated with the arrest of five suspects.

CROSLIN: He just jumped in and took everything I had! And he said he was going to shoot me!

911 OPERATOR: Were you in the vehicle?

CROSLIN: Yes, and he (INAUDIBLE) pulled me out. My friend started (INAUDIBLE) he pulled me out!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Croslin and Cummings were arrested after allegedly buying and selling large amounts of prescription medications from undercover police officers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An undercover detective says he bought $3,900 worth of oxycodone and hydrocodone from them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s one ridiculous story on top of another. It`s all very ludicrous. And what about Haleigh? Isn`t she supposed to be the focus?

GRACE: We save jail beds for child molesters, murderers, rapists, arsonists. Is this a police attempt to get the truth?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Misty Croslin sits in jail on $950,000 bond, as reports emerge investigators working the Haleigh case will use the threat of a long prison term to try and get Croslin to open up and reveal what she knows.

CROSLIN: They go out and look for the right person, maybe they would be -- have the answers, but they`re trying to get all the answers from me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Croslin was the last person to see Haleigh before she vanished last February. That little girl was 5 years old at the time and has not been seen since.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully, this will rattle the cage that Misty`s in right now because I think she is holding the key to where little Haleigh is!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Art Harris, investigative journalist at Artharris.com. Art, what happened, in a nutshell?

ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: In a nutshell, Nancy, there was a tip that drugs were being sold in Putnam County and that Misty Croslin was involved. Undercover officer makes friends with Misty and others, and suddenly is going from one drug buy to another with cash. Misty is at every one of the seven incidents, police tell me. And once she brings -- actually, three times, she brings Ronald Cummings. Once she brings his cousin, and another time she brings a woman named Donna Broch. And they sold a total of 339 pills, vicodin, lortab, percocet and roxicodone, Nancy.

And this amounted to drug trafficking charges that have been brought against Misty that could give her a total of 74 years behind bars, law enforcement tells me. Her bond is set at $950,000. Astounding. Ronald behind bars on a bond of half a million dollars, and...

GRACE: OK, back it up, Art. Let me ask you a question. Misty Croslin -- have you seen those charges? Have you seen what`s written -- what the written charges are?

HARRIS: The charges, Nancy, are detailed actually on her booking report, and it says only drug trafficking between four grams and less than 30 grams, kilograms. And there are six of those charges.

GRACE: OK, so there`s six counts.

HARRIS: Correct.

GRACE: Let`s take a look at that. Unleash the lawyers. Sue Moss, New York, Peter Odom, defense attorney, Atlanta, Joe Lawless, defense attorney, author of "Prosecutorial Misconduct," in Philadelphia.

Sue Moss, let`s get out of our calculators. All of us went to law school. We`re not math teachers. But if the maximum is 30 years, I believe it is, on each count of trafficking, and that means you`ve got 28 grams or over of the particular drug or drugs -- six times 30 would be 180 possible years if these counts run consecutive -- not 75 years, 180 years. Now, do you agree with my math, Sue Moss?

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Absolutely. Selling oxycontin is just plain rotten. There should be no leniency. This is one of the most dangerous drugs of our time. It leads to just horrific abuses. And no leniency in this case.

GRACE: I want to see Misty Croslin, Elizabeth, in court. I want to see those photos and that video. We have the video. There is the baby- sitter-turned-stepmother, who was reportedly alone with Haleigh Cummings, a 5-year-old little girl, the night she went missing, her story that while stepmommy is asleep, someone must have come in and take the baby. They`re in a trailer. It`s about -- how big is it, Marlaina Schiavo? You gave us a tour. Let`s see it, Liz. Let`s pull the video of inside of the trailer. How big is the thing, Marlaina?

MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, I mean, from the front door to the bedroom where she was, it was all but 10 feet. From the back door to the bedroom, the back door that was propped open, it was about 16 feet. It`s not a big place.

GRACE: And back to you, Art Harris. Ronald Cummings is divorcing Misty Croslin, our understanding is because he was convinced she knows more about his daughter`s disappearance. And there he is, snugged up in the car with her selling drugs to the tune of a trafficking amount? I`m not talking about a joint, people. I`m not talking about a nickel bag of pot, although they should go to jail for that, too. But I`m talking about a trafficking amount of oxycontin, oxycodone.

And let`s not forget, Art Harris, the big, long letter I happen to have right here, where someone lays out a party that was held the night Haleigh went missing, a drug party where the child allegedly got...

HARRIS: Overdose, yes.

GRACE: ... a pill of oxycodone and died.

HARRIS: Yes. That`s right, Nancy. And somebody supposedly put her body in a nearby lake. That has not been confirmed. But Ronald and Misty have been seen together in recent weeks. And I am told that Misty has a new tattoo of Ronald on her lower back.

GRACE: I don`t care about the tattoo. All I care about is, what does this mean? Is it finally the answer to Haleigh Cummings`s disappearance?

HARRIS: Absolutely.

GRACE: The whole bunch, the whole kit and kaboodle makes me sick!

HARRIS: Just gives prosecutors, Nancy, a new bit of leverage. In fact...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking developments today in the case of missing 5-year-old Florida girl Haleigh Cummings. Haleigh`s baby-sitter, Misty Croslin, who holds the key to finding Haleigh, has been arrested.

CROSLIN: I didn`t notice about Haleigh then until I seen the back door open. And (INAUDIBLE) and she`s gone! And that`s all I know!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The father and former stepmother of missing Florida girl Haleigh Cummings are in jail on drug trafficking charges.

CUMMINGS: With the family problems and everything else, it`s just -- it`s too much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Putnam County sheriff`s department says officers arrested 26-year-old Ronald Cummings and 18-year-old Misty Croslin yesterday in a prescription drug trafficking scheme.

CUMMINGS: She tells me the same thing each time I ask her about it.

CROSLIN: If I had something to 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 MALE: As part of a month-long investigation, authorities also arrested Misty Croslin`s brother, Tommy Croslin, Ronald Cummings`s cousin, Hope Sykes, and Donna Broch, and a friend of Misty Croslin. All the defendants face charges of trafficking prescription medications, including oxycodone and hydrocodone allegedly worth nearly $4,000.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So are you saying that you didn`t fail the polygraph, like people and law enforcement are kind of claiming that you did?

CROSLIN: No, I did not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bottom line, you don`t know where Haleigh is.

CROSLIN: Bottom line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Tonight, Misty Croslin, the baby-sitter-turned-stepmother, behind bars for drugs. Along with her, Ronald Cummings, Haleigh Cummings` biological father, who allegedly divorced Misty Croslin because of his belief she had some involvement or knew what happened to his 5-year-old little girl, Haleigh Cummings. And you know who`s lost in the sauce tonight? The baby, the 5-year-old. With this bunch more worried about their next hit or who they`re going to sell drugs to, you think that they are focussing on this child? This little girl never had a chance growing up with this bunch!

We are taking your calls live. Renee in Georgia. Hi, Renee.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I just want to say first I love your show, and your twins are heaven sent.

GRACE: They really are. And how parents would risk their child by exposing them to elements involved in the drug trade is beyond me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.

GRACE: You know, there have been times -- and I`m certainly no example, all right, but there have been times I worked three jobs at a time to make it. And they asked Misty Croslin in court today -- pull the sound, Liz -- What do you do for a living? You know what she said? Nothing. Nothing. Go ahead, Renee.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re paying for her while she`s doing nothing. It comes out of everyone`s check. Anyway, my question is, since there was a letter from the jail that speculated that the baby, Haleigh, died from an oxycontin overdose, and now the father and his ex-wife is charged with trafficking the same drug, doesn`t that bring a little bit more, you know, information towards where Haleigh might be?

GRACE: Well, it certainly does, Renee in Georgia. Let`s go back to the lawyers -- Susan Moss, Peter Odom, Joe Lawless. You know, Peter Odom, when everybody first read that letter, it was assumed to be BS. You know, there`s really no other nice way to put it.

PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s right.

GRACE: But the fact was that there was nothing in it for the author. She was writing a confidante. It wasn`t like she was handing over information.

ODOM: Exactly.

GRACE: There was nothing she could gain from the letter, right? She wasn`t as part of a cooperation agreement. So this is starting to have a tiny ring of truth to it.

ODOM: Well, Nancy, it`s called corroboration. And it certainly lends credence to what a lot of people did dismiss at first. And I think the police are going to take a good, hard look at that, as they -- you know, and they`re going to use this as leverage to get Misty to talk, this new arrest.

GRACE: To you, Joe Lawless, defense attorney, author of "Prosecutorial Misconduct," joining us out of Philadelphia. Joe, bottom line, they`ve tried this with the brother. I believe it was Tommy Croslin, who`s back behind bars now. They`ve tried it with Misty Croslin`s mother. They got a little bit out of the brother, not so much out of the mother. But now, these people have nearly a million-dollar bond. They`re not going anywhere. They`re looking at over 100 years behind bars. Somebody better crack.

JOE LAWLESS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The prosecutor has her in a very good position right now. And I`ve done this, Nancy. Someone`s got to sit down across the table from her, look her in the eye and say, You`re not going anywhere for a long time anyway, do you want to possibly avoid the death penalty? Do you want to tell us what you know? Now is the time to twist the screws.

GRACE: Back to you, Art Harris, investigative journalists. Here`s my prediction. This is the way I would handle it, if I were prosecuting it. I would go ahead and take it to a jury trial on all of these counts, all six counts, and get the max consecutive -- 30, 30, 30, 30, 30, 30. Let her sit behind bars for about a year and then ask her to cooperate. Thoughts?

HARRIS: That`s why you didn`t lose a case, Nancy. That would be very effective. Misty is the only one of these people who has not been to jail yet. So she is looking at something very unpleasant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you do for a living ma`am?

CROSLIN: Nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m sorry?

CROSLIN: Nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you support yourself?

CROSLIN: My mom and my dad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CROSLIN: Usually, Haleigh will wake up at nighttime. She gets cramps in her leg, you know? And I`ll 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, and 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 -- and there`s no way they could have wandered off?

CROSLIN: No. She is scared of the dark. She would not go anywhere by herself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you do for a living, ma`am?

CROSLIN: Nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m sorry?

CROSLIN: Nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you support yourself?

CROSLIN: My mom and my dad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How old are you?

CROSLIN: Just turned...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls tonight. A stepmother, Misty Croslin, former baby-sitter to Haleigh Cummings, along with biological father Ronald Cummings, behind bars on serious drug offenses that could land them behind bars to up to 180 years in the penitentiary.

We`re taking your calls. Martha in Tennessee. Hi, Martha.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, Nancy.

GRACE: How are you, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m good. I love you. You`re awesome.

GRACE: You know what? I`m going to play back that statement to the twins when they turn 16 and -- OK, I want to thank you for that. What`s your question, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was wondering, do you think that Misty could have originally sold Haleigh for a drug payoff?

GRACE: I`ll tell you no, and I`ll tell you why. Because this bunch, the whole kit and kaboodle of them, I don`t think could keep a secret like that. I think that could have come out, although, you know, actually, Martha, keeping a secret -- somebody`s keeping a secret very, very well about what happened to Haleigh that night. But I think that it would have leaked out.

Art Harris, what about it? Is there a possibility she sold the child for a drug debt?

HARRIS: I don`t think so, Nancy. More likely is she was passed out, did not remember what had happened because she was doing drugs, her friends tell me, for three or four days on a big party. And she was exhausted. So, often, the drugs that we`re describing here will erase your memory and you have trouble. And one of the investigators told me a while back, Interviewing these people, Nancy, is like trying to interview a rock.

GRACE: Everyone, as we go to break (INAUDIBLE) Haiti. Don`t let this be a missed opportunity to do something good. Call 800-554-8583 or go to United Methodist Community on Relief -- .com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE CHARLES TINLIN, ST. JOHNS COUNTY JAIL: What do you do for a living, ma`am?

MISTY CROSLIN-CUMMINGS, RONALD CUMMING`S WIFE, LAST SEEN HALEIGH: Nothing.

TINLIN: I`m sorry?

CROSLIN: Nothing.

TINLIN: How do you support yourself?

CROSLIN: My mom and my dad.

TINLIN: How old are you?

CROSLIN: Just turned 18.

TINLIN: Do you have the money at this time to hire a lawyer?

CROSLIN: I have a lawyer.

TINLIN: Who`s your lawyer, please?

CROSLIN: Robert Fields.

TINLIN: Have you had a chance to contact Mr. Fields?

CROSLIN: I talked to him yesterday, yes.

TINLIN: All right, I`ll give you another chance to speak to him. I`ll show at this point you`re retaining Mr. Fields. If you`re unable to hire a lawyer on these charges and you need the assistance from the public defender, you can tell Judge Berger that when you`re brought before her or the circuit court in St. (INAUDIBLE), Putnam County and a public defender will be appointed.

Do you have any questions about that?

CROSLIN: No, sir.

TINLIN: All right. You have a seat.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: 911, do you have an emergency?

CROSLIN: I need someone, um, what is this place called?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know.

CROSLIN: Some black guy just jumped in my car and stole my whole purse and threw me out of the car and he had a gun and said he was going to shoot me.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: OK, where are you right now?

CROSLIN: Going up this road.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Take a deep breath for me, OK?

CROSLIN: My arm is all (EXPLETIVE DELETED) up.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Where are you right now?

CROSLIN: Hold on.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: Are you in a vehicle?

CROSLIN: Yes, Moody, Moody Road. Ragsdale community.

UNIDENTIFIED 911 DISPATCHER: You`re in Ragsdale?

CROSLIN: Yes, ma`am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight, Ronald Cummings, the biological father of the 5-year-old girl Haleigh Cummings who went missing from her own home, and his former wife, little Haleigh`s stepmother, babysitter-turned- stepmother, behind bars on drug trafficking.

What if anything does this have to do with Haleigh`s disappearance? Out to Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst, author of "Dealbreakers."

Weigh in, Bethany.

BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST, AUTHOR OF "DEALBREAKERS": It`s so organized, around the pursuit of that next high, that next hit of Hill Billy heroine. The likelihood is they didn`t think about brushing little Haleigh`s teeth. They may not have thought about feeding her. They`re not thinking about school. They`re not thinking about getting a job.

At the likelihood is this little girl was neglected. You said earlier in the block that she was exposed to elements. I agree. Who walked in and out of that trailer where there were drug parties going on?

I agree with you, this little girl didn`t stand a chance. And in terms of lying, they wouldn`t hold on to a high-level lie like whether or not they sold the girl to get money for drugs. But the whole family system is organized around a low-level lie which is around their drug usage, which is what makes it difficult to interview them.

GRACE: Back to you, Art Harris, what if anything does this mean to the investigation and the disappearance and/or murder of 5-year-old Haleigh?

ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST, ARTHARRIS.COM, INTERVIEWED MISTY CROSLIN, HALEIGH`S NEW STEPMOM: Well, Nancy, this is the opportunity that investigators have been looking for. Even though they are two separate teams, the drug investigators and the homicide, or Haleigh investigators.

But they are taking advantage of it. They tried to talk to Misty last night, I`m told. And her lawyer has advised her not to speak to investigators.

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. To Sherry in Pennsylvania, hi, Sherry.

SHERRY, CALLER FROM PENNSYLVANIA: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

SHERRY: I just want to tell you that Lucy and John David, they are so lucky to have a mother like you.

GRACE: Thank you. Thank -- you know what? I`m such a pushover. You know? If they even fix their face to cry, I`m like what, what, what do you want? I can see this is not going well. You know, they`ve got me wrapped around their little finger and they`re only 2. You know? They don`t even know what they`re doing yet.

What`s your question, love?

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: Yes?

SHERRY: My question is do you know think that Ron and misty, like, said that they -- because he said before that they were supposed to divorce or not. Do you think that was all a hoax?

GRACE: Oh, that`s a good question. Art Harris, what about it?

HARRIS: Nancy, I think.

GRACE: I mean how am I supposed to take it seriously that he`s leaving her because he thinks she`s involved or knows something about Haleigh`s disappearance and then they`re all snugged up together selling dope?

HARRIS: Well, Nancy, these people were thinking -- trying to think one step ahead, I`m told. They may have been thinking that down the road, you know, we could make hay on our reunion, but Ronald was genuinely taken up with another girlfriend.

Misty was seeing a number of local guys, my sources tell me. And she was not talking to him for a while and then suddenly, they`re back together.

GRACE: I want to go out to Dr. Joshua Perper. You all know the renown medical examiner -- the chief medical examiner of Broward County, author of "When to Call the Doctor."

Dr. Perper, as always, it is our honor to have you on with us.

DR. JOSHUA PERPER, MEDICAL EXAMINER, AUTHOR OF "WHEN TO CALL THE DOCTOR": Thank you.

GRACE: Dr. Perper, just tell me what one or two OxyContin pills would do to a little girl. Let me see, how much did Haleigh weigh? She weighed 39 pounds at the time she disappeared.

What would one or two OxyContin pills do to a child of that small of a weight?

PERPER: Well, they certainly can kill a child of this weight. Two or three pills. Especially they can depress her respiratory sense and she can die. She -- obviously a child of this age and size should not use the drugs. Doesn`t develop tolerance, and it`s a preschool time.

GRACE: You know, Dr. Perper, when I have given the twins who are about 32 and 37 pounds -- even if I have given them cough syrup, I`m a nervous wreck. I get a dropper. I measure it out to less than half a teaspoon. I wake up all during the night to go check if they`re breathing.

And to have a child around OxyContin, I mean, Dr. Perper, you`ve seen it all, probably more than I have as a felony prosecutor. What would a child like Haleigh go through in the throes of death from an OxyContin overdose?

PERPER: Well, what we have here is (INAUDIBLE) the parents sometimes left the drug bottle and the child took them thinking that those are candies. And what would happen basically, it wouldn`t be painful, but it would basically go to sleep and perhaps they might vomit before that and become unconscious or die.

GRACE: Again, we are taking your calls live. I want to go to Sgt. Scott Haines, sheriff`s officer, Sta. Rosa County, Florida.

Sergeant, thank you for being with us. Sgt. Haines, let me ask you something. If you were in charge of this investigation, would it be mere coincidence that the police stung Ronald Cummings and Misty Croslin?

Or do you think this is part of a bigger plan to get the truth out about what happened to Haleigh?

SGT. SCOTT HAINES, SHERIFF`S OFFICER, SANTA ROSA COUNTY, FL.: I feel it`s part of a bigger plan. I think they`re using it to their advantage. They found out through informants that they were involved in this criminal activity and they`re using it to their advantage to get the upper hand and have them face charges and prison time that is substantial.

And maybe to help themselves out, they`d be willing to either turn on each other or give information vital to find Haleigh.

GRACE: Back to the lawyer. Sue Moss, Peter Odom, Joe Lawless.

I guess now, Peter Odom, you`re going to argue along with Joe Lawless that it`s somehow unconstitutional that these people were set up. That they were arrested for drugs to really find out about the murder or kidnap case on Haleigh, right, Peter?

PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well.

GRACE: I mean, I know where this is going.

(LAUGHTER)

ODOM: Well, one of the things about drug cases, Nancy.

GRACE: You think it`s funny?

ODOM: . that`s so hard to defend is that it`s usually on videotape, the actual crime is on videotape or audiotape. And police officers are professional witnesses. So they have professional witnesses to give the evidence. So they`re terribly difficult to defend. An entrapment defense never works.

GRACE: So I guess that that was a round about way of saying yes, that`s true.

(CROSSTALK)

ODOM: We`ll be putting our thinking caps on. And if she were my client, I`d be having a very long talk with her about the implications of this are hard to defend.

GRACE: OK, you know what, Peter? That was spoken like a true defense attorney because.

ODOM: Thank you.

GRACE: . you so did not answer the question. Let me let you have a crack at it, Lawless.

JOE LAWLESS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, AUTHOR OF "PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT": What`s the question? I agree with Peter. Seven controlled buys on videotape is really tough to get out under.

If I were her lawyer right now, I`d tell her to sit tight, keep her mouth shut, and see what plays out. Talking has only gotten this woman in trouble and if she does it, it`s only going to get worse.

GRACE: OK, Sue Moss, do you think the defense is going to argue that the drug sting was a ruse just to get the truth about Haleigh`s disappearance?

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY & CHILD ADVOCATE: They`re going to try, but she was caught seven times for these crimes. Even Jose Baez couldn`t get her out of this one.

GRACE: Everyone, we`re taking your calls live. As we go to break, tonight`s "NG Family Album."

Here are some photos of Lucy and John David in their new sunglasses. I think -- there he is. Big boy.

And now photos from Virginia, friend of the show, La Sean and her beautiful 14-year-old daughter, Jala. They watch every night.

Thank you, beautiful ladies.

And Texas friends, 9-month-old Kendall and twin brother Kaden. Look at them. Both premature. They have fought to live. They are now happy and healthy. Praise the Lord.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TINLIN: What do you do for a living, ma`am?

CROSLIN: Nothing.

TINLIN: I`m sorry?

CROSLIN: Nothing.

TINLIN: How do you support yourself?

CROSLIN: My mom and my dad.

TINLIN: How old are you?

CROSLIN: Just turned 18.

TINLIN: Do you have the money at this time to hire a lawyer?

CROSLIN: I have a lawyer.

TINLIN: Who`s your lawyer, please?

CROSLIN: Robert Fields.

TINLIN: Have you had a chance to contact Mr. Fields?

CROSLIN: I talked to him yesterday, yes.

TINLIN: All right, I`ll give you another chance to speak to him. I`ll show at this point you`re retaining Mr. Fields. If you`re unable to hire a lawyer on these charges and you need the assistance from the public defender, you can tell Judge Berger that when you`re brought before her or the circuit court in St. (INAUDIBLE), Putnam County and a public defender will be appointed.

Do you have any questions about that?

CROSLIN: No, sir.

TINLIN: All right. You have a seat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: I want to go back to Art Harris. He first broke the story. Misty Croslin, the babysitter-turned-stepmother at, I think, 18, and the natural father of Haleigh Cummings, now behind bars.

Everybody, I`m hearing news about this case as we`re going through the show. I know I promised you we`re going to the Tiger Woods story. I`m going to save that for tomorrow night. Tiger Woods can wait. We`re talking about a missing 5-year-old girl, Haleigh Marie Cummings.

What else can you tell us, Art Harris?

HARRIS: I can tell you, Nancy, that the investigators were hoping that Misty would get into such a desperate situation, something like this would happen, to give them the leverage they needed.

They did not want anyone to help her, to give her money. And so there you have her on tape saying what do you do? Nothing. She didn`t do anything and she got so desperate that she became -- as strange and astounding as it sounds -- the mastermind for the Satsuma gang that couldn`t deal straight.

GRACE: You know, it`s -- I would say gang in the loosest sense of the word. They`ve got 26-year-old Ronald Cummings, Haleigh`s father, Misty Croslin, 18, Tommy Croslin, 23, Donna Broch -- now wait a minute. The name Donna Broch is ringing a bell.

Marlaina Schiavo, didn`t Donna Broch work for -- who did she work for?

MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Texas EquuSearch. And she was sort of put in there? Remember when Misty was going off and nobody knew where she was? And she was with this woman Donna.

GRACE: Tim Miller.

SCHIAVO: Tim Miller.

GRACE: Texas EquuSearch.

SCHIAVO: Right.

GRACE: Now hold on. Didn`t Tim Miller say that he put Donna Broch in with Misty Croslin to get the truth out of Misty Croslin?

SCHIAVO: That`s right. And Donna has been saying all along that she`s been helping investigators, that she`s been sort of by Misty`s side trying to get more information and feed it back to them. And now she`s arrested on the same charges as Misty. So it`s all very twisted.

GRACE: You know -- was she on Texas EquuSearch`s payroll? Was she paid by Tim Miller? And now she`s out dealing drugs?

SCHIAVO: That`s right. And they were giving Misty money to get her nails done, to go shopping. They even bought Christmas gifts for Misty`s nephews and nieces around Christmas time. Yes.

GRACE: Are you telling me that Texas EquuSearch paid for all that?

SCHIAVO: You got it, Nancy.

GRACE: How do you know that?

SCHIAVO: Because our sources told us that. And as a matter of fact, Tim Miller even said that he had provided Donna for this sole purpose.

GRACE: OK, Susan Moss, Peter Odom, Joe Lawless. There you see a defense shaping up for Donna Broch, that she was really selling drugs to find out what happened to Haleigh. That`s, of course, complete B.S.

What about it, Lawless?

LAWLESS: Doesn`t sound good to me. I think she`s in the same boat with Misty and Ronald. They`re controlled buys on video, Nancy. These cases are almost impossible to beat. When they come in quantity, they are a real problem for a defendant.

GRACE: And to you, Peter Odom. As you said earlier, a typical defense. I`ve had many, many, many -- can`t even count how many times when you`ve got a sting a set-up buy, the defense will argue entrapment.

ODOM: Right.

GRACE: Now, just be a lawyer, don`t take a side. Tell me how you beat an entrapment defense. How would I beat an entrapment defense?

ODOM: Nancy, the reason entrapment is so difficult is because the defendant, first of all, has the burden of proof and the defendant has to show that they committed a crime that they would not have committed had it not been for the police`s conduct.

If Broch was selling drugs anyway, then she would not be able to demonstrate that she would not have committed this crime. So, you know, it`s just extremely difficult.

GRACE: Agree or disagree, Susan Moss?

MOSS: Agreed. Donna did not work for the government authorities. She didn`t even work for a quasi-judicial agency. She worked for a private company. The fact that she was selling drugs, she`s guilty. Only thugs sell prescription drugs.

GRACE: I want to go back to Dr. Perper. Dr. Perper, I keep thinking -- not that I think that`s exactly what happened to Haleigh. But I keep thinking about those letters. I`ve got up here on my desk.

For someone wrote that Misty Croslin took 5-year-old Haleigh to a late-night party where everybody was drunk and using drugs, that she injected OxyContin -- this was months ago -- and she died of an overdose.

When I think what the child went through physically and mentally for an overdose death, it makes me sick.

PERPER: Well, it`s certainly very sad. And when you have people who are on drugs they really don`t pay attention. They are negligent. And unless they give it -- the drugs on purpose which doesn`t appear to be the case, the child may take the drug and die under those circumstances.

GRACE: And bottom line, though, back to the lawyers, Peter Odom, Joe Lawless, Susan Moss.

Joe Lawless, that would still be felony murder because the felony would be felony child endangerment. And a death would occur during that endangerment, exposing children to a dope and booze party. That would still be felony murder.

LAWLESS: Absolutely. You`ve heard the expression between a rock and a hard place. She`s between a rock and a rock. One is a 25-year mandatory minimum for drugs. The other -- if that turns out to have been the facts is a felony murder charge that could carry a mandatory minimum life imprisonment.

GRACE: Everybody, I`m still getting news in my ear as we`re broadcasting live right now. I`m understanding that Misty Croslin is clamming up. Her lawyers are telling her not to talk, not to talk about the drug offenses, and not to talk about Haleigh. Missing Haleigh Cummings and the night she went missing.

Out to Polly in California. Hi, Polly.

POLLY, CALLER FROM CALIFORNIA: Good evening, Nancy.

GRACE: Hi, dear.

POLLY: I love you, your show and your kids. I still wish you were a prosecuting attorney because I think you just (INAUDIBLE) the bomb.

GRACE: Thank you. What`s your question, love?

POLLY: Here`s my question. Now, assuming that there`s charges or they are sentenced on the drug charges to the mandatory 180 years, how is dangling a lighter sentence in front of them, if they give them information about poor little Haleigh, going to get them to talk when she`s facing a death sentence or possibility of life in prison if she`s found guilty of murder? How is.

GRACE: What you can do is if they got the minimum, which is 25 on each count, which would be 150 years behind bars, after the sentencing, if she cooperated and solved the Haleigh Cummings case, the prosecutor could ask for an order modification in sentencing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TINLIN: What do you do for a living, ma`am?

CROSLIN: Nothing.

TINLIN: I`m sorry?

CROSLIN: Nothing.

TINLIN: How do you support yourself?

CROSLIN: My mom and my dad.

TINLIN: How old are you?

CROSLIN: Just turned 18.

TINLIN: Do you have the money at this time to hire a lawyer?

CROSLIN: I have a lawyer.

TINLIN: Who`s your lawyer, please?

CROSLIN: Robert Fields.

TINLIN: Have you had a chance to contact Mr. Fields?

CROSLIN: I talked to him yesterday, yes.

TINLIN: All right, I`ll give you another chance to speak to him. I`ll show at this point you`re retaining Mr. Fields. If you`re unable to hire a lawyer on these charges and you need the assistance from the public defender, you can tell Judge Berger that when you`re brought before her or the circuit court in St. Mary, Putnam County and a public defender will be appointed.

Do you have any questions about that?

CROSLIN: No, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. You have a seat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Out to the lines, Vickie in Iowa.

VICKIE, CALLER FROM IOWA: Hello? Hello, Nancy.

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

VICKIE: Yes, my question is, I believe that Ron Cummings had custody of a son and I was wondering while they were incarcerated who`s got the son? And if there was suspected drug use, why weren`t -- why didn`t the state order her stats or check up on him when they were going through this ordeal?

GRACE: Excellent question. What about it, Art Harris. Where is Junior Cummings?

HARRIS: Nancy, Junior has been staying at Ronald`s grandmother`s house but I can tell you that Crystal, with her new lawyer, went back to court today in an emergency hearing in Putnam County, asked for custody back and one source tells me she got it.

GRACE: Whoa, that is a huge, huge sea change.

Back to Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst and author of "Dealbreakers." What`s your final thought, Bethany?

MARSHALL: I think putting the squeeze on Misty and Ronald, by giving them 180 years, is not necessarily going to make them tell the truth. Long-term opiate abuse increases habitual lying, self-destructive behavior and sometimes when you use tough love with the addict, they become even more self-destructive and they dig themselves in.

What they need is sobriety, sitting in jail for years, as you suggested, cooling their heels, and then maybe they`ll have insight and tell the truth.

GRACE: Well, Bethany, maybe a year, 18 months, two years behind bars will dry them all out and help them remember.

Let`s stop and remember, ourselves, Army Sergeant Jason Walter Vaughn, 29, Luka, Mississippi, killed Iraq. On a second tour, awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, many other medals.

Loved his blue `78 Chevelle. Loyal to friends. Never met a stranger. Would give somebody his last dollar if he thought they needed it. Leaves blind parents Walter and Reina, sister, Karisha, brother, Logan, wife, Contessa, stepdaughter, Ashley.

Jason Walter Vaughn, American hero.

Thank you to our guests but our biggest thank you is to you. A special thank you to Florida friend of the show, Valerie, for this beautiful, beautiful gift that she made for the twins.

I got it after Christmas but we will be using it next year. Valerie and her son also share the twins` birthday, November 4.

Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END