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Nancy Grace
More Misty Croslin Jailhouse Tape Released
Aired February 10, 2010 - 20:00 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. Last person to see her alive, new stepmother, 18-year-old Misty Croslin, who takes to the airwaves claiming she`s innocent. But even in one brief interview, she can`t keep her story straight, including a 180 on a lie detector she flunked.
Bombshell tonight. After Haleigh`s own father, Ronald Cummings, and baby-sitter-turned-stepmother Misty Croslin both handcuffed, arrested, booked, Cummings talks first. Stepmother Misty Croslin follows suit. As we go to air, we obtain even more jailhouse tapes, hours of Croslin with Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, brother, Croslin vowing not to talk about the night Haleigh vanishes while sleeping just feet away.
But now we see Croslin angry, cursing, swearing, even blaming it all on the 5-year-old little girl. Claims now surface from behind bars her drug deals are to blame for Haleigh`s disappearance.
And tonight, we discover more of the Ronald Cummings jailhouse tapes, whose only focus is finding Haleigh. This as Croslin`s brother says he`ll lie to get out of jail.
And tonight, at the one-year mark of Haleigh`s disappearance, what does Croslin do? Of course! She gets her hair done behind bars! Investigators combing the tapes for evidence that may help find Haleigh. Tonight, pressure mounting. Where is 5-year-old Haleigh?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MISTY CROSLIN, HALEIGH`S BABY-SITTER: You know, we didn`t deserve this!
HANK CROSLIN, MISTY`S FATHER: Well, I know it. We just need to find Haleigh.
MISTY CROSLIN: I know.
HANK CROSLIN: That`s what we need to do.
MISTY CROSLIN: I know.
HANK CROSLIN: If we could find Haleigh, we`d all -- it`d be better for everybody.
MISTY CROSLIN: I know. I`ve been -- I`ve been -- I sit and wonder every day, thinking, just trying to go back and just think if I missed anything. I do, every day! And it`s just -- it`s not, Dad. There`s nothing! I`m telling you, It`s hard.
It`s OK, though, because I will prove to the world that I didn`t have nothing to do with it.
LISA CROSLIN, MISTY`S MOTHER: Exactly.
MISTY CROSLIN: And when I get out of jail, everybody can kiss (EXPLETIVE DELETED). And I`m going to get on TV and I`m going to tell them all to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) off!
LISA CROSLIN: That`s right. I don`t blame you at all. I mean, they need to give you a nationwide apology.
MISTY CROSLIN: They`re not going to put me down no more. I`m tired of it.
LISA CROSLIN: Yes.
MISTY CROSLIN: I`m going to start standing up for myself.
LISA CROSLIN: That`s what you need to do, right there. Let them know that.
MISTY CROSLIN: I am. Because I don`t care what people think about me. People can think what they want to think.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALD CUMMINGS, HALEIGH`S FATHER: They pick Misty up every day with a pack of cigarettes. I said, man, what the hell do you need to bring her cigarettes? He said, Whatever will make her talk, man. Whatever will make her talk.
TERESA NEVES, RONALD`S MOTHER: Is she in isolation?
RONALD CUMMINGS: So is Tommy. I don`t know about Donna or Hope.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOMMY CROSLIN, MISTY`S BROTHER: I know in the paper, it says I`m facing 15 years in prison, but that`s a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) lie. The damn police said, You`re facing three years in prison unless you help us find Haleigh. I said, I can`t help you find nobody. I don`t know where she is. What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED)? I`m sick of them, man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. As we go to air we obtain even more of those jailhouse tapes secretly recorded, hours of Croslin with Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, brother, Croslin now vowing not to talk about the night Haleigh vanishes while sleeping just feet away. But now we see a different Croslin -- angry, cursing, swearing, even blaming it all on the 5-year-old little girl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MISTY CROSLIN: How come Timmy and Chelsea ain`t got no minutes yet?
LISA CROSLIN: They`re waiting on the money to get on their account. As soon as they do, they`ll put the time on the phone, and Mom and Dad`ll get a phone, too.
MISTY CROSLIN: All right. Well, I hope somebody can put some money in my account before Monday.
LISA CROSLIN: Well, we can`t do it. Dad don`t get his check until Friday.
MISTY CROSLIN: I know.
LISA CROSLIN: So I know Friday -- Friday we will do it.
MISTY CROSLIN: I mean, yes, that`s fine because I have to have -- order by Monday for all the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) we have to order by Monday.
LISA CROSLIN: OK, I can...
MISTY CROSLIN: I can`t (INAUDIBLE) or nothing until I get money in there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEVES: Think she`s going to talk?
RONALD CUMMINGS: Huh?
NEVES: Do you think she`s going to talk?
RONALD CUMMINGS: Well, this is between me and you, and whoever is listening to our recording, but they shouldn`t -- the cops are not just going to run out and tell nobody. If they do, then they`re going to have the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) FDLE to deal with anyway, so -- after maybe they`ll do the recording and the reason why they done it is they went to the jail and was talking to her, and Jason said, Man, I`ve never seen her cry real tears. You know, she always, has to jerk a tear out. And Jason said, No, man, this (EXPLETIVE DELETED) was, like, pouring. And you know when it started? And I said, When? He said, When we started talking about you being locked up and losing Junior.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You weren`t really working for law enforcement and that they were getting ready to pinch these people to try to find out what`s happened to this girl.
DONNA BROCK: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they asked you and specifically told you to get out of the way. So you`re going to hang out and give her pills?
BROCK: I know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you knew -- you know they were under surveillance. The detective told you they were coming to get them and to get out of there.
BROCK: OK, you know what? I made some bad choices. I was very stupid. I did. I didn`t think it was no big deal. I didn`t want them. You know what I`m saying? I didn`t need them. I didn`t want them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But Misty -- when that girl could have possibly died from some of that (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Donna...
BROCK: But Ben, I knew she was selling them. I knew what she was doing with them. I didn`t want nothing. I just gave them. I just -- I didn`t care, you know what I`m saying? I didn`t care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA CROSLIN: I know you had nothing to do with Haleigh. You loved her, just like you did Junior. And I`m sending you a picture of Junior.
MISTY CROSLIN: OK.
LISA CROSLIN: OK? Don`t cry, Sis.
MISTY CROSLIN: You got one of Haleigh, too?
LISA CROSLIN: I don`t know, but I can find one, OK? And I`ll send them to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live, and tonight we see a whole new Misty Croslin, the baby-sitter-turned-stepmother, the last person to be there with Haleigh that we know of. Her story is that she goes to sleep that night, and sometime in the middle of the night, someone comes into the room with Misty Croslin, kidnaps the girl, walks the length of the home, out the back door, props it open with a cinderblock and leaves. And she knows nothing of what happened?
Again, we`re taking your calls live. Out to Art Harris, investigative journalist at Artharris.com. Art, these tapes are very, very revealing, a whole new side of Misty Croslin.
ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: She is a tough cookie, Nancy. And at the end, she says, There is nothing they can do to break me. She doesn`t know what happened to Haleigh, but she is tough, 20 years in jail, doesn`t matter. She doesn`t know anything. And one day, the world will know she`s innocent.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Jan in Tennessee. Hi, Jan.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.
GRACE: Hi, Jan. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was wondering, do you think that maybe Haleigh`s dad and Donna Brock are working with the police on this drug bust just to set Misty up?
GRACE: That is a theory Art Harris has had for some time. What do you know, Art Harris?
HARRIS: I don`t think they were in cahoots. I know that later, recently, investigators have visited Ronald in jail, and in his conversations with his mother, he says that they are trying to turn him into their secret weapon to use against Misty to get her to talk. That`s now. By being very lovey-dovey, by pulling her heartstrings, saying that he misses Junior and Haleigh so badly -- that was the only time law enforcement tells him they saw her cry real tears, Nancy. So they think he knows how to push her button.
GRACE: What more can you tell you, Jean Casarez? Jean joining us from In Session as legal correspondent.
JEAN CASAREZ, IN SESSION: Well, when we look at Ron Cummings and the tape that came out, what we just heard was exactly right. He also goes on to say that it appears as though law enforcement is courting Misty, that every day, they take her out with a pack of cigarettes, and he wants to know why he can`t have some cigarettes. And so he acts as though that they`re courting her with those cigarettes to try to get her to talk, that they definitely feel that he, though, could be the secret weapon to get Misty to reveal more than what she`s said.
GRACE: Let`s take a listen to what baby-sitter-turned-stepmother Misty Croslin has to say, along with Ronald Cummings and the brother behind bars.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA CROSLIN: They`re recording everything y`all do.
MISTY CROSLIN: I mean, how -- how -- how can we not see each other? We are not co-defendants. I don`t get that.
LISA CROSLIN: And I think Miss Nancy Grace needs to keep her mouth shut until she knows her facts.
MISTY CROSLIN: What`s she saying?
LISA CROSLIN: All kind of crazy crap.
MISTY CROSLIN: Oh.
LISA CROSLIN: All about you and Haleigh and -- it`s (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
MISTY CROSLIN: It is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA CROSLIN: As soon as they find out what happened to Haleigh, everything`ll be different.
MISTY CROSLIN: I know.
LISA CROSLIN: I can`t believe they still believe you know. It`s crazy.
MISTY CROSLIN: It`s ridiculous because they got my bond set so high just because of that. And that`s not fair. This has nothing to do with it.
LISA CROSLIN: I know. That`s exactly what it is.
MISTY CROSLIN: That`s what they think. I`m going to break? There`s nothing to break me on, so they need to leave me alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALD CUMMINGS: She just said she`s going to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.
NEVES: Yes, but you`re helping them.
RONALD CUMMINGS: I`m not helping them do anything but look for Haleigh because I can`t work for them just because I`m on the news like that, man. I can`t go anywhere in the nation without someone knowing me, you know? Every time someone walks in, they go, Is that the guy from the news?
I got one buddy in here. Actually, two -- three. Two of them are cops and one of them is an inmate.
NEVES: That`s good. I`m glad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TIMMY CROSLIN, MISTY`S AND TOMMY`S BROTHER: What was you guys supposed to be doing, selling pills to an undercover?
TOMMY CROSLIN, MISTY`S BROTHER: No, I was (EXPLETIVE DELETED) this is what happened. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Misty brought this dude over to the house, all right, and wanted me to go get us some Roxys. So I (EXPLETIVE DELETED) went and got him some Roxys. I called someone I knew and got him some pills. Then a month later, the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) I was at Spinners, the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) jump my (EXPLETIVE DELETED), (EXPLETIVE DELETED) guns drawn, throw me up on the ground. And (EXPLETIVE DELETED), I didn`t know what the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) was going on.
TIMMY CROSLIN: Sucks, man.
TOMMY CROSLIN: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: So Art Harris, they`re talking about how they get recognized everywhere they go. Didn`t that hit them when they were doing undercover dope deals? It`s all on video on one of those pinhole videocameras inside the cops` car. Hey, I`ve been working with the cops, trying to find Haleigh. I wonder if they notice I`m selling dope. They`re so worried about being recognized when they go to the 7-Eleven, how about when they`re doing dope deals?
HARRIS: Nancy, I guess they weren`t thinking then, but they sure are interested in their own celebrity and they are reveling in it. And now, police hope to use that against them. They certainly don`t understand, don`t appreciate that they are stars of a reality TV show that is happening in real time about a missing little girl.
GRACE: And the only one of the whole bunch that talks about finding Haleigh is Ronald Cummings, the father.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MISTY CROSLIN: I can`t see Tommy because we`re co-defendants.
LISA CROSLIN: Because you`re co-defendants?
MISTY CROSLIN: Yes.
LISA CROSLIN: That`s what they told you?
MISTY CROSLIN: Yes.
LISA CROSLIN: Well, he`s -- what he wanted to tell you is don`t go out in population.
MISTY CROSLIN: Oh, I`m not going to
LISA CROSLIN: You won`t last.
MISTY CROSLIN: I`ve got to stay right here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA CROSLIN: As soon as they find out what happened to Haleigh, everything`ll be different.
MISTY CROSLIN: I know.
LISA CROSLIN: I can`t believe they still believe you know. It`s crazy.
MISTY CROSLIN: It`s ridiculous because they got my bond set so high just because of that. And that`s not fair. This has nothing to do with it.
LISA CROSLIN: I know. That`s exactly what it is.
MISTY CROSLIN: That`s what they think. I`m going to break? There`s nothing to break me on, so they need to leave me alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIMMY CROSLIN: I know that`s what Misty said last night. She started crying. She was, like, I`m so (EXPLETIVE DELETED) hungry, man. I guess they`re being mean to Misty over there, not even -- they`re supposed to let you guys out, like, an hour a day?
TOMMY CROSLIN: I was out for, like, three hours at a time.
TIMMY CROSLIN: Well, they`re not even letting Misty out an hour. The only time she gets to get out is Bible study or if her lawyer comes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
BROCK: I told the detectives it was more my thinking is, Well, if I just give these to her, maybe she`ll trust me a little bit more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I know that that`s the way it started out, Donna. But the impression people are having out here is that it started off with Tim and those guys getting you to try to befriend this girl to somehow get her to tell you something. And then that didn`t happen, and then somehow, you started getting a little bit of addicted to this stuff that you were trying to befriend her with. And that is not a crime, it`s an addiction problem. You should be in a detox center for a couple of weeks, you know?
BROCK: Don`t say that. You know what? I never lost focus. Everybody else -- you know, I just didn`t feel like they were doing anything to -- and I was the closest one to her.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA CROSLIN: How`re you doing in there?
MISTY CROSLIN: I`m doing all right.
LISA CROSLIN: Are they treating you OK?
MISTY CROSLIN: Yes.
LISA CROSLIN: OK. Ain`t nobody messing with you?
MISTY CROSLIN: No.
LISA CROSLIN: All right. You making -- you met anybody?
MISTY CROSLIN: Yes. A girl upstairs, she`s real nice. She did my hair. Can you see it?
LISA CROSLIN: Yes, I see it. It looks good. I had mine done like that.
MISTY CROSLIN: She had to do it through the little bars, but she did it for me.
LISA CROSLIN: She done it?
MISTY CROSLIN: Yes.
LISA CROSLIN: Don`t cut it.
MISTY CROSLIN: I`m not cutting it. I ain`t trusting none of these (EXPLETIVE DELETED) up in here to cut my hair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That`s right, it`s the one-year mark of Haleigh vanishing into thin air about three feet away from Misty Croslin, who claims she knows nothing. And what does she do? Get her hair done between the bars, there behind bars.
To Gail in Florida. Hi, Gail. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, hi, Nancy. I love your show.
GRACE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is -- Misty has made no sense at all, and Ron is so cocky in his jailhouse picture, and could Haleigh have died maybe before he went to work and he could have dumped the body on the way to work? Is his alibi completely air-tight? Have they investigated that?
GRACE: To Marlaina Schiavo, our producer on the story. Marlaina, I know that he was at work the full time he said he was at work. Who picked Haleigh up from the bus stop that day?
MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: It was -- it was -- it was -- excuse me -- it was Misty who picked her up, and they came back to the house. And Ron`s story is air-tight, Nancy, because they did everything -- they investigated him thoroughly -- phone records. They combed through everything. He gave them everything -- DNA, the whole nine. He was at work. There was no body in his car.
GRACE: OK, let`s back it up. Let`s back it up. Art Harris, back -- this is what you do when you`re against a stone wall in an investigation. You go back to the beginning. Number one, what time did Haleigh get off that bus?
HARRIS: Nancy, I believe she got off about 2:30, 3:00 o`clock...
GRACE: OK. Did Misty pick her up, Misty Croslin?
HARRIS: There are two stories, Nancy. I spoke to two families who saw Misty pick her up, and then Ronald and his mother insist Ronald picked her up, rode her back to the house on his lap and played with her for a while and then went to work. Either way, he was back at the house, and she was alive before he left for work.
GRACE: Now, how do we know that? How do we know she was alive before he left for work?
HARRIS: Well, she was also later seen playing with her cousins, who were Tommy and Lindsey`s (ph) children, right outside.
GRACE: And that`s after Ronald Cummings goes to work.
HARRIS: That`s correct.
GRACE: OK. So he`s out of it, Gail in Florida. Marlaina Schiavo, earlier we saw them whining about what we have been reporting here on air, saying it`s all BS. But let`s take a look. You`re the one that went through the home. You`re the one that told me that bed was no more than four feet away from Misty Croslin. You described the whole home. Do you still stand by what you reported?
SCHIAVO: Absolutely. And they`re going on about, you know, that -- you know, that we don`t have our story straight. Of course we have our story straight. It`s Misty who can`t keep her story straight, Nancy. We learned that in the beginning and we`re learning it more and more throughout these jailhouse tapes. She says inconsistent things after inconsistent things.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA CROSLIN: As soon as they find out what happened to Haleigh, everything`ll be different.
MISTY CROSLIN: I know.
LISA CROSLIN: I can`t believe they still believe you know. It`s crazy.
MISTY CROSLIN: It`s ridiculous because they got my bond set so high just because of that. And that`s not fair. This has nothing to do with it.
LISA CROSLIN: I know. That`s exactly what it is.
MISTY CROSLIN: That`s what they think. I`m going to break? There`s nothing to break me on, so they need to leave me alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEVES: I love you.
RONALD CUMMINGS: I love you, too.
NEVES: You are a good son.
RONALD CUMMINGS: Don`t cry. Please.
NEVES: Sorry.
RONALD CUMMINGS: I know. I cried for the last hour because I didn`t know what I was going to say to you when I seen you.
NEVES: Why? I`m just your mom. You know I don`t judge you. You do what you have to, son.
RONALD CUMMINGS: Just because.
NEVES: Sometimes you make some tough decisions. You know, if it helps to bring Haleigh home, then it is what it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: New tapes, secretly recorded from behind bars, reveal a different side to baby-sitter-turned-stepmother Misty Croslin -- angry, cursing, swearing, even blaming her high bond not on her repeat drug sales but on this little girl, Haleigh, 5-year-old Haleigh, who went missing just a few feet away from Misty Croslin in the middle of the night as they allegedly slept.
We are taking your calls live. Out to Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation. Marc, what do you make of it?
MARC KLAAS, KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, Nancy, I think that you had it right when you said we need to go back to the beginning on this. And I think that what we have to understand is that Ron -- I don`t believe for a minute that Ron is directly responsible for the loss of his daughter. He is the only one who still brings it back to trying to find her. But you have to understand and we all have to understand that this was a living situation where a grown man was living with three children, two of whom were his own, and the third one was a drug-addled young girl who was having sex with him and was ill equipped to take care of the other two children. Yet he allowed it to happen.
And remember, he gravitates towards these very young girls. He makes incredibly bad decisions in his life. They`re all involved in drugs. And I think the police are absolutely correct when they say that whoever committed this crime is somebody who is close to these people, somebody who is known to their circle of friends and acquaintances.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOMMY CROSLIN: This (EXPLETIVE DELETED) sucks, dude. (LAUGHS) I want out of here so bad. I`d do anything to get out of here.
TIMMY CROSLIN: Yes.
TOMMY CROSLIN: I wouldn`t sell my soul, but I`d do anything else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MISTY CROSLIN: They can all put this on TV and kiss my (EXPLETIVE DELETED)!
LISA CROSLIN: That`s right. That`s the way I feel, too. Your dad feels so bad. He thinks it`s his fault that you got two more charges.
MISTY CROSLIN: Why?
LISA CROSLIN: Because y`all were talking about the drugs or whatever, and then...
MISTY CROSLIN: No, I was already getting them! It doesn`t matter. I`m pretty sure I`m not going to have all of them, they`re going to drop some of them because I did not give the guy -- I didn`t sell the whole time, OK?
LISA CROSLIN: I know.
MISTY CROSLIN: I`m being charged with everybody.
LISA CROSLIN: I know. That`s what I don`t understand. I mean, you told the truth. Why do they keep putting charges on you?
MISTY CROSLIN: Exactly.
LISA CROSLIN: It`s not right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MISTY CROSLIN: If they give me 20 years in prison, it`ll be OK because you guys can some see me. I`ll get out, and everything`ll be fine. I`m not scared. I`m not scared one bit. I`m not.
LISA CROSLIN: You`ll be old and gray like me!
MISTY CROSLIN: I don`t care. They`re not going to put me away for something I didn`t do, and I didn`t have anything to do with Haleigh. And if I knew who did, I would tell them. I`ve told them everything that I can tell them, so they need to leave me alone about that. This -- why I`m in this jail is not -- has nothing to do with Haleigh.
LISA CROSLIN: That`s right.
MISTY CROSLIN: They need to kiss my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) and leave me alone!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIMMY CROSLIN: Hey, what`s up, man? (EXPLETIVE DELETED) need to watch what we say on these phones because Nancy Grace is going to be playing all of our -- all of our phone calls.
TOMMY CROSLIN: I know.
TIMMY CROSLIN: I know. I`m just saying, you know, we need to watch what we say on here so they don`t try to put (EXPLETIVE DELETED), you know, words in our mouths.
TOMMY CROSLIN: You ain`t hear nothing from Lindsey (ph)?
TIMMY CROSLIN: Yes. I just got off the phone with them. I guess that Mom, Dad supposed to move into their house Saturday. They renewed (ph) it today, and Lindsey`s supposed to move into the Palm Coast on Saturday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA CROSLIN: They`re recording everything y`all do.
MISTY CROSLIN: I mean, how -- how -- how can we not see each other? We are not co-defendants. I don`t...
LISA CROSLIN: And I think Miss Nancy Grace needs to keep her mouth shut until she knows the facts.
MISTY CROSLIN: What`s she saying?
LISA CROSLIN: All kind of crazy crap.
MISTY CROSLIN: Oh.
LISA CROSLIN: All about you and Haleigh and -- it`s (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
MISTY CROSLIN: It is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Actually, we`re just playing your own words. And speaking of putting words in your mouth, you`re doing that well enough all on your own!
We are taking your calls live, but first, let`s unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, veteran defense attorney out of the Atlanta jurisdiction Renee Rockwell, out of Boston, Peter Elikann, well-known attorney and author of "Super Predators: The Demonization of Our Children by the Law."
To both of you, welcome. Renee Rockwell, can they dig their grave any deeper?
RENEE ROCKWELL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, these are all admissions, anything they say, and that will come into court. They shouldn`t be worried about Nancy Grace putting this on television. They need to be worried about this being plugged in and played in front of a jury, if it ever gets that far.
GRACE: You know, Peter Elikann, they`re digging their grave with their teeth by yakking and yakking. They might as well be just digging up the dirt as they talked. And the other thing -- how do you like it, Peter Elikann, when your client -- say you`re the defense attorney here -- on the one-year mark of this little girl`s disappearance, goes and has her hair done, elaborate French braids? How long did that take her to sit there and get that done? Her hair was down to here. Instead of working with cops to find Haleigh.
PETER ELIKANN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hey, Nancy, who do you think we`re dealing with, a bunch of Ph.D.`s from the Sorbonne? I mean, I`ve often heard the phrase "criminal mastermind." I`ve never met one in my career.
GRACE: Put him back up!
ELIKANN: This is bad move after bad move...
GRACE: Put him up! Put him up! Elikann...
ELIKANN: And they -- and they are told...
GRACE: Elikann...
ELIKANN: ... again and again that they are -- they`re being recorded, that it can be -- and a tape is playing saying, You`re being recorded, you`re being monitored. There are signs on the wall.
GRACE: Second verse...
ELIKANN: The lawyers are warning them not to talk. And yet they continue...
GRACE: ... same as the first.
ELIKANN: ... to talk and talk and talk!
GRACE: Peter, not what I asked you, number one. And number two, don`t start with me about, They`re stupid. They`re not stupid, all right? They`ve taken cops on a wild goose chase now for one year. And also, what criminal isn`t stupid? If they weren`t stupid, they wouldn`t be committing crimes and getting caught, all right? So no -- I don`t care if they do have a Ph.D. or if they have a high school degree! Haleigh is missing! It doesn`t matter what you may think of their intellect! Look, everybody didn`t have the chance to go to law school, Peter, but Lady Justice is blind! That has nothing to do with this!
Out to the lines. Jean in New York. Hi, dear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I just want to tell you that your babies are absolutely precious! I think Lucy looks like you and John David looks like your husband. They`re adorable!
GRACE: That is a huge compliment to myself and my husband, and I will relay it because I`ve never seen anything more beautiful than those two. And when I think about this case -- Lucy and John David just turned 2 a couple months ago.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Precious they are!
GRACE: This little girl was 5. And she had Turner`s syndrome. Here I am talking about her in the past tense because I can`t think of anything but the worst in this case. And I`ve got this bunch of dope dealers...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know.
GRACE: ... that`s what they are -- behind bars. The only one that continues to talk about finding Haleigh is Ronald Cummings. The others? They actually blame the little girl for their high bond! I guess they forgot they were caught on video selling dope!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. Right. Well, my question is, quickly, do you think it`s possible that Misty is afraid to say what she knows? Because from the very beginning, Ron was going on national television saying that he was going to kill the person after he found out who -- who took Haleigh. Do you think that she`s really afraid that Ronald, if he gets out, will go after her and kill her?
GRACE: Art Harris, I think that is a legitimate concern.
HARRIS: Great question. And I can tell you that the other two women before Misty were terribly frightened of Ronald and described to me episodes where he`s at home and he puts a revolver in his mouth and plays Russian roulette. And this is someone...
GRACE: Well, wait a minute. Art, that`s inconsistent. Why would they be afraid if he`s threatening to commit suicide?
HARRIS: Well, he`s ranting and raving, and he`s verbally abusing them, Nancy. And this is what they reported. And so it`s very consistent to the story that Misty has been telling her friends, especially that night, when she was picked up by one and Ronald had kicked her out. This is someone who has every reason to be afraid.
GRACE: Well, you know what? I would be afraid, too, if I were left responsible for a 5-year-old girl and she vanished into thin air and I don`t know anything, I fail a polygraph, my stories are inconsistent, I can`t keep a story straight. You know, she`s not worried. She married him!
HARRIS: She`s sticking to her story.
GRACE: She`s not worried.
HARRIS: Well, that`s right, but you know, she knows that he has threatened to blow away anybody who had anything to do with it, whether that`s bravado or true.
GRACE: I want to go out to Leonard Padilla, bounty hunter, who has offered to bail Misty Croslin out of jail. What`s the latest on that, Leonard Padilla? And have you spoken or do you plan to speak to Croslin`s attorney?
LEONARD PADILLA, BOUNTY HUNTER: He hasn`t returned a call here in the last few days. He, I believe...
GRACE: Who is it?
PADILLA: ... doesn`t want to talk to us at all.
GRACE: Who is he? What`s his name?
PADILLA: Fields, Robert Fields.
GRACE: Well, you know what?
PADILLA: And I don`t think he -- I don`t think...
GRACE: He doesn`t want...
PADILLA: ... wants to talk to us.
GRACE: ... to get his client bonded out?
PADILLA: I -- I get the impression that he`s concerned about the situation and the fact that we won`t post the bond until she...
GRACE: She talks.
PADILLA: ... tell us enough information...
GRACE: OK.
PADILLA: ... or gives us the information to find Haleigh.
GRACE: Do you think, as you look at the facts, that she knows the answer to where Haleigh is?
PADILLA: She might not know the answer where Haleigh is, but she knows enough to lead people to where Haleigh would be. She knows who took Haleigh, and she`s concerned about relaying certain information. That I`m convinced of. I was convinced of it a year ago when we were back there, and I`m even more convinced of it now.
GRACE: To Sergeant Scott Haines, sheriff`s officer, Santa Rosa County, Florida. Sergeant, thank you for being with us. Sergeant, just before Haleigh goes missing, there were three full days where Misty Croslin was AWOL. Nobody could find her. She was on a drug and drunk spree -- three straight days. I feel very strongly that this child did not disappear at the hands of Misty Croslin herself. There was someone that she dragged back to the home, that knew where she was, that knew about the child, someone in their inner circle that took Misty -- that took -- excuse me -- that took Haleigh.
SGT. SCOTT HAINES, SHERIFF`S OFFICER, SANTA ROSA CTY.: And that`s true. For those three days, I`m sure they`ve already tried to speak to her concerning who she was with during this drug binge that you stated. And that`s something that they need to find out, whether it`s talking through other people. That is something that she can come off of to try to help herself out in this situation. And obviously, if she`s close enough to be with people on a three-day drug binge, obviously, that could be somebody that was close enough to assist her in something like this.
GRACE: Peter Elikann, weigh in. I think I`ve got Peter with me. Weigh in, Peter Elikann. OK, he can`t hear me. I`m going to go to you, Renee. What about that theory?
ROCKWELL: Nancy, what theory are we talking about now?
GRACE: About the three-day drug binge she was on just before the child goes missing!
ROCKWELL: OK. And Nancy, if that is the case, there`s a very good chance that she was absolutely unconscious and somebody took the baby out. It`s not going to free her from any kind of criminal liability, but it will be enough to get her out of a homicide charge, if the child is dead.
GRACE: Everyone, quick break. We are taking your calls.
Happy birthday to California friend Betty Jean Hodges, a nurse, a mother of eight, including one of our HLN stars, Medea (ph). Happy birthday, beautiful Betty.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEVES: You got Misty in that cell over there, which nobody else would do, so...
RONALD CUMMINGS: Nobody else could do.
NEVES: Yes. So you know, you`re just -- I`m very proud of you. Don`t you let anybody (INAUDIBLE) that I`m not.
RONALD CUMMINGS: Well, the way I see it is, I already told you...
NEVES: Yes, I know.
RONALD CUMMINGS: You know? If one of the two of them -- you know, the whole time, we figured it`s got to be one of the two of them. If it`s one of the two of them, they got them pinned in a corner now because Crystal can wait six, eight months, and just here she is, pops up over here or wherever, in Texas and moves to Montana, whatever, you know, and -- or the worst, so -- but either way, we`ll know.
NEVES: Well, you just hang in there, baby. What are you crying for, sweetheart?
RONALD CUMMINGS: Because I wished I knew where my daughter was!
NEVES: I know, honey. But we`ll find her, you know? One way or the other, like you said, one of them`s going to -- one of them`s going to mess up now, so we`re going to find her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA CROSLIN: How`re you doing in there?
MISTY CROSLIN: I`m doing all right.
LISA CROSLIN: Are they treating you OK?
MISTY CROSLIN: Yes.
LISA CROSLIN: OK. Ain`t nobody messing with you?
MISTY CROSLIN: No.
LISA CROSLIN: All right. You making -- you met anybody?
MISTY CROSLIN: Yes. A girl upstairs, she`s real nice. She did my hair. Can you see it?
LISA CROSLIN: Yes, I see it. It looks good. I had mine done like that.
MISTY CROSLIN: She had to do it through the little bars, but she did it for me.
LISA CROSLIN: She done it?
MISTY CROSLIN: Yes.
LISA CROSLIN: Don`t cut it.
MISTY CROSLIN: I`m not cutting it. I ain`t trusting none of these (EXPLETIVE DELETED) up in here to cut my hair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA CROSLIN: Try and be strong and not cry. It`s hard.
MISTY CROSLIN: It is. It is, but why cry, you know?
LISA CROSLIN: Yes, I know.
MISTY CROSLIN: Really, because it`s just going to make us hurt more.
LISA CROSLIN: I know. I miss you, though.
MISTY CROSLIN: I know. But at least you get to see me.
LISA CROSLIN: Yes, I can see you, but I can`t hug and touch you!
MISTY CROSLIN: Well, you will because I`m not going to be in this jail forever, Ma.
LISA CROSLIN: I know, baby.
MISTY CROSLIN: They`re not going to keep me locked me forever. I`m telling you, they`re not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MISTY CROSLIN: It`s OK, though, because I will prove to the world that I didn`t have nothing to do with it.
LISA CROSLIN: Exactly.
MISTY CROSLIN: And when I get out of jail, everybody can kiss my (EXPLETIVE DELETED). And I`m going to get on TV and I`m going to tell them all to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) off!
LISA CROSLIN: That`s right. I don`t blame you at all. I mean, they need to give you a nationwide apology.
MISTY CROSLIN: They`re not going to put me down no more. I`m tired of it.
LISA CROSLIN: Yes.
MISTY CROSLIN: I`m going to start standing up for myself.
LISA CROSLIN: That`s what you need to do, right there. Let them know that.
MISTY CROSLIN: I am. Because I don`t care what people think about me. People can think what they want to think.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MISTY CROSLIN: They can all put this on TV and kiss my (EXPLETIVE DELETED)!
LISA CROSLIN: That`s right. That`s the way I feel, too. Your dad feels so bad. He thinks it`s his fault that you got two more charges.
MISTY CROSLIN: Why?
LISA CROSLIN: Because y`all were talking about the drugs or whatever, and then...
MISTY CROSLIN: No, I was already getting them! It doesn`t matter. I`m pretty sure I`m not going to have all of them, they`re going to drop some of them because I did not give the guy -- I didn`t sell the whole time, OK?
LISA CROSLIN: I know.
MISTY CROSLIN: I`m being charged with everybody.
LISA CROSLIN: I know. That`s what I don`t understand. I mean, you told the truth. Why do they keep putting charges on you?
MISTY CROSLIN: Exactly.
LISA CROSLIN: It`s not right.
(END VIDEO CLIP
GRACE: To Dr. Leslie Austin, psychotherapist joining us out of New York. It`s like they`re in a parallel universe, an alternative universe, where...
LESLIE AUSTIN, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: I`ll say!
GRACE: ... they -- they`re completely -- Misty Croslin`s completely ignoring the fact that she was selling drugs.
AUSTIN: Yes.
GRACE: That`s why she`s behind bars. It`s like everyone, she believes, is attacking her, bad-mouthing her. We`re all the reason she`s behind bars. She even blames little Haleigh for her high bond. How can they forget that they`re caught on video selling dope? And what the cops want...
AUSTIN: Right.
GRACE: ... are answers about Haleigh.
AUSTIN: Nancy, you know I`m usually pretty even-tempered, but I just find all of this so outrageous. Not one of these people is taking any responsibility for the fact that they committed criminal acts. And I`m sure Misty knows something more than she`s saying. I don`t know what. And I`m also pretty sure she was probably either blacked out or on drugs and not directly participating, but I`m sure she could give some information about her activities and who was around her to help. It`s outrageous that all these people are whining and complaining about, I shouldn`t have these charges and I need to get out, and Haleigh is missing. And they`re not taking responsibility.
GRACE: And I`m going to tell the world -- tell the world what, that you sell drugs and you were so out of it the night Haleigh went missing, you can`t tell cops what happened? That`s what you`re going to tell them?
To Dr. Titus Duncan, expert out of the Atlanta Medical Center. Dr. Duncan, this is the one-year mark of when the little girl went missing.
DR. TITUS DUNCAN, GENERAL SURGERY, ATLANTA MEDICAL CENTER: Right. Right.
GRACE: If she were killed at that time, would her body even be recognizable now if it were out in the elements?
DUNCAN: No. She would only have skeletal remains at this particular point in time. And all they need to do to recognize her is to have some sort of DNA evidence. You can still get DNA from a skeletal body. You can get it from the teeth or from the bone itself. But that is the only thing that there would be left.
GRACE: Where in the bone? Where do you get DNA from the bone when the body is completely skeletonized?
DUNCAN: They process the bone. They can actually process the bone...
GRACE: What does that mean, they process the bone? What, bone marrow from inside the bone?
DUNCAN: You can actually get bone marrow and you can actually get tissue out of the bone itself. You can get scrapings off the bone, and you can process that bone and actually get some of the DNA architecture out of the bone.
GRACE: So a bone is actually tissue, hardened tissues?
DUNCAN: Right, it`s tissue, just like your teeth are and just like every other (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: So within a bone?
DUNCAN: Right.
GRACE: You don`t have to have soft tissue, you can get DNA from the bone itself.
DUNCAN: Absolutely. You sure can.
GRACE: Everyone, we`re taking your calls. Quick break. But tonight, congratulations to one of our regular experts, Sergeant Scott Haines, and his wife, beautiful Becky (ph). After 15 years of marriage, they welcomed their first child. It`s a baby girl, Lily Grace, born Feb. 2, Pensacola, Florida, 8 pounds, 8 ounces. And she is a beauty! Congratulations, Scott and Becky. And welcome home, beautiful baby Lily Grace.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA CROSLIN: I heard that Ronald got two more charges, too.
MISTY CROSLIN: Yes, he did. We`re in the paper.
LISA CROSLIN: Oh, in today`s paper?
MISTY CROSLIN: Yes.
LISA CROSLIN: All right. I`ll get it when I leave. Over there where me and Dad is at, they give us a newspaper every day, but it`s Putnam County, not St. Augustine.
MISTY CROSLIN: That doesn`t matter. It`s in Putnam County, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Well, they`re certainly interested in themselves being in the paper. But this is what cops said in a recent press release. "It is very unlikely Haleigh`s disappearance is the work of a stranger. Evidence and information indicate a strong likelihood her disappearance is a result of foul play by someone known to Misty Croslin and/or Ronald Cummings. Furthermore, physical evidence at the scene contradicts Misty Croslin`s sketchy account of her evening activities." In other words, she lied to police.
Art Harris, what about it?
HARRIS: That`s right, Nancy. The police have not wavered from this theory that it`s the small circle. There is no -- there is no killer running loose in Satsuma, Florida. It is this small group. And they are going to keep the heat on, like they have this far.
GRACE: To the lines. Joy, South Carolina. Hi, Joy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy
GRACE: What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love you. We love your babies. And I`m a twin!
GRACE: God bless you. And I hope that Lucy and John David are each other`s best friends for the rest of their life -- after Mommy, of course.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my sister, Joyce (ph), and I are. We -- she lives in Arizona, but we talk often. We talk about you and your wonderful babies.
GRACE: Thank you. What is your question, love?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, my question was when you had Ronald on your show, he had made a statement that you have to keep your friends close but your enemies closer.
GRACE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe that that is why he married her. How much closer can you get than to keep your enemy than to marry them?
GRACE: To you, Peter Elikann. Do you think that`s possible, that he kept her that close in his inner circle to get evidence?
ELIKANN: I don`t know. If he was really that zealous, and it seems like he is zealous about finding -- I truly believe he`s sincere and genuine, that he really wants to find out what happened to his daughter. And I guess he`d be willing to do anything. I mean, that sounds a little bit pushing the edge of the envelope, but it seems like, if he was willing -- truly willing to do anything to find out his daughter, he`d probably try to get as close as he could to anybody he suspected, try to get on their good side. It`s a theory that -- definite possibility.
GRACE: Everyone, tip line, 888-277-TIPS. There`s a $30,000 reward.
Let`s stop and remember Army corporal Eric Palmer, 21, Mayes (ph), Kansas, killed Iraq, awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Army Commendation, National Defense Service Medal, loved sky-diving, forts, drawing, helping others, dedicated, never met a stranger, leaves behind parents John (ph) and Dina (ph), brother Travis (ph). Eric Palmer, American hero.
Thanks to our guests, but a special thank you to you. And thank you to Arizona friends Linda (ph) and Bud (ph) for the giant Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy. It`s for the twins. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 o`clock sharp Eastern. (INAUDIBLE) good night, friend.
END
