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Nancy Grace
Divers, K-9 Teams Search River, Woods on Haleigh Cummings Tip; Haleigh Suspect in Custody
Aired April 13, 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 Misty Croslin, who takes to the airwaves, claiming she`s innocent. But even in one brief interview, she can`t keep her stories straight, including a 180 on a lie detector she flunked. Little Haleigh`s own father, Ronald Cummings, and baby-sitter- turned-stepmother Misty Croslin both handcuffed, arrested, booked, charges drug trafficking.
Bombshell tonight. At this hour, reports a suspect is in custody, a suspect in Haleigh Cummings`s disappearance in custody. Something or somebody leads search teams, cadaver dogs, scuba divers, helicopters to comb the St. John`s River and a wooded area just two miles south of the home where Haleigh disappears. This is happening as we speak. It`s been going on for the last hours. The search, we are showing you an aerial view of it right now.
And in the last hours, after baby-sitter-turned-stepmother Misty Croslin insists over and over, I don`t know what happened, investigators go roust Croslin out of her private jail cell to question her yet again. And tonight, we learn Croslin flunks another -- another, this is the fourth one -- polygraph.
In the last hours, family members gathering at the Putnam County jail. Is there finally a break in the search for Haleigh Cummings? Has her body been found? Did Misty Croslin finally crack?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Putnam County sheriff`s deputies, acting on a tip, began searching this lake for clues that could lead them to Haleigh Cummings.
MISTY CROSLIN, HALEIGH`S BABY-SITTER: I woke up, and she was gone!
RONALD CUMMINGS, HALEIGH`S FATHER: I just come home from work, and my child was not there!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Less than five miles away from the house where little Haleigh disappeared...
MISTY CROSLIN: ... the back door open, and I go in the room and she`s gone!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dive teams are concentrating on this boat ramp.
RONALD CUMMINGS: How the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) can you let my daughter get stole (EXPLETIVE DELETED)!
MISTY CROSLIN: I didn`t do anything with that little girl! I love her like she`s my own!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fishing boats from Clay County are also being utilized in this water search.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bottom line, you don`t know where Haleigh is.
MISTY CROSLIN: Bottom line.
That`s what they think, I`m going to break? There`s nothing to break me on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As the massive search continues, Misty Croslin is being questioned by Putnam County authorities. But her current location is unknown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cadaver dogs are back there, and they are being used, as well.
MISTY CROSLIN: ... Misty holds the key.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there is evidence at this boat dock or at the river`s bottom, it is likely covered with sediment or dirt, since Haleigh disappeared more than a year ago.
MISTY CROSLIN: Me being in jail has nothing to do with Haleigh.
TOMMY CROSLIN, MISTY`S BROTHER: And I said, I can`t help you find her body. I don`t know where she is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Investigators have even drained ponds, acting on a tip that a clue might be at the bottom of that pond.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking now, CNN affiliate WFTV reporting, citing sources, a suspect is in custody in the Haleigh Cummings investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. At this hour, reports a suspect in Haleigh`s disappearance in custody. Something or somebody leads search teams, cadaver dogs, scuba divers, helicopters to comb the St. John`s River and a wooded area just two miles south of where Haleigh disappears.
We have learned in the last few moments a blue ice cooler, a large blue ice cooler, has been pulled up out of the St. John`s River. Is there a break in the search for the 5-year-old missing girl Haleigh Cummings?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Breaking news tonight in the search for 6-year- old Haleigh Cummings.
MISTY CROSLIN: I just hate this, man! They`re trying to ruin our whole lives!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... area where authorities are searching is between Satsuma and Welaka, five miles from the home where Haleigh was last seen.
HANK CROSLIN, MISTY`S FATHER: Regardless of what the outcome is, I want to know where Haleigh`s at. I want to know who did it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Putnam County sheriff says authorities are acting on a tip.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Misty Croslin`s grandmother confirms to Nancy Grace that she passed on information to detectives about the possible location of Haleigh`s body.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Divers and cadaver dogs spent all of the day searching the St. John`s River, looking for clues.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We probably saw probably anywhere, I like to say, between 12 and 15 divers.
HARRIS: If we could find Haleigh, we`d all -- it would be better for everybody.
LISA CROSLIN, MISTY`S MOTHER: (INAUDIBLE) You`ve got to stand up, though.
MISTY CROSLIN: I know. I been -- I sit and wonder every day, thinking, just trying to go back.
I seen the back door open. And I go in the room and she`s gone!
GRACE: She said at one juncture that she believes up to four people were in the home the night Haleigh went missing.
MISTY CROSLIN: ... and think if I missed anything.
GRACE: ... then chalked it up to a dream-like interlude that she had.
MISTY CROSLIN: They`re not going to keep me locked up forever.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Croslin taken away from her St. John`s County jail cell.
MISTY CROSLIN: I don`t know where she is!
They won`t even let me do anything!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A suspect is in custody in the Haleigh Cummings investigation, according to CNN affiliate WFTV`s sources.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t care who had something to do with it. Those are the people who need to be put away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ll continue this investigation until we can bring it to a logical conclusion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Sources telling us tonight that this has officially, as of today, turned into a homicide investigation. As we go to air, at this moment, we are showing you live photos and live video. The St. John`s River and a densely wooded area about two miles south of where Haleigh disappeared, her home, is now being combed not only by cadaver dogs -- there you are seeing the photo of an ice cooler, a blue ice cooler being hauled up out of the St. John`s River -- being combed by cadaver dogs, scuba divers, helicopters, search teams, all of this happening in the last couple of hours, in the last 10 to 12 hours. We find out Misty Croslin rousted out of her private jail cell and grilled again, in fact, taken back to Putnam County to be questioned and then taken back to her jail cell. Then, suddenly, everyone converges at the St. John`s River.
Straight out to Art Harris, investigative journalist. Art, what do you know?
ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Nancy, I can tell you that the break in this case, as unlikely as it sounds, came from Misty`s brother, Tommy Croslin, and that in an interview that he had with a retired FBI agent, Steve Brown (ph), supposedly an investigator for his lawyer -- Brown would not comment -- but that he told him that is where they should look and that Tommy led detectives in the last couple of days to this spot on the river with Steve Brown and said that`s where they needed to go look, that this is where her body had been dumped.
He suddenly has confirmed, it looks like, the story that Misty Croslin, his sister, has been telling others in two letters from jail, claiming cousin Joe from Tennessee came into the trailer that night, tried to steal a gun from her then boyfriend, now husband -- or now ex-husband Ronald Cummings, couldn`t find, it, got mad, took Haleigh, that Tommy left and Joe left with Haleigh. Joe has denied any involvement. He has a lawyer. He`s talked to investigators a couple of times.
But back to the river bank. It was Tommy who flunked a polygraph in the last few days, my sources tell me, a private polygraph, and he decided finally to come clean. I talked to his grandmother in Tennessee today, Nancy, and she said to me that Tommy was on the phone with her and said -- she said he said, I`m just -- I can`t keep this to myself any longer. Her name is Flora Holler. She said to me, Well, I asked him, Did Joe do it? And Tommy said yes.
GRACE: So that leads me to my next question, Art Harris. That says to me that Misty Croslin was at the home, that cousin Joe was at the home, that Tommy Croslin -- they were all there and nobody stopped the perp from taking the girl. And all this time, they`ve known. Nobody called 911. Nobody called the father, Ronald Cummings, nothing. If this scenario is true, they should all go down for homicide!
HARRIS: Nancy, the story is that they were in the home and that Misty and Tommy were both threatened by cousin Joe, threatened to kill them, their family, and that for this long, they have sat on this story. Now, whether true or not, they are now teaming up independently to confirm at least one story that police are following to its conclusion and have high hopes this could at least lead to a break in the case...
GRACE: That is BS, Art Harris! Because they could have told police the truth! They could have called 911 when they took -- if this is true. If they took that child, that defenseless 5-year-old little girl with Turner syndrome, if they let somebody take that -- take her from that house and now she is dead, probably molested, in the St. John`s River, they all need to go down on the Florida death penalty!
Out to Marlaina Schiavo, our producer on the story. What more can you tell me, Marlaina?
MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: I can tell you, Nancy, that Misty was taken from the jail. She was questioned by investigators. They have confirmed this on the record. We know the family gathered today in Putnam County and they had private conversations. But we have spoken to the family, and it was a very tearful meeting, Nancy. And also, we know that this is the very first time that police have ever sent cadaver dogs since Haleigh first went missing, on location. So they have a lot of information, a lot of significant information in this case, Nancy.
GRACE: Jean Casarez, legal correspondent, In Session. Jean Casarez, if this is true, what it means is Misty Croslin, who was baby-sitting, let somebody come in that house and stood by, probably high as a kite on dope, and take the girl, the baby girl out of the house, if this scenario is, in fact, true, Jean Casarez.
JEAN CASAREZ, IN SESSION: Yes. And let me give you a little legal terminology that you know well. It`s called accessory after the fact. I looked up the Florida law, Nancy. It is a first degree felony punishable by life in the state of Florida if you have information that you know a crime has been committed and you help that individual by not divulging it.
GRACE: To Regina in Wisconsin. Hi, Regina.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I just have a comment. I think if this family`s all involved in it, they all need to fry for it because that`s a beautiful little girl, should not have died.
GRACE: She never had a chance, Regina. And if this scenario is true -- and that`s a big if, but if this scenario is true, she has not come forward with the truth because she was part of it, part and parcel.
As we go to air tonight, we are showing you video of an ongoing search of the St. John`s River there in Florida. Scuba divers, helicopters, cadaver dogs, search teams converge on the St. John`s and a densely wooded area in the search for the body of 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are detectives walking around the neighborhood, trying to find out any more information that might be available, anything connecting any of the officers to clues about what happened to Haleigh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANK CROSLIN: As soon as they get this Haleigh case wrapped up, they`ll let us alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... received a tip yesterday...
MISTY CROSLIN: ... answer any questions I have to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... that there was possibly some physical evidence in the Haleigh Cummings investigation.
MISTY CROSLIN: I don`t know where she is.
I`m not hiding anything.
They just need to move on.
Dad, there`s nothing!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re just following up on that lead to verify it, or to, you know -- if it isn`t true or if it is...
HANK CROSLIN: Regardless what the outcome is, I want to know where Haleigh`s at.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re out there to rule it in or out.
RONALD CUMMINGS: Well, of course I want to know if she knows anything.
MISTY CROSLIN: If I had something to do with it, I knew where she was, we wouldn`t be sitting here today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw probably anywhere, I like to say, between 12 to 15 divers.
911 OPERATOR: When did you last see her?
MISTY CROSLIN: It was just -- like, you know, it was about 10:00 o`clock. We were -- she was sleeping.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was probably six or eight of them that was actually in the water right in front of the dock, just searching in front of the dock area.
911 OPERATOR: Does the door look like it was pried open?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was more divers being brought out by boat.
911 OPERATOR: Does it look like you had some sort of -- someone try to enter into your house?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Several K-9 units walking around.
HANK CROSLIN: They`re going to wrap it up in the next two weeks.
MISTY CROSLIN: I hope they do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How old are you?
MISTY CROSLIN: Just turned 18.
HANK CROSLIN: Only one that knows is the people that was there.
MISTY CROSLIN: I sit and wonder every day, thinking, just trying to go back and just think if I missed anything!
HANK CROSLIN: I want them to find Haleigh, too, and find who did this to Haleigh. I don`t care who it is.
MISTY CROSLIN: I`ve been the one, the main focus.
I`m tired of staying in this one cell, man. It`s bullcrap!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. But first to Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer. Ellie, what more can you tell us about the search that`s going down right now, as we go to air, for Haleigh`s body?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, it`s been in full swing since about 9:15 this morning, residents in the area even saying that there were investigators in the area last night poking around, going door to door, asking questions. Our affiliates are reporting that they`re seeing large lights brought in, like the kind you`d see at a ball diamond or a stadium. So it looks like they`re planning to search throughout the night for information or some kind of evidence, possibly even Haleigh`s remains.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Mary Ann in Georgia. Hi, Mary Ann.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, Nancy. I so much commend you for your work. Listen, I had a question. Remember when Junior said that he saw a dark figure and the couch jumping. Could that have been Misty`s cousin Joe raping her that night?
GRACE: Now, that is a scenario that no one has brought up. I want to go back to Art Harris, investigative journalist at Artharris.com. Art, not only did Junior, Ronald Cummings`s son, Junior, say that he saw a male dressed in dark clothes there that evening, but then Misty Croslin in some bizarre, twisted story says she, in a dream-like state, recalls I think three males, three to four males in the home that night, which means there was somebody else in the home, as far as I`m concerned. These two stories do jibe with what we are hearing.
HARRIS: That`s right, Nancy. Now, I can`t speak about that alleged sexual encounter. However, Misty has had some questionable encounters with Joe in the past, her family members tell me. I can tell you also...
GRACE: Well, that`s all coming from her. And she`s already...
HARRIS: That`s right.
GRACE: ... flunked four polygraphs, Art. I mean, what more do you need?
HARRIS: Of course. Well, the thing is, that night in this dream-like state, Nancy, she`s now accounted for at least two of the males in the home, and that would be allegedly cousin Joe and Tommy. The interesting thing is, why did they wait so long to come forward? What was Tommy hiding? What was she hiding? But now...
GRACE: Well, obviously, they`re part and parcel of it, Art, because if it were a simple matter of going, I know who did it, it`s cousin Joe, that`s who you need to be looking at, this is what happened -- if it were that simple, they would have come forward. But obviously, if the scenario is true, Art, they didn`t want to incriminate themselves.
Where does Crystal Sheffield, the bio mom, stand on all this?
HARRIS: Well, the bio mom, I`m told, came out of the department today, sheriff`s department in Putnam County, distraught, weeping, and told a friend that, quote, "Joe killed my baby." Now, whether that`s true or not, that`s what she said.
GRACE: Art, repeat. I couldn`t hear you.
HARRIS: I said that she was told by sheriff`s department investigators enough information that she came out of the meeting and called a friend to say, quote, "Joe killed my baby," from my sources.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this going from a missing persons case to a homicide investigation?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is a decision that will be made later.
MISTY CROSLIN: When Haleigh`s found, I will be let out of jail because that`s the only reason they`re keeping me in here.
If they go out and look for that person, maybe they -- they would be - - have the answer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... sheriff`s office and law enforcement boats just scouring that particular part of the river.
RONALD CUMMINGS: Somebody stole my child out of my bed!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... less than five miles away from the house where little Haleigh disappeared.
911 OPERATOR: 911. What`s your emergency?
MISTY CROSLIN: I just woke up, and our back door was wide open, and I can`t find my daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They feel good about this tip.
TOMMY CROSLIN: I said, I can`t help you find her body. I don`t know where she is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... cadaver dogs, dive teams, fishing boats...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has been brought back for an interview.
MISTY CROSLIN: They say it`s not enough, it`s not enough, they want more. There is no more! I tell them and tell them and tell them and they just don`t listen!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: As we go to air tonight, scuba divers, cadaver dogs, search teams, helicopters now converging on the St. John`s River, as you can see what is going on there in Satsuma, Florida. Also, a densely wooded area being searched right now just two miles south of where Haleigh disappeared. Cadaver dogs brought in. This has not happened since Haleigh first went missing.
And with us tonight, Tracy Sargent from Homeland Security, K-9 handler, and Cinco to explain to us what the cadaver dogs are doing. Tracy, welcome. Cinco, welcome. Please explain.
TRACY SARGENT, K-9 HANDLER: Thank you, Nancy. We`re glad to be here. What the dogs will be working on or detecting is human remains. This being a cold case, it`s going to be a difficult one for the searchers and for the dogs because the scent itself is going to be very faint. And dogs are really the best resource for that. They are best used for situations that we can`t see the remains or smell the remains ourselves. And in this case, even in water, if they`ve got a good location, the dogs still can detect that smell.
And we`re going to give you a demo of that.
Cinco, here. Cinco, hunt.
And what the dog is doing, he`s searching these different areas and he`s telling us there`s nothing here. And then he`s going to get to remains, which in this case -- he`s indicating right now, and then he`s going to -- what we do, his trained alert. In this case, it is a sit. At that point in time, we will reward the dog. And then I`m going to hand him off right quick. And what happens is that the dogs will tell us what to do -- or tell us that there`s something there. And from that situation, the investigators will follow up with additional resources. In this case, it will be divers and boats and sonar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is the one that holds the key information to finding out what happened to this beautiful little girl. I mean, who was with her, the last person with her? She was!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: We have breaking news in the search for Haleigh Cummings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do have a search going on at this time.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The neighborhood is pretty much on lockdown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now we are conducting a search of the waterway.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Dive teams, police boats working very methodically to try to, you know, discern and find what is at the bottom of the St. John`s River.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had -- we received a tip yesterday that there was possibly some physical evidence in the Haleigh Cummings investigation, and we`re just following up on that lead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They haven`t done a search this extensive since she first went missing.
MISTY CROSLIN, BABYSITTER/LAST SAW HALEIGH CUMMINGS: When I went to sleep, she was there, and then when I woke up she was gone.
MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST, FMR. DC POLICE DETECTIVE; FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: Number one, you`ve got Misty Croslin locked up in jail. Now has one of them finally cracked?
M. CROSLIN: I`m so tired of this, like I`m just so tired of being locked in one cell. I`m just so tired of it, like it drives me crazy.
CHELSEA CROSLIN, MISTY CROSLIN`S SISTER-IN-LAW: I know.
M. CROSLIN: Yes. But it`s going to hurt two people.
C. CROSLIN: (INAUDIBLE) that I should know.
M. CROSLIN: It`s going to hurt two people.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Misty was taken out of the current jail, and she is being interviewed.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you found Haleigh?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, we have not found Haleigh.
M. CROSLIN: I`m going to try to do everything to find her. You know, I`m going to answer any questions I have to because I know I didn`t do anything to that little girl. I would never hurt her. They love me. They -- I mean, they look at me like their mom.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Repeatedly referring to Haleigh as that little girl.
We are taking your calls live. You are seeing aerial photos and video of the search going on right now. They are planning to work into the evening for the body of 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings there at the St. John`s River.
Also in densely wood area two miles south of Haleigh`s home, search teams.
Somebody or something led them to launch this search. Helicopters, scuba divers, cadaver dogs, search teams, all converging on the St. John`s River.
We are taking your calls live. Out to the lawyers. Let`s unleash them. Sue Moss, family attorney, child advocate, New York. Renowned attorney Daniel Horowitz, joining us out of the San Francisco jurisdiction. And tonight out of Atlanta, defense attorney Raymond Giudice.
Weigh in, Sue Moss.
SUE MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY & CHILD ADVOCATE: Conspiracy to commit a crime will get you the same jail time. I wonder if Misty is guilty of conspiracy, kidnap conspiracy, helping Joe kidnap this little girl.
If that kidnap resulted in her murder, then she is equally responsible for the murder via the felony murder rule. They`re grilling her now, asking her questions. If they find her guilty of conspiracy, she`ll fry.
GRACE: Daniel Horowitz?
DAN HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: She`s a victim of the same family system that led to this whole debacle. She is pathetic. She did not wake up one day and say I want to see somebody kidnap, kill, and remain silent out of fear. She deserves pity, not this type of attack.
GRACE: Daniel Horowitz -- put Horowitz up. If this scenario is true, she stood by, aided and abetted someone taking an innocent 5-year-old girl out of the house in the middle of the night.
HOROWITZ: She stood by?
GRACE: She didn`t call 911. She let the people in. She let them take the little girl --
HOROWITZ: Right, Nancy, and --
GRACE: If the scenario is true.
HOROWITZ: And what was done to her to make her so fearful that she would let somebody she cared about be taken like that? She must have been abused and hurt --
GRACE: Don`t -- high as a kite?
HOROWITZ: Don`t judge her until you know.
GRACE: You don`t know anything about whether she`s been abused or molested. That is complete BS.
HOROWITZ: You can see it by the way she is.
GRACE: You can see it?
HOROWITZ: Yes. Have some compassion for her.
GRACE: She is high. She is on drugs. That`s what you see.
Ray Giudice, weigh in.
RAY GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, the issue becomes you get to the death penalty or a serious prosecution like that, the state is going to have to show sientor, meaning knowledge that she knew that the alleged third party in taking the child was going to cause harm to the child.
I think that`s where the problem`s going to be, especially --
GRACE: Ray.
GIUDICE: -- if the third party --
GRACE: Ray, please.
GIUDICE: -- turns out to be a family member who did not make an overt threat to harm the child.
GRACE: Ray. Ray.
GIUDICE: Yes, Nancy.
GRACE: Taking a 5-year-old girl out of the house in the middle of the night. Are you --
GIUDICE: That`s irresponsible.
GRACE: Well, I know for a fact that you are not crazy. Why are you even saying this?
GIUDICE: Because you know you can`t get the death penalty because you stand by and watch a third party commit homicide if you haven`t --
GRACE: No.
GIUDICE: -- conspired with them.
GRACE: No. No.
GIUDICE: I can stand by all day and watch somebody kill somebody and I don`t have a legal obligation to do anything about it. If she didn`t conspire and she didn`t assist -- Jean`s right, she`s got that charge, but not a capital case for death penalty, Nancy. You know that.
GRACE: Sue moss, we`ve heard them out.
MOSS: What?
GRACE: I don`t know. They both went to reputable law schools.
MOSS: I can`t believe it. This guy --
GIUDICE: And we both read the law, and there`s no sientor --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: No, let her finish, Giudice.
MOSS: -- went to take on --
GRACE: Cut Ray`s mike. Go ahead, Sue.
MOSS: This guy went to take a gun and then he took the little girl instead. What could he have been taking this girl for other than a nefarious reason?
GRACE: If the scenario is true, I wonder, Sue Moss, if it was a fight over a gun, which Ronald Cummings denies, or something to do with Haleigh as it relates to Misty Croslin`s dope dealing.
Back to you, Art Harris. Isn`t it true that from behind bars this whole crew has been saying that it has to do with the dope dealing?
ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST, WWW.ARTHARRIS.COM: That`s right, Nancy. In fact, they have been denying they were dealing drugs when you see it in black and white. You see it in living color on the undercover video.
So obviously, they have a history of lying. In this case, I`m told that Misty`s story is that cousin Joe put a knife to her throat, Nancy, and that is why she was so frightened. Tommy says that he threatened to shoot him. So if this is true, then that is the fear factor.
GRACE: The fear factor. OK. You really think I believe anything these two say?
Art Harris, come on, you`re the investigative journalist --
HARRIS: Nancy, I`m just -- Nancy, I`m reporting what my sources are telling me. That`s all I can do. I`ll let you be the judge.
GRACE: OK. We`re taking your calls. To Mary in Georgia, hi, Mary.
MARY, CALLER FROM GEORGIA: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?
MARY: You know, in the very beginning, I think it was around the day that Misty came home from her three-day binge, she said that she had had company that afternoon, and I thought she said it was Joe and some cousins.
GRACE: You know what, you`re absolutely right, Mary in Georgia. What about it? To you, Jean Casarez.
JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": She`s right. Mary in Georgia is exactly right. And here`s -- Nancy, we`re seeing a pattern. We`re seeing so many people, including Junior, saying there were people there that late afternoon and that evening on that day. That`s a lot of similarities.
GRACE: You know, you`re right. And Mary in Georgia is right.
To Paul Penzone, former sergeant, Phoenix Police, director of provincial programs at Childhelp.org.
Penzone, what do you make of it?
PAUL PENZONE, DIRECTOR OF PREVENTION PROGRAMS, CHILDHELP.ORG, FORMER SERGEANT, PHOENIX PD: Well, if this turns out to be true, the things that we are learning it`s probably going to turn to a free-for-all which we`re going to see is everybody pointing the finger, him saying they were afraid, him saying that he was directed by them, so there`s going to be a lot of working parts.
But I have to say, Nancy, give credit to your show for keeping pressure on this case all this time because it was influential in the breaking point now.
GRACE: Penzone. Penzone. Let`s just get real for a minute.
PENZONE: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: How many times have at trial -- and I would love to try co- defendants together. Put them all in the same pot in front of a jury and let them stew. They all start doing this. Oh, yes, he held a gun at me. Oh, yes, he put a knife to my throat.
They let the girl get taken. The girl is dead. I don`t believe one thing they`re saying about how they were threatened. They`re so threatened. They weren`t threatened.
PENZONE: They were all responsible if this turns out to be true. And each one of them could have made a difference. Regardless of who was responsible to take that baby`s life, that`s what happened, each one of them put themselves first and they could have made a difference in this child`s life and maybe stopped it from occurring.
GRACE: To Dr. Lillian Glass, psychologist, body language expert, and author of "Toxic People."
Dr. Glass, you and I have seen it over and over and over. Blame somebody else. The blame game. The SOD defense, some other dude did it. That`s where this is headed.
LILLIAN GLASS, PSYCHOLOGIST, BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT, AUTHOR OF "TOXIC PEOPLE": Exactly. And you see she had every opportunity to speak up. And you didn`t need a lie detector test. You could see it in her body language. The ums, the silence. You just saw it. She was completely lying. And now she`s whining.
She`s whining away in her prison cell -- or her jail cell, I should say -- and she wants to talk to the governor because she doesn`t like her food and she`s not happy that she can`t be with other prisoners.
This is a horribly spoiled, obnoxious girl, and I doubt there was a fear factor involved.
GRACE: Well, and another thing. They`ve been behind bars all this time. They weren`t in fear behind bars.
GLASS: Exactly.
GRACE: To tell the truth.
GLASS: Exactly.
GRACE: What? He leaves with the girls unless they were with him at the time when he left. Why didn`t they call 911? He was gone. They weren`t afraid anymore. They did nothing to protect the girl. If the scenario is true.
To Dr. Joshua Perper, chief medical examiner out of Broward County, author of "When to Call the Doctor." If her body has been in the St. John`s all this time, what would you expect to find, Dr. Perper?
DR. PERPER, CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER, BROWARD COUNTY, AUTHOR OF "WHEN TO CALL THE DOCTOR": Well, I would expect the body to be skeletonized, basically, you`ll have just bones and very little tissue. However, if the body was found in some kind of box, then there would be much better preservations of the body.
GRACE: That`s a good point, Dr. Perper. And in fact, a blue ice chest has just been pulled out of the St. John`s River.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
M. CROSLIN: It`s still focused -- everything`s still focused on Haleigh. This is what Haleigh wanted. She`s always talked about it.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: When did you last see her?
M. CROSLIN: It was about 10:00. She was sleeping.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What would you tell Misty to come back home and tell us the truth?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you feel that Misty is the key to this investigation?
RONALD CUMMINGS, FATHER OF HALEIGH CUMMINGS: No, I don`t.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Breaking news in the case of missing 5-year-old Florida girl Haleigh Cummings.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: A massive search in this neighborhood.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The search is again focusing on areas near her father`s hometown in Satsuma.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Off of the boat ramp which is just a quarter of a mile down the road.
LISA CROSLIN, MOTHER OF MISTY CROSLIN: I`m watching you on TV right now.
M. CROSLIN: What am I doing?
L. CROSLIN: You`re on NANCY GRACE, me and you talking on the phone.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The Putnam County Sheriff`s Office says authorities are acting on a tip but they didn`t elaborate it.
M. CROSLIN: What did they mean that our lives are going to be more than hell now than it was for this whole year?
HANK CROSLIN, FATHER OF MISTY CROSLIN: Because they`re going to wrap it up in the next few weeks.
M. CROSLIN: Well, I hope they do.
H. CROSLIN: I want to know where Haleigh`s at. I want to know who did it.
M. CROSLIN: Exactly.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Haleigh Cumming`s mother Crystal Sheffield has asked -- been asked to come down to the Putnam County Sheriff`s Office in regards to the search.
M. CROSLIN: I cry all the time about Haleigh, pray all the time about Haleigh.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Cadaver dogs, dive teams, fishing boats called in from all across areas of Florida to help hopefully find the clues that could lead them to this little girl.
H. CROSIN: I know for a fact Tommy -- Tommy ain`t got the heart -- Tommy ain`t had nothing to do with that (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
M. CROSLIN: Well, let`s not talk about that.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There`s been so much talk and concern about this little girl hoping that, you know, she would be found alive, but the investigation is all focusing on a lake.
M. CROSLIN: I wish I had powers, man. I would be like poo-poof out this place.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: For those of you that are just joining us, as we go to air tonight at this moment, the St. John`s River is being combed by cadaver dogs, scuba divers, search teams, helicopters, as well as a densely wooded area about two miles south of where Haleigh was last seen alive. Her home.
We also know that Misty Croslin, the babysitter turned stepmother, was rousted out of her private jail cell today and questioned, taken to -- back to Putnam County, questioned for hours and then sent back to her jail cell.
Why?
We also are hearing reports that the suspect is in custody.
We are taking your calls live. To Heidi in Indiana, hi, Heidi.
HEIDI, CALLER FROM INDIANA: Hi, Nancy. Thank you so much for taking my call. And thank you for being the angel that you are. I am a victim of violence, and I really appreciate everything that you do for all of us.
GRACE: You know what, Heidi? I don`t deserve that. But I want to thank you anyway. And thank you for calling in.
HEIDI: Absolutely.
GRACE: What is your question, love?
HEIDI: I am wondering about Ronald Cummings. Has he been informed of all of this that`s been going on? And will this make any difference? I know that he`s still guilty of drug charges. But is this going to make any difference in the coming days with his trial for drugs?
GRACE: Out to Marlaina Schiavo, our producer that`s been on the story from the very beginning.
Marlaina, what do we know about Ronald Cummings being informed of what`s going on, Teresa Neves, his mother? What do we know?
MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: We know that Ronald was informed along with his mother and his family today. They took him in handcuffs to inform him of what`s going on. And also in terms of that drug question, no, these are completely separate cases. So whatever happens here is not going to affect his drug charges.
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Out to Allison in Florida, hi, Allison.
ALLISON, CALLER FROM FLORIDA: Hi, Nancy. Thank you for taking my call. I love your show.
GRACE: Thank you. Allison, can you believe this turn of events this long after Haleigh goes missing? I mean, we never gave up. We never gave up. But if it`s true, it is not of course the outcome that we wanted.
ALLISON: Right. And you never gave up either. My question is we go boating on the St. John`s River all the time. What are the chances of finding her? There are lots of alligators in that water.
GRACE: You know, that`s a good point. I want to go back to Tracy Sargent. And she`s got Cinco with her.
Tracy, first of all, show the viewers what the dog alerted on when he alerted earlier.
TRACY SARGENT, K9 HANDLER, SEARCH, RESCUE & RECOVERY SPECIALIST: Yes. This is a human jawbone. And this is what I wanted to show the viewers, what the dog responded, in this case, alerted to.
As the doctor mentioned, the last phase of decomposition is skeletal remains. And as we`ve seen video of the search operations down in Florida, the investigators are certainly going to be looking for skeletal remains and any suspicious items.
And the dogs can help with that. And in this case because they have a really good, accurate area that the dogs can concentrate on, even after this length of time and even under water, the dogs can alert to human remains scents.
GRACE: And how old is that jawbone that Cinco hit on?
SARGENT: This is a jawbone that`s been dead for over approximately 40 years.
GRACE: If Cinco can hit on a 40-year-old jawbone, certainly dogs, cadaver dogs would be able to find a child`s remains one year later. And I want to remind you that cadaver dogs are accurate under water.
I want to go back to Art Harris.
Art Harris, all this business that -- well, you know, wait a minute. Hold on, Art. Let`s take a listen back to what Daniel Horowitz just said. Horowitz and Giudice. Put them up with Art.
Horowitz. Why is it that these are the only people that seem to know where the body allegedly is, and you`re saying they had nothing to do with it?
HOROWITZ: I`m saying that Misty is typically like a battered woman. You know how battered women will be with an abusive husband, the children will be abused, they will remain silent because they`re turned off.
I`m saying that Misty is like that. Abused from childhood, she has no feelings. It doesn`t mean she`s blameless morally. But she needs compassion, too. We have to look at the big picture and --
GRACE: You`re making my chest hurt. Because, Ray Giudice, there is no evidence that she is an abused woman. None.
GIUIDICE: I agree, but let me also say --
GRACE: She`s a junkie.
GIUIDICE: Why has she sat on this for a year? It doesn`t make sense to me.
GRACE: Because if incriminates her, Art Harris.
GIUIDICE: Not on a murder case.
HARRIS: Nancy, it incriminates her --
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: But also it incriminates her brother. That`s who she was trying to protect by saying he left and Joe went out by himself. Now we know --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Using underwater sonar devices and high visibility cameras, a team of divers searched the murky St. John`s River for clues in Haleigh Cumming`s disappearance.
Locals say the river bottom shifts and anything down below could be buried three to five feet deep in sediment. A river that may hold the clues to finding this 6-year-old girl.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: As we go to air into the night searchers are combing the St. John River. They have got out spotlights, they`ve got cadaver dogs, search teams. They had helicopters when it was still daylight.
Something or someone has led them to the St. John`s River, in a densely wooded areas, just two miles south of where Haleigh went missing out of her own home.
Think about it. I came to work tonight like Ronald Cummings did. Think about going home from work, all of you working mothers and fathers, and finding your child is gone. That is what happened to Ronald Cummings.
Is it culminating tonight there at the St. John`s River?
Out to the lines, Allison in Florida. Hi, Allison. Excuse me. Elisa, Tennessee. Hi Elisa.
ELISA, CALLER FROM TENNESSEE: Hi, Nancy. How are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?
ELISA: Nancy, my question is, could Misty be held liable if, in fact, she was so high on pills that she actually didn`t remember?
GRACE: Hold on. Elisa, stay with me. I have turned a back flip trying to figure out every scenario under which she didn`t know what happened.
Elisa, here`s the bottom line. Just this past week she took another polygraph and flunked. So if she were telling truth about I took pills, I passed out, I don`t remember, she would not have flunked four polygraphs.
She is lying. Not only that, a voice stress test and would not allow herself to go under hypnosis.
Everyone, right now you`re seeing a live search that`s ongoing for the body of Haleigh Cummings. Let`s keep her family in our prayers.
Let`s stop and remember Marine Lance Corporal Juan Garcia-Schill, Grants Pass, Oregon, killed Iraq. From a family of Marines, awarded the Purple Heart, a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, loved his Mexican heritage, the Japanese culture and soccer.
Dreamed of being a schoolteacher. Buried next to his great-grandparents. Leaves behind parents Manuel and Brenda, two sisters, one brother, grandparents Rick and Beverly.
Juan Garcia-Schill, American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us. See you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp Eastern. And I pray that at that time we have news of little Haleigh.
Good night, friend.
END
