Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Little Haleigh Cummings, 5, disappears from bed

Episode Date: July 20, 2018

Five-year-old Haleigh Cummings disappeared from her Satsuma, Florida bed after being put there by her father's girlfriend nearly a decade ago. Nancy Grace re-examines the mystery with Klaas Kids Fo...undation founder and victims' advocate Marc Klaas, Atlanta juvenile judge and founder of ChildCrimeWatch.com Ashley Willcott, New York psychologist Caryn Stark, Cold Case Research Institute director Sheryl McCollum, investigative reporter Art Harris, and WSB Radio reporter Robyn Walensky. If you have any information about the Haleigh Cummings case, contact the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0800. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 This is an iHeart Podcast. today at PIMagazine.com. Use this show's promotional code for your special discount at PIMagazine.com. Subscribe today. Use promo code Nancy for your special discount. That's promo code Nancy. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on Sirius XM Triumph, channel 132. It was chilly in February, the night that Haley Cummings goes missing from her father's Putnam County home. He was at work, clocked in, airtight alibi, at least 30 minutes away at the time his daughter seemingly disappears into thin air. So what happened to this beautiful little girl, just five years old when she goes missing, Haley Cummings? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us, with me, an all-star panel to help break it down and put it back together again. Where is Haley? Is Haley still alive amidst mystery shrouded with controversy? Still, we look for Haley. I want to go straight out to Robin Walensky, WSB radio reporter who was on the case. Robin, tell me about the night Haley disappeared from her father's home. Well, she was five years old, an adorable little girl. And the woman who was
Starting point is 00:02:01 there, Misty, who was 17 years old, this was her father's girlfriend. She was in the house. Her little brother was in the house. And reportedly there was a cousin there. What's so troubling is that Misty, who was in charge of this little girl, told police various stories, Nancy. She was sleeping in bed with me. Oh, no, she was on the mattress on the floor. Oh, she was wearing a pink shirt. Oh, she wasn't wearing a pink shirt. Totally inconsistent
Starting point is 00:02:31 stories. Now, hold on just a moment. I want to follow up on that. Everyone, the tip line for Missing Haley is 386-329-0800. 386-329-0800. With me, Emmy Award-winning investigative reporter and journalist Art Harris. Art, Misty Crosland, who was there at the time Haley goes missing, states that she was asleep and did not hear a thing. We found out that the back door had been propped open with a cement block that was taken out of the yard and as to those inconsistencies that robin walensky with wsb was just describing which are all true crossland then explains that she says well at the beginning of the evening she was sleeping uh next to me and then she moved to the other mattress or vice versa in
Starting point is 00:03:27 the middle of the night and yes she had on a pink shirt but then she changed it when she went to the bathroom uh maybe she wet it i don't know but she tried to explain away those circumstances it seemingly changed art harris at the beginning dad, is it an airtight alibi? Misty told me and has said several times, she got up, heard a noise about 3 a.m., went out to see maybe Ronald was coming home early, but she called him when she found Haley was missing. As you said, the door was propped open. Suddenly, Ronald drives up from work about early in the morning, and she says, you know, I've been trying to call you 30 times, and you didn't answer. So there is a question here.
Starting point is 00:04:18 She says he wasn't all that upset. But then, of course, he changes and accuses her of doing something with his daughter. Why weren't you watching her? We've heard all the accusations go back and forth. And law enforcement has been focusing on, of course, Misty, the last person to be with her, and trying to get her to give up whoever else may have been involved. Well, it's interesting that she says, Art, that she woke up at 3 a.m. that night. In a really odd twist, Mark Klass with me, who knows only too well the pain of missing a child. Mark, the founder of K Class Kids Foundation, victims advocate. Mark, I want you to listen
Starting point is 00:05:06 to the dad, Ronald Cummings, with Misty, the girlfriend, on the NBC Today show a day after they married. Listen. Haley disappeared a little over a month ago, and since then, you've spoken to the media, you've taken a polygraph test, both of you have, opened up to us to see where Haley lived, give us a better sense of her. None of that could have been easy for either one of you. So why did you want to come here today? What are you hoping to accomplish, Ronald, today? To get the focus back on my daughter is missing.
Starting point is 00:05:38 My five-year-old girl is gone, and I want to find her. Where do you think the focus has changed when you say get the focus back on her? I think they've changed to my personal life and being married and everything else when they should be focusing on my 5-year-old daughter. Do you think the police have done an adequate job searching for her, Ronald? Are you comfortable with the job they have done so far? So far. You are? Yes. Have they said anything to you about any possible leads at all?
Starting point is 00:06:09 Nothing. Michelle just referenced your son, your four-year-old son, and the fact that he said that somebody, a man dressed in black, had taken Haley out of the trailer that night she disappeared. Did he tell that to either one of you, Miss Dean? You were there at the time. Did he say anything to you at the time? Mm-mm.
Starting point is 00:06:29 Nothing? Nope. Me either. No. I think this is some of the garbage that Geraldo and Crystal, my mother, has made up, but I'm just going to leave that at that. Oh, so you don't even believe that Ronald Jr. said this at all? I don't know.
Starting point is 00:06:43 I wasn't at home. I was at work. You weren't at home. I can't tell you honestly. You were there, Misty, and I know when Ronald just said that the focus has been removed from his daughter, a little girl that you also care very deeply for, to other people. A lot of the focus has now been on you and the police saying that you walked out of a meeting they were having with you, walked away. Why? What happened? You stopped talking. Tell us what happened. Something must have upset you. There was a new guy that was new to the case and I didn't
Starting point is 00:07:16 feel comfortable with him. He was just being very rude to me. And I told John Merchant and the state attorneys I would talk to them but but I wasn't gonna talk to the other guy. What was he doing? What was he saying? He was just like being rude, like yelling and pretty much telling me I'm a liar. So he was accusing you of lying to him? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:07:36 Let me, let's go back through. After passing the polygraph test. After passing. You both, and you both clearly, they said to you, you have passed the polygraph test. Absolutely. I think part of the problem has been, Misty, that there has been a certain number of inconsistencies, or what's perceived to be inconsistencies, because you first said that Haley was in bed with you,
Starting point is 00:07:59 then you said she was on the mattress next to you. This is an opportunity to clarify. You've had time to think through what happened that night. Can you walk us through it one more time, Misty, your best recollection of what happened the night Haley disappeared? Well, I put her to bed at 8 o'clock. I was washing my blanket, our blankets, and after that was done, I put her blanket over her. She was sleeping.
Starting point is 00:08:23 When I put her blanket on her... Was she in the bed? She was in her bed. Her bed. In her bed. And Junior was in the bed with me. And it was about, I don't know what time, about 10 o'clock. I finally laid down and went to sleep. I woke up at 3 and I noticed, I got up to use the bathroom and I noticed the kitchen light was on.
Starting point is 00:08:44 So I walked to the kitchen and that's when I seen the back door open so i ran back to my bedroom to grab my phone to call ronald and that's when i noticed haley was gone and so you called ronald and then ronald did you come home he i was pulling in the driveway at shortly after three o'clock in the morning you're saying yeah i was pulling in the driveway just home from my shift at work so why were there in help help me out misty why were there inconsistencies why did you say one thing one time and one time the other one thing the other i don't know but you but you know you did do that? Yeah. And you're not sure why?
Starting point is 00:09:28 No. And then yesterday you guys got married in the midst of all this. Why was that an important thing, Ronald, for you to do? I don't know. I think that my little girl would have wanted it. I would have rather her to have been there. So obviously when we get her back, we will do a much larger, better wedding. But we're just still drawn and focused off of Haley. We need to be focused on Haley and not what I'm doing in my personal life.
Starting point is 00:10:03 But can you understand why some people might be confused by it or do you accept that or? I don't understand why it's anybody else's business to be honest with you. Nobody's business what I do in my personal life. I go to work, I support my family. I don't know what my personal life has to do with national TV. My daughter is missing and that's what life has to do with national TV. My daughter is missing, and that's what it has to do with national TV. We need to get my daughter's face back on TV and get her found. Does she care very much for Misty?
Starting point is 00:10:36 Yes, absolutely. Is there anything else that you would like to say at all in case somebody is out there who might know something um if you know something please call the crime stoppers or the any local sheriff's office and if my little girl is watching baby i love him and this day as you sit here do you believe in your heart that they see you as a suspect? No, I don't. I don't either. I talked to a detective.
Starting point is 00:11:13 His name's John Merchant. And he said? No, he doesn't think that she's a suspect. Okay, you were hearing both Ronald Cummings and girlfriend-turned-wife Misty Crosland speaking to Meredith Vieira, our friend on NBC's Today Show, to Mark Klass, founder of Klass Kids Foundation, who knows the pain firsthand of losing a daughter. Mark Klass, of course, the babysitter, girlfriend, now wife, is a suspect. She's the last one there.
Starting point is 00:11:45 She changed her story. Yeah, that's absolutely true, Nancy. But on the other hand, the father, I think, is very consistent with a father who desperately is looking for his child. He might seem emotionally stunted, but he wants to keep the focus on finding his daughter. I think he's incorrect in saying that people have no business looking into his personal life because I think that there are mitigating circumstances there. But I don't think that he was involved in the disappearance, and I think those questions about Missy are still looming. They are. Now, I agree with you, Mark Klass, as I so often do. There is no way Ronald Cummings was involved with this.
Starting point is 00:12:31 I have met him many, many times, spoken to him at length about his daughter's disappearance, and I believe he is completely innocent of that. Now, the Misty Crawson is a whole other can of worms as far as I'm concerned. For those of you just joining us, the tip line to help find Hilly Cummings is 386-329-0800. Repeat, 386-329-0800. The parents of this five-year-old little girl snatched out of her bed, made emotional pleas to bring her home. Haley Cummings kidnapped from her bedroom early morning hours on a Tuesday morning as she slept right there next to her two-year-old little brother Ronald Cummings Jr. And what sparked so much interest in the case is someone was actually home at the time, Misty Crosland. Police there in Florida, in Homosassa, Florida, have launched a massive hunt for her
Starting point is 00:13:36 and immediately started tracking down nearly 50 sex offenders who live near her in Setsuma, Florida. That's another issue, Mark Klass, founder of Klass Kids Foundation. Mark, in this area of Setsuma, it is extremely small. It's about the size of my little community where I grew up, a couple of thousand people. That really narrows down the potential kidnapper. Yeah, there's no question about that. But as far as the sex offenders go, Nancy, you know, there are just short of a million registered sex offenders in the United States right now. And I would challenge anybody to find a community where you're not going to have people living within a mile or two of you that have been committed of some of these kinds of crimes. Now, as far as who took this little girl, there's no doubt that who took this child is somebody that was familiar with the family, familiar with the child. We just don't know who that individual was or individuals were or the motivation behind the crime. Take a listen now to the urgent 911 call.
Starting point is 00:14:44 I opened my phone. I can't find what? I don't know. Okay. What's your address? listen now to the urgent 911 call. Okay, when did you last see her? Um, we were just like, you know, it was about 10 o'clock. We were like, she was sleeping, like, she couldn't hear me. Did you know about a recent law that could leave your personal data exposed online for anybody to find? If you've turned on the news lately, you know the internet has created a dangerous new world. Data breaches expose private information. There's a new cyber security threat every other day and criminals can sell the identity of you and your family on the dark web. It's time you take the power back by using a new website called Truthfinder. Truthfinder allows you to find out exactly what information exists about you online.
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Starting point is 00:16:17 first to know. Visit truthfinder.com slash Nancy. Enter your own name. Get started. Okay, well, we see what last name we're wearing. Ma'am? We were sleeping. Okay, all right. You said your back door was wide open? Yeah, it was a brick. Like, it was a brick on the floor. Like, when I was asleep, the floor was not like that. Okay, the back door... Listen to me. Your back door was wide open. What are you talking about a brick? Yes. What is the brick?
Starting point is 00:16:58 It's on the back door on the stairs. Like, it has, like, a walkway. Uh-huh. And there was a brick laying there? Yes, it's still there. Oh, my God. Wait, we got them coming. Tell them we got them coming. They're coming. Okay, what's the color of your house, ma'am? Blue. Blue? Okay. Okay, what does she look like?
Starting point is 00:17:35 How tall is she? Give me some description of her. Oh, she has long hair, curly, like curls. Long, curled. What color? She's white. Okay, what color? Um, she's white. Okay, what color is she? Brown hair.
Starting point is 00:17:49 Brown hair? Yeah. Oh, my God, it's so cold. Okay, how tall is she about? Or how much does she weigh, do you know that? Huh? About how tall or how much does she weigh? Like four and something, like, I don't know, like, she's not that tall. Okay, wait, tell your husband we got him coming, okay? Okay. How much does she weigh, do you know? Huh? How much does she weigh? Um, like 40, 50 pounds, 60 pounds? 40 to 60 pounds.
Starting point is 00:18:30 Yeah. Okay, let me get your name and phone number. Is that your last name? to ashley wilcott atlanta juvenile judge founder of childcrimewatch.com you hear her on the 9-1-1 call that is the babysitter slash girlfriend turned wife what do you make of it ashley oh my god this one makes me sick because i have no doubt in my mind. I'm telling you, I said it here. She knows what happened to that child. Even if she didn't kill the child, which she might have, she knows. I find that to me, there's no, I've done this such a long time. I find no credibility in that call or the way she sounds. I just don't believe that she doesn't know what happened to this child. I want you to take a listen to what Misty Crosland and her mother, Lisa Crosland, have to say in a secretly recorded phone call that we got our hands on.
Starting point is 00:19:37 And, oh, yes, they are blasting me because I'm looking into the disappearance of Haley Cummings. Listen. They're recording everything y'all do. I mean, how can we not see each other? blasting me because I'm looking into the disappearance of Haley and it's bullsh**. It is. Soon they find out what happened to Haley, everything will be different. I know. I can't believe they still believe you. No, I know. It's crazy. 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. I know. That's exactly what it is. That's what they think I'm going to break. There's nothing to do with it i know that's exactly what
Starting point is 00:20:25 it is that's what they think i'm gonna break there's nothing to break me on so they need to leave me alone that was a secretly recorded phone call of misty crosland speaking to her mom lisa crosland you know what karen stark a new york psychologist renowned joining me you know there's the old saying you're known by your enemies If you just even listen to that phone call, remember, she's talking to her mom, and she's claiming that she's innocent. So that makes me believe when you listen to that, that perhaps she saw somebody. I think that what Ashley said is true. She knows what happened. So either somehow accidentally, you know, she killed this little girl, or she knows who might have done it, she saw it, and she's going to stick to her story. That's what I hear from there.
Starting point is 00:21:19 And it's so easy for them to blame you because you are really making an attempt to figure out what happened there. And it doesn't end there. They are fixated on me investigating the case. They should be worrying about where's Haley. Listen to this. Yeah, that's my own Nancy Gray. She said that y'all are eating better than her, that she found three Chicken McNuggets in her car. She just don't even have a clue.
Starting point is 00:21:44 Yeah, she's ridiculous. She wished she was eating. We were eating better than her. People in jail don't even have a clue. Yeah, she's ridiculous. She wished we were eating better than her. Us people in jail don't eat better than Nancy Grace. That stupid bitch. I know. I can't stand her. All she does is get on TV and runs her mouth. And I would go on her show. I would go on her show, but I would be afraid that I would go to jail. I know, I'm telling you. Because I would tell her just how I feel about her. If it was her kid in there, she would feel the same way. Exactly.
Starting point is 00:22:12 So there they are, but this time to Mark Glass, Glass Kids Foundation founder and victims advocate. I remember looking at their jailhouse menu one night and what Misty Crosland was having after she had a drug arrest. And they were eating something like fried chicken and potato salad. I can't remember, but it sounded, and cake, cake, yeah. And it sounded really good. And that particular day, I had nothing but hot tea in the morning. And I had driven through, okay, call me a bad mom. I don't know where we went. I guess Chick-fil-A and got nuggets for the children and they dropped
Starting point is 00:22:52 some. I was so hungry. I ate them off the floor, but I was so hungry. I scooped them up and ate them on the way to work. And I mentioned that they're eating better than me and she won't tell me what happened to the baby. That's not right. And so instead of focusing on what can we do now to find Haley, maybe we should A, B, C, or D. They're all crazy because I published their jail menu that night. Yeah, it's really a problem, Mac. I remember in our situation, the rumors were running rampant that Paulie was taken as revenge for some kind of a drug deal gone wrong because I was supposedly a drug kingpin somewhere in the Bay Area. And, you know, that was just sort of the tip of the
Starting point is 00:23:41 iceberg. A lot of rumors swirl in situations like this. But if you're the parent of the child, or if you're one of the principals involved in the middle, you have to do what Ron said earlier when he was speaking to Meredith Vieira. You have to get the focus back on the child. And where is the child? You don't dwell on yourself and rumors that are being swirled around about yourself. And another thing, Nancy, is I couldn't eat. When Polly was missing, I couldn't eat. Over the course of the 65 days we searched for her, I lost well over 30 pounds. And again, every time somebody would try to change the focus, bring it to something else,
Starting point is 00:24:22 it was always, no, no, no. This is not about me. This is about Polly. You have issues with me. We'll deal with that after we bring my child home. And that's exactly the opposite of the way Missy is handling herself in this situation. You know, that is really interesting, Mark Glass. I didn't know that about you losing weight when Polly went missing. Oh, yeah. I remember after my fiance was murdered, I lost down to 89 pounds. The smell of food just made me sick. Absolutely sick.
Starting point is 00:24:54 Straight out to Art Harris, Crime Stories investigative reporter and award-winning journalist. Art Harris, right now, we still don't have the answer to what happened to Haley Cummings. I want to go back to that night. Now that we know the girlfriend, the living girlfriend, Misty Crosland, had been using drugs, does that change things specifically about who else may have been in that home while the dad, Ronald Cummings, was at work?
Starting point is 00:25:24 What's interesting is what came out later. First, I've got to tell you, the first person Misty called before 9-1-1 was her mother. And Lisa Crosland told me that herself. And so that raises a question. But after that, Nancy, she began having some memories of a dream. Do you remember that? And her lawyer told me that, in fact, she was hiding under a blanket and recalled some shadowy figures in the house that night. And she was totally frightened and held on tight to a little boy under the blanket and doesn't know what happened to Haley. But somebody came in and she knew it. And she told police later that that was the next story that unfolded. Art Harris, am I hearing correctly?
Starting point is 00:26:18 Because this sounds just like O.J. Simpson's dream, where he dreamed about what happened to Nicole Brown, his dead wife, and Ron Goldman. I've had so many defendants that have a dream. So they're either killers or they're clairvoyant, Art Harris. That's right. Well, what later happened is other people were determined to have been in the house that night, including her brother, Tommy Crosland. And, you know, the story that unfolded was that someone had a grudge against the father because they had a gun, he had a gun they wanted, and in lieu of paying back some money that was owed.
Starting point is 00:27:07 And so they came to the house that night and looked for this expensive machine gun, which they couldn't find, and took Haley instead. And that was a mystery cousin out of Tennessee. The story has been debunked since then, but there were other people in the house that night, and police have suddenly begun to focus on them at the time anyway. So you have a family that is covering up for each other. came looking for his gun that that's bs because if that were true that cousin would have been tracked down and dragged back to the jurisdiction and the truth would have come out so just some unknown cousin looking for a weapon sounds like bs to me however what you're saying about it proves other people are in the home sounds true and i'll tell you what sounds like another load of bs is her having a so-called dream art harris art harris investigated the case
Starting point is 00:28:12 thoroughly right alongside the police take a listen to what haley's relative tells art harris tell me about haley and it is a very precious little girl. She is grandma's angel, daddy's heart. She's tiny, she's petite, she loves to sing, she loves makeup, she likes to put the dress up, she loves to color and paint. She is very good at school. Wow, there are just so many amazing things about Haley. What are some things that you really like doing with her and she likes doing with her grandma? What does she call you?
Starting point is 00:28:53 She calls me Grandma. We love to paint together. She likes to get in all that water paint. We love to do makeup because she can make me look like a clown, and I don't care. She loves to paint my nails because she paints from one end to the other, and that's fine with me. Tell me, explain your support. I can easily explain that. I have never seen my grandchildren more happy in their lives than they have been with Ronald and Misty. They are ecstatic. They are always smiling, they're always playing. They are, to me it was an extreme joy to see them like a little family, always doing things together. My babies loved her. I mean they absolutely wanted Ronald to marry her so she could be mommy.
Starting point is 00:29:43 You've met a lot of Ronald's girlfriends and fiancés. How does Misty rank in your mind? To my knowledge, Ronald's only ever had one other fiancé. And some of the girlfriends, Misty is at the very top of the list, I can tell you that. Absolutely. She takes better care of the children than anyone I've seen with them.
Starting point is 00:30:10 They love her. You just cannot, you would have to see it to actually enjoy the, it touches your heart how happy they all are together. You know, I can't help but wonder, Robin Walensky, WSB reporter, does that relative know about the drugs?
Starting point is 00:30:31 Definitely not. It sounds like a lot of nonsense to me. It sounds like a big cover-up. I'll tell you, Nancy, this case, having lived in Florida during the Casey Anthony trial, what could have happened here is that Misty, maybe, maybe the little girl, three years old acted up. Maybe she hit her, hit her in the head. Maybe she had a brain bleed. Maybe she died. Maybe she got into mommy's drugs or, you know, a prescription, something that could have been in the, in the closet passed away. And it was the whole coverup, just like in the Casey
Starting point is 00:31:03 Anthony case. I think that all these mystery figures coming in and out, I think that's one nice theory, but I think it could be much simpler. I think it could be Misty either hitting the child or the child, you know, overdosing on something and the rest of it is all nonsense and a cover-up by the grandmother. Robin, you know, you have something there. Sources were telling me, if it's Art Harris, that when Misty took the children to a clinic and the little boy was not very cooperative, she would kind of violently yank him along and was yelling.
Starting point is 00:31:38 So there was another side of that, and the fact that they were doing drugs, it shows that there was that brittle, you know, tense side that perhaps they had when they were coming down off these drugs or were strung out. Five-year-old Haley Cummings goes missing in her Florida home. The case still open with me. Mark Klass, Ashley Wilcott, Karen Stark, Art Harris, and Robin Walensky. Take a listen. Many of you have been asking, where's Haley's mom? Take a listen to what the mother, Crystal Sheffield, tells me on HLN.
Starting point is 00:32:12 Ms. Sheffield, what are the police theories right now? What are they telling you? They haven't really told us nothing. Like, they just said they're going to keep searching. They haven't found anything. How often, Crystal Sheffield, do you see her, and why does she end up being with him? I see him every two weeks. I pick him up on Friday at 6 and return him on Sunday at 6. When me and Ronald split up, I had the children with me, and I didn't have the heart to keep them from him.
Starting point is 00:32:59 And I let him come get them, and he was supposed to return them to me, and he never did. Then he went to the courthouse and filed for temporary custody. The first court date was sent out to an address in Jacksonville. It was a bogus address. I never lived there, so I missed that court date. And then when we went for the custody hearing, they just, I feel like they just blew me off. But they said they gave him custody because it was the best interest for the children. So it seems to me to Mark Klass, founder of Klass Kids Foundation and child advocate,
Starting point is 00:34:00 this little girl never had a chance. Nobody was watching out for her. Well, that's exactly what we were all saying at the time, Nancy, is that Haley Cummings was a little girl that never had a chance. I mean, she was just surrounded by a culture that really didn't give her an opportunity to succeed in life. There were too many obstacles in the way. There were all the dysfunctional relationships. There were all in the way. There were all the dysfunctional relationships. There were all of the drugs. There was all of the poverty. And it was just an untenable situation for a five-year-old girl to try to navigate and lead a productive life.
Starting point is 00:34:38 To Art Harris, do police believe that she could still be alive? Sadly, Nancy, all the indications are is that she is not. It has been declared a homicide. And we have heard other stories about what happened that night and that she may have been put in the river, if you recall, by those shadowy figures. And one of the people who knows is supposedly her brother, Tommy Crosland, who also has come under great suspicion. His house was searched, and a mysterious yellow rope was found in his car that some believe had to do or played into the night's nefarious activities. Now, I don't know if you want to go back to what happened the weekend before, but that's
Starting point is 00:35:34 something to talk about, too. Sure, go ahead. Leading up to that weekend, leading up to her disappearance, Ronald and Misty had been having words and, in fact, physical altercations. Misty told me that she was really fed up, and she left. She walked away, only to be picked up by a girlfriend named Nene, and they went off and partied with a guy who I interview on my website, rharris.com. His nickname is White Boy Greg, who tells me they did drugs that weekend. And when she went home, she was pretty strung out, and Ronald was angry.
Starting point is 00:36:12 So when she took the kids to school the next day, they were late, number one, and she looked very distraught. And, of course, if you were home and you had been coming down from drugs and the kids are nagging you, you don't know what happened. So flash forward that night is when Ronald comes back and what has been going on during the day, we don't know. But we know Misty is back from her revenge romance and he cannot be very happy. So we know that there was a lot of upheaval within the home just before she goes missing. Karen Stark, renowned New York psychologist, how does that play into her disappearance? Well, it makes you realize, Nancy, that there was so much chaos and
Starting point is 00:36:57 tumultuousness surrounding her. And in children, what you need more than anything is structure and discipline and knowing that certain things are going to happen at certain times. They're not capable of understanding all of that confusion. And it just makes you realize that things were, it was sort of the gathering to be a perfect storm. Take a listen to what Ronald Cummings tells me on HLN. Mr. Cummings, you and your family are in so many prayers across the country right now. Please, tell
Starting point is 00:37:34 us what happened when you got home from work that night. I believe it was around 3 a.m. Actually, it was about 3.25, 3.27 327. Okay. And I pulled into the yard, and my girlfriend opened the front door, and I already knew something was wrong because she's not up at this time.
Starting point is 00:37:58 She told me, I said, what are you doing up at this time? She said, your back door is wide open and your daughter is gone. What is her description? What scenario took place? She got out of the bed and went to use the restroom and came back to find that my daughter was not in bed with her. Okay, what time did she... And the back door was wide open, and she was gone.
Starting point is 00:38:31 Ronald, what time did she put Haley to bed? She puts him to bed every night at 8 o'clock. 8 o'clock. And... And... When she put her to bed at 8 o'clock. 8 o'clock. When she put her to bed at 8 o'clock, did she also put to bed the little 4-year-old boy? Yes, she did. Okay. What time did she go to bed?
Starting point is 00:38:58 Approximately 10, 30, 11. 10, 30, 11. At that time, was little Haley in the bed asleep with the brother? Yes. And they all slept together in the same bed, correct? Yes. So sometime between 11 p.m. and 3-30 a.m., Haley goes missing. Now, did she call 911?
Starting point is 00:39:29 No, she did not. Not until after I was there. She tried to call me, but I was pulling in the driveway. So I asked her how come she was trying to call me. She needed to call 911. So she immediately called them then. Mr. Cummings, where does Haley's mother live? In Baker County in Glen St. Mary.
Starting point is 00:39:53 What is that, about 150 miles away? I would say approximately 90 to 100. Now, have you and your girlfriend both taken a polygraph, right? Yes, I have. Passed her with flying colors. Yes, she has. Passed her. And you volunteered to do that, and you've been cooperating with police, right?
Starting point is 00:40:18 Yeah, why not? I don't have anything to hide. I just want my daughter back. Anything that's going to help them eliminate more people is the best thing. Exactly. Mr. Cummings, you said the door was propped open. Describe to me what you saw when you got home. I came in the house and immediately checked all the bedrooms, the bathroom, everywhere just to be sure.
Starting point is 00:40:44 I walked to the back door. It was wide open. Checked all the bedrooms, the bathroom, everywhere, just to be sure. Walked to the back door. It was wide open. As I walked out the back door, the screen door was propped open with a center block. You know, interesting to Ashley Wolcott, juvenile judge, founder of ChildCrimeWatch.com. I believe, Ronald Cummings, I did from the very beginning. You know, you've always said that. And he sounds very credible on all the pieces that I've heard and the times that you've interviewed him. Here's what nobody's mentioned, though. I think the other thing to keep in mind is I see so many times parents who use
Starting point is 00:41:15 drugs sell their kids and they sell them for drugs. And so who's to say that the mother didn't say, oh, here, you can take her, you can have her, you can borrow. She didn't care. She wanted to get high. She wanted her drugs. So she may not know exactly what happened after the child might have been taken from the house, but clearly something nefarious happened. And she may have just said, hey, I want the drugs, take my child. We are talking about the disappearance of a beautiful little five-year-old girl, a Florida girl, Haley Cummings. She's never been found. The tip line, 386-329-0800. So to you, Art Harris, where does the case stand now? Well, if you remember, Nancy, what happened, police in Satsuma, Florida, Polak County, put the focus on this family and arrested Misty, Ronald, her brother, and charged them with drug distribution. They are now in prison, all of them, in different places, doing a lot of years.
Starting point is 00:42:25 Missy got 25 years, tried to get her sentence reduced two years ago, and it's going to stand at 25. Ronald is doing 15 years for trafficking, and so is her brother Tommy in another prison. They are hoping that someone will crack, will say something, and so far nothing that I know of, Nancy. We do know this. After her disappearance, the sheriff's office released a statement saying the investigation is ongoing, that they have learned through the investigation they've minimized the likelihood that Haley's disappearance is the work of a stranger. And those who know what happened still won't repeat it. Mark Klass, I think that's pretty clear. What do you make of it? Well, Nancy, I believe that at some point in time, somebody will crack. Remember the
Starting point is 00:43:19 Holly Bobo situation. It was similar in a lot of ways. It was a rural situation. The people that did it were heavily invested in drugs, and it was only a matter of time before somebody finally cracked, and I suspect that will happen in this case as well. You know, you're right. That happens so often. Karen Stark, I find it very difficult to believe that whoever took or killed Haley Cummings can stay quiet forever. Well, and especially that there are so many people that are in jail. Someone is going to say something to somebody, brag about it, or let people know that they're in on it. And we can only hope, Nancy, that that is what happened. Because so much of the time in this particular story, the focus is on what the personal life was like, the drugs they were taking.
Starting point is 00:44:14 And it goes away from the fact that this little girl has been missing for so long. I remember doing the case with you. That was a long time ago. So we have to hope that somebody scoves the beans here. And it was a very Nancy, the other thing law enforcement's up against Nancy is the players, at least those in this little circle, have proven to be totally untrustworthy. They have flunked, at least Misty has, four polygraphs. Tommy has flunked his. And so you're going to need more than one word or two or three against another. You've got to have DNA. You've got to have a body. You've got to have something that shows whoever is giving up information is worthy of belief and perhaps a reduced sentence by the results. And that means
Starting point is 00:45:04 bringing Haley home. That is going to be the challenge. To Mark Klass, founder of Klass Kids Foundation. Mark, the home is very small from where she disappeared. And she was just feet away from Misty Crosland when she is allegedly taken from her bed. We're talking about five-year-old Hilly Cummings, last seen alive at her small home in Putnam County, the small town of Setsuma. So what does that mean to you, Mark Glass,
Starting point is 00:45:38 as far as who may have disposed of her? Well, a couple of things. Number one, I agree that this has got nothing at all to do with the stranger. This is something that happened within this very small drug infested community. And secondly, I believe that Misty knew way more than she is telling. And it's only a matter of time, I'm sure, before she cracks and spills the beans one way or another. The tip line 386-329-0800. Please help us find Haley Cummings. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. Did you know a recent law can leave your personal data exposed online for anybody to find? If you've turned on the news lately, you know the Internet has created a dangerous new world.
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