Haleigh's Mom Holds Onto Hope

5-Year-Old Disappeared From Father's Mobile Home In February

POSTED: Thursday, December 31, 2009
UPDATED: 4:14 pm EST December 31, 2009

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- As the mother of a girl who disappeared from a Putnam County mobile home after she was put to bed on February night, Crystal Sheffield has been in the public eye for almost a year now.

Talking on the eve of a new year, she told Channel 4 she'd give anything to go back to the way things were before the worst day of her life.

"Like your heart has been ripped out of your chest," Crystal Sheffield said. "I really don't know how to explain the hurt I feel."

In the months after she vanished in February, Haleigh Cummings' face has been everywhere -- television, the newspapers, posters, even billboards.

There have been dozens of searches, thousands of leads, but investigators are no closer to knowing what happened to the girl who would have turned 6 in August.

Crystal Sheffield was at times strong, at times emotional as she talked about her continuing hope that her daughter is found safe and returns home.

"It's horrible. I just sit around and wait, hoping that you'll get a call or a knock on the door saying they found her, and you don't," Sheffield said Thursday.

While the couple was never married and has been estranged since before Haleigh disappeared, Sheffield said she still talks to Haleigh's dad, Ronald Cummings, about the search for their daughter.

She said as a mother, she has to hold out hope that Haleigh is safe and will someday be reunited with the family.

"I just want everyone to keep searching," Sheffield told Channel 4's Adam Landau. "I don't want anybody to give up on her. She's only 6. She's not worth giving up on."

If you know anything about where Haleigh may be, call Crime Stoppers at 888-277-TIPS. You can also text your information to investigators. Text TIP-231 plus your message to CRIMES (274637).

http://www.news4jax.com/news/22100012/detail.html

That is so sad. I have not given up hope she will be found. I don't think she will be found alive.

Haleigh Cummings' Mother Asks For Answers
Jessica Clark Ann Butler Created: 12/31/2009 1:35:07 PM Updated: 12/31/2009 5:17:46 PM

BAKER COUNTY, Fla. -- Another holiday has come and gone, and Haleigh Cummings' family still does not know what happened to their little girl.

Crystal Sheffield, Haleigh's mother, said Christmas was extremely difficult.

"There were a lot of things we didn't do. We didn't go all out because she wasn't there," Sheffield said through tears. "We let the kids open their presents three days before Christmas because I couldn't do it. I just couldn't do it on Christmas Day."

Haleigh disappeared from her father's home in Satsuma in Putnam County in February. She was 5. Searches have turned up nothing in her case.

Sheffield said she feels law enforcement, specifically the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, is not doing enough to investigate her daughter's case.

"It's gone on long enough for them not to know anything," Sheffield sobbed. "I just don't understand. I want answers. I want to know what's going on. I want to know what clues they do have."

Linda Dayson and Robert Dove work with the Jacksonville-based organization Hurting Families With Children in Crime. It supports families who are victims of crime.

The organization is supporting Sheffield and the rest of Haleigh's family.

Dayson said, "I don't believe Putnam County is doing the best they can do with this ongoing search. We don't want this to be another cold case."

She wants surrounding law enforcement agencies to help the PCSO.

PCSO Lt. Johnny Greenwood said a team of investigators just met with Sheffield and her family in November.

Greenwood said investigators got the family "up to speed on the case."

Investigators also asked if the family had any questions, he said.

Greenwood said the sheriff's office has some of the "best people in the country" working on Haleigh's case. They include individuals from the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Dayson and Dove also want detectives to crack down on Misty Croslin Cummings -- the person who put Haleigh to bed the night she disappeared.

"I would like to see them really interrogate Misty. Pressure her,"
Dove said.

Sheffield said she also feels investigators have not done enough when it comes to Cummings.

"She was the last one to see my daughter," Sheffield said with frustration.

Investigators still feel Cummings holds the key to the case, Greenwood said. He added that they have spent hours interviewing her and take every opportunity to speak to her about the case.

Greenwood said some new information has come to light about what happened in the days leading up to Haleigh's disappearance - as well as what happened the night she vanished.

However, he would not elaborate because he said he did not want to jeopardize the case.

If you know any information that could help investigators, please call Crime Stoppers at 1-888-277-TIPS (8477). You can remain anonymous and could receive a cash reward.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/topstories/news-article.aspx?storyid=150139&catid=3