Talk show host worked closely with blogger involved with hiding the child
Commentary by Author Timothy Charles Holmseth
Introduction
It was bound to happen.
As the Age of Communication swept the globe, its tidal wave of possibilities moving faster than human understanding, the emerging technology seemed to pick up speed as it moved – everywhere you looked, the race was on.
Change can be good, and entrepreneurs of all makes and models marveled at their own thoughts and imaginations as society literally struggled to keep up with the advancements that seemed to move faster than – well – mankind’s darkest thoughts and cruelest plans.
It was going to happen.
The rapid changes in technology and enhanced capabilities in media were tumbling forward, approaching the unprecedented crossroads where natural human love and compassion intersect with the beautiful face of a missing child, only to merge with the basic principles of mass marketing.
Gone now were the days of black and white tabloid newspapers at the grocery store counter, heralding the breaking news and photo of an Alabama man that shot a 47 pound grasshopper in his backyard. No more UFO’s piloted by Jesus beaming a light down on the neighbor lady and taking her away.
No sir – this aint your mamma’s broken heart.
Society was ready to trade in the Weekly World News, Elvis, biblical prophecies, the one-hundredth second coming of Christ, and the occasional UFO for some real blood, sweat, and tears.
It had to happen.
Every remarkable thing has its inventor – every notable date has its entry – every memorable revolution has a bold pioneer – good or bad – and the missing child business was to be no different.
Nancy Grace – queen of the breaking bombshell – had arrived – and she had big plans.
What did Nancy Grace figure out faster than everyone else? What possibilities did she quickly entertain without the burdensome call of conscience? What nuance did she hone in on?
Yep – the babies. She saw the value of the babies.
She was snapping necks and cashing checks.
How did Nancy Grace become the Joyce Meyer of mysteries; the Kate Gosselin of obnoxious re-invention?
The babies.
In 2006 Nancy Grace tormented the mother of a missing child named Trenton Duckett during a live broadcast, to the degree the young woman committed suicide. The family of Melinda Duckett sued, and the matter was subsequently settled; Grace was ordered to pay up.
But Grace was only getting started, folks.
Trenton Duckett was small potatoes in the emerging marketing plan Grace was developing, and in 2008 a missing toddler named Caylee Anthony catapulted her program to heights unimagined by the average malignant narcissist.
But Nancy Grace was ready to leave the Kate Gosselin’s of the world behind. Exploiting a bunch of tired, crying kids was for amateurs who would never ultimately live up to their full potential to completely rob happiness and destroy lives. Sure – Joyce Meyer is a polished fraud, but Nancy Grace was about to get her ‘demon’ on.
It was going to happen.
The Bombshell Queen’s most chilling endeavor – her most ingenious scheme – the most lucrative scenario yet – a brilliant thing it would be – a daring new idea.
An orchestrated kidnapping, produced in real time, in reality show format.
And you saw it happen, folks.
Some people remember where they were when President Kennedy was shot. Others remember where they were when man landed on the moon. Some of the younger ones recall the Twin Towers falling on 9/11/01.
But some will be able to tell their grandchildren – “I remember exactly where I was when that pig Nancy Grace played up that fake kidnapping of that little girl from Florida HaLeigh Cummings”.
You’ll recall the scrolling ad banners – split screens and voice overs – fantastic colors and moving script as the frightened voice of a teenage girl is heard – “I just woke up and our back door was all open and I can’t find my daughter”.
Bye Bye Miss American Pie…
Look in her eyes, folks.
She is a fraud.
It was a manufactured mystery – carefully kept on simmer with dramatic updates and edge of your seat teasers.
Yep.
Satellites truck on location for the intermittent unveiling of fake leads and framed suspects – new evidence – person’s of interest and breaking news.
It was all bogus, complete crap – garbage brought to you by Nancy Grace and her fake reporter, Art Harris.
I was on the telephone in Minnesota talking to all of them. They told me HaLeigh was being hidden by her family. I heard her grandpa laughing his ass off; I heard them fighting on conference calls; threatening each other.
Watch Nancy Grace when she talks about this subject now.
Look in her eyes.
She is a fraud.
She knows she went too far.
She knows HaLeigh is alive.
She knows that I know.
THE HALEIGH CUMMINGS CASE FOR DUMMIES
On February 10, 2009 at approximately 3:27 a.m., a seventeen year-old girl named Misty Croslin telephoned 911 in Putnam County, Florida and told the operator she woke up to find her daughter missing.
The little girl nobody could find was HaLeigh Cummings, 5.
The local Sheriff’s Office must have found this emergency call to be rather suspicious, because, they’d already received a call regarding HaLeigh at 2:13 a.m.
The trailer home, which HaLeigh allegedly vanished from, rendered detectives nothing useful. No signs of forced entry; no forensic evidence indicating foul play. The Sheriff’s Office would not even refer to the trailer as a ‘crime scene’ per say.
The initial police report deemed the incident ‘domestically involved’ and the Sheriff’s Office told the media it was ‘no stranger abduction’.
All in all – HaLeigh was not at her father’s house and, wherever she was at – nobody was talking.
An Amber Alert was issued, which generated national media attention for the little girl.
THE KEY TO THE CASE – THE 2:13 A.M. CALL
As time passed, it became very clear the Sheriff’s Office was not going to provide the public with any specific information – with one exception. The Sheriff’s Office would talk about the girl that called 911 at 3:27 a.m. – Misty Croslin. ‘Misty holds the key” is what spokesmen for the sheriff’s office would tell the media.
Sheriff Jeff Hardy, Major Gary Bowling, Captain Dominick Piscitello, Captain Dick Schauland, Lieutenant Johnny Greenwood, and others were all positive the ‘key’ was with Misty.
They were wrong. The key to HaLeigh’s disappearance is the person who made the 2:13 a.m. call.
Misty Croslin didn’t make that call.
Whoever called the police at 2:13 a.m. already knew HaLeigh was gone. The caller wanted a deputy to be dispatched to the trailer so it could be found empty, thus proving Misty and HaLeigh were not there. Actual radio transcriptions show that a deputy was dispatched; and the trailer was found empty.
In September of 2009, the Sheriff’s Office finally squeezed a prisoner into making a statement to that effect. Hank (Tommy) Croslin Jr., the brother of Misty Croslin, told law enforcement he rapped on the door of the Cummings trailer around the 10 o’clock hour but nobody was home.
This creates several questions.
Why wouldn’t the Sheriff’s Office simply issue a public statement, explaining how they sent a deputy to the trailer that night after receiving a call at 2:13 a.m. – why not just announce they know that Misty Croslin was not there and admit they received that 2:13 a.m. call?
Why the secrecy?
It raises a fair question – the police did receive the first call at 2:13 a.m. That is a fact that came from Lt. John Greenwood (now Major) during an interview with the Gainesville Sun. Why did the Sheriff’s Office feel they needed to squeeze the hell out of Tommy Croslin; and then have it be him to claim Misty wasn’t at the trailer?
It’s clear the Sheriff’s Office wanted the public to know Misty wasn’t in the trailer home – but why couldn’t they just come out and say it themselves? The public would much rather hear it from a deputy as opposed to a desperate prisoner.
So here’s the problem – they are protecting the identity of the 2:13 a.m. caller. The person that called the police at 2:13 a.m. already knew HaLeigh was gone. So, if the police won’t disclose the identity of the 2:13 a.m. caller, they are basically covering for that caller – and they are covering to this very day.
THE PHANTOM BABY AND BABYSITTER – THE PATSY
So, why would Misty Croslin lie to police and tell them she was at the trailer on the night in question, sleeping beside HaLeigh, only to wake and find her gone – missing – stolen? Why did she feel she needed to say all that? Well, that caller, whose identity is being protected; was attempting to frame Misty – and Misty knew it.
What was Misty being framed for? Why frame her? What was the plan?
Misty Croslin was being framed as the proverbial ‘irresponsible teenage babysitter’. It was probably not the intention of anyone to frame her for murder – just a patsy to create a plausible explanation for how a stranger could come in and take HaLeigh away.
Misty Croslin was going to be set up as the token irresponsible teenage babysitter – it was going to appear that she left HaLeigh alone while she ran around partying and somebody came along and kidnapped HaLeigh.
However, when Misty found out the police were looking for her; she realized what was being done – she knew she was being set up. She high-tailed it to the trailer and claimed she was there all night.
She lied, and placed herself with HaLeigh, so she could control the story. As you will see, as we move on, Misty already knew what happened to HaLeigh.
Why make it look like a kidnapping? Why all this framing stuff?
The reason the 2:13 a.m. caller attempted to frame Misty as an irresponsible teenager that neglected the child, and allowed her to be kidnapped by a stranger, is because HaLeigh was already gone – long gone. HaLeigh had been taken away from her father by her grandpa or people helping him.
Why did grandpa take her?
Because – among other things – HaLeigh was being sexually abused and mistreated.
The frame-up very likely involved Ronald Cumming and his mother, Teresa Neves. They were trying to create a scenario that would explain why HaLeigh was gone, without telling on HaLeigh’s paternal grandpa, Johnny Sheffield.
It will be explained further on why they needed to do that.
Why not just tell on Johnny Sheffield?
Because – Johnny Sheffield and Ronald Cummings had secrets between them – big secrets.
A HOMICIDE IN PUTNAM COUNTY
According to a source I interviewed, somebody was murdered shortly before HaLeigh was reported missing.
What’s most interesting about the killing is the amount of individuals that appear to be directly, or indirectly, involved.
Guns were a regular conversation piece for:
Hank Croslin Sr.
Hank Croslin Jr.
Timothy Croslin
Joseph Overstreet
Ronald Cummings
William Staubs
Johnny Sheffield
In a recorded conversation between Ronald Cummings and a private investigator, Cobra Staubs, the two men discuss a pistol that was hidden and washed.
This wasn’t a group of Choir boys – every one of them had serious dirt on the other – they were criminals.
RESCUE MISSION – OUT OF THE FRYING PAN INTO THE FIRE
According to Crystal Sheffield’s victim’s abuse advocate, Wayanne Kruger, two men, John and Jeremiah Regan, met Teresa Neves at the home of Ronald Cummings a few days before HaLeigh vanished – Misty Croslin was present.
Remember that – Misty Croslin was present.
What did they all do at the Cummings trailer?
Here is what Kruger told me in a recorded interview.
They took naked photographs of HaLeigh in an illegal transaction involving child pornography. The transaction was captured by John Regan, who was dressed as a pastor and wearing a concealed wire.
Misty Croslin participated by helping to keep HaLeigh calm.
If what Kruger said is true, it explains a lot of things.
Now, before making any critical judgments on Kruger’s credibility, you might want to consider her accomplishments. She authored a book regarding child sex abuse, and her story was featured on the ABC television news magazine 20/20. She has been featured by People magazine. She has intimate knowledge of the human trafficking ‘underground’.
The crazy world of child sex abuse rescue missions is Kruger’s forte.
A separate witness I interviewed described close-up photographs taken of HaLeigh’s vagina, which was damaged by recent sex abuse. According to Kruger, HaLeigh was being molested and pimped-out in a variety of different ways.
There was one other thing Kruger told me. She said the Sheriff’s Office and FBI could not determine if HaLeigh was dead or alive, because she had been recently raped and they didn’t know if she died from the hemorrhaging.
Kruger’s story about HaLeigh possibly being raped and hemorrhaging shortly before she vanished could possibly be disinformation, put out to justify HaLeigh’s disappearance, but the over-arching fact that HaLeigh was being sexually abused is what is most relevant.
So it went like this…
According to Kruger, in a planned operation, blackmail evidence was obtained against Ronald Cummings and Teresa Neves during a child porn shoot. With blackmail evidence as insurance, HaLeigh was taken by her grandpa, and Ronald Cummings didn’t dare tell on him or the porn shoot evidence would be given to police.
So, Ronald Cummings and his mother staged a stranger abduction kidnapping, and Misty Croslin was supposed to get blamed for leaving HaLeigh alone and vulnerable.
AMBER ALERT PIMP – NANCY GRACE
HaLeigh disappeared on February 10, 2009 and had been missing for one month.
In March of 2009, at the invitation of Marie Griffis (HaLeigh’s maternal grandmother) and Crystal Sheffield (HaLeigh’s mother), Wayanne Kruger traveled from Arizona to Florida to assist the family and represent Sheffield to the press.
So – who did HaLeigh’s grandmother, Marie Griffis, called upon for a reference regarding Kruger? Kruger said Marie Griffis called Natisha Lance, producer, Nancy Grace Show.
Yep.
But here is the real twist.
After the scam began to go to hell, Kruger realized she did not want the public to know she was in Florida when HaLeigh vanished. But – she was in Florida when HaLeigh vanished. Kruger was in the immediate area when HaLeigh disappeared. She admitted to me that she was, and she talked to the family on the phone the night HaLeigh disappeared. She was also seen in Orlando at a Caylee Anthony memorial.
Be sure – Kruger and the rest of them do not want anyone to know that.
As noted previously, if anybody was paying attention, they would have noticed Kruger is a child sex abuse advocate that was once featured on ABC’s news magazine 20/20 for a book she wrote about sex abuse of little girls. If anyone looked a little further yet, they would read about Kruger assisting a woman with hiding and transporting her little child to keep her from her abuser.
Hello???
Kruger was invited to travel to Florida from Arizona by HaLeigh’s family and was given a bed in their home.
Hello???
It was a planned kidnapping. Kruger was the planner.
So, who was Kruger communicating with before and after she arrived in Florida – besides Marie Griffis and Crystal Sheffield?
The identity of those people will tell you who else was involved.
I’ll tell you who they were.
KRUGER’S COLLEAGUES
Kruger was telephoning, texting, and coordinating her activities with a private investigator named William Staubs – a.k.a. ‘Cobra the Bounty Hunter’. He was in negotiations with Discovery Channel and Spike TV for a reality show.
Kruger and Staubs were both communicating with Rev. Richard Grund – a potential prosecution witness in the Casey Anthony trial. Staubs told the media that Grund was his client.
Kruger and Staubs were also in communication with a sleazy washed-up tabloid blogger named Art Harris. This guy is a true degenerate – an Amber Alert pimp working for Nancy Grace.
If you ever had any anger and disgust – Art Harris and Nancy Grace are worthy of complete and utter contempt from the American public.
Harris, a sleazy wannabe media writer, accepted drug money as payment from Staubs to publish cooked up stories on his website and feed information to Nancy Grace. Harris developed articles that made innocent people look guilty and re-directed focus from those who were actually responsible for HaLeigh’s disappearance.
He fed his fake information to Nancy Grace and appeared on her program – lying to the public.
According to a former colleague, Harris was fired by CNN during the first Gulf War after jeopardizing the lives of U.S. troops in the field – a pissed off sergeant drove him away from the troop encampment and kicked him out of the jeep.
Harris and Grace tell the public he won two Emmy awards so people think he is honest – according to his former colleague he is a liar – CNN won the awards, not him.
Additionally, Kruger was working alongside a father and son team that showed up out of nowhere, John and Jeremiah Regan.
Kruger, Staubs, Harris, Grund, John, and Jeremiah Regan were all in contact and communication with Marie Griffis and Crystal Sheffield (HaLeigh’s mom and grandma). Also present was staff members Jerri Green, Donna Wagoner, and Donald Knop. Most of them shared a motel block.
Kruger says she attempted to go to the police and tell the truth about HaLeigh. She says John and Jeremiah Regan prevented her from doing so. She said John Regan told her he was an “undercover pervert” working for the FBI – pretending to be a (fake) pedophile to catch (real) pedophiles.
Shortly after Kruger attempted to spill the beans, she was poisoned in a motel room and almost died. She says Staubs pulled a gun on her and Jeremiah Regan pricked her with a needle that caused her to develop a metallic taste in her mouth and feel as if she was going under anesthesia – she said a doctor later determined she had a mild heart attack – when it happened nobody would call 911.
Yeah – those were the consequences of trying to go to the police. Kruger exited a few days after she was poisoned – essentially escaping with her life. Kruger is believed to have video of HaLeigh Cummings, which she shot with her I-Phone.
For the next couple of months the charlatans wrought havoc on the area. Sleazy Harris pretended to be a journalist and wrote cheesy articles promoting Cobra the Bounty Hunter and his Team. Staubs and Harris targeted specific drug addicts, black men, and local pedophiles for sensationalized stories to cast suspicion on them; and away from Crystal Sheffield and the group that was hiding HaLeigh.
Harris kept a steady stream of information flowing to HLN and Nancy Grace.
Kruger would later reveal in recorded interviews that John Regan was part of an international baby-brokering, human-trafficking operation in South Florida. The details of what Kruger described would make you physically ill. The actual interview between Kruger and I is now in FBI evidence.
She named names.
Jeremiah Regan had solicited donations from businesses, sought rental property, and the group quickly had a building they called the HaLeigh Bug Center. Simultaneously, they erected a website called http://www.haleighbug.com and a foundation called HaLeigh Bug.
The web domain was in the name of Jeremiah Regan – yet – a few weeks prior to HaLeigh’s disappearance, Jeremiah Regan lived in New York.
Staubs told the Jacksonville Times-Union that HaLeigh Bug was supposed to be grown into an international search firm that hunted down missing children and he was going to be the chief investigator.
By mid-summer of 2009, a great many plans appeared to be in ruin.
Kruger had exited in March, but remained in contact with members of the group by phone and text. Harris was gone. He only appeared on obscure basement productions of Web radio programs to an audiences of 10-20 people. He can no longer operate a business that features his sleazy name.
Recordings of Harris, captured by Staubs, and given to me, revealed Harris had been bad-mouthing his colleague Nancy Grace and talking about how much trouble she could get into with the law for the things she was doing.
Staubs was free on bond after being arrested by the Sheriff’s Office and charged with felony false imprisonment.
Crystal Sheffield was reportedly devastated in the wake of the worst decisions she ever made, and some of the professional service providers she chose to obtain resulted in the destruction of her life and future. Sheffield subsequently hired a good lawyer that directed a Cease and Desist letter to the charlatans of the past. They were legally admonished to stop talking publicly about her child.
But, did anything happen before the gang was gone that could lend any clues to the truth about HaLeigh’s whereabouts and fate.
Yes, it did.
It happened on April 26-27, 2009 between Brunson, South Carolina and Satsuma, Florida.
APRIL 26-27, 2009 – THE DAY HALEIGH GOT KIDNAPPED AGAIN
On April 26, 2009 at approximately 6:30 p.m., a woman and her husband believed they witnessed the missing child HaLeigh Cummings at the Tiger Express gas station in Brunson, South Carolina.
The witnesses reported to law enforcement what they had seen. They called it in to America’s Most Wanted. They also sent the information to Florida Attorney Mark Nejame (which produced a publicly available document of the event).
The couple reported seeing HaLeigh Cummings in the custody of a man and a woman. When the man noticed HaLeigh had been recognized, he made the child lay down on the floor boards of the car. The vehicle exited the gas station, turned, and continued in the direction of Florida.
A few hours later…
On April 27, 2009 at 12:47 a.m., a 911 call was made. Assistance was being requested at a commercial facility in Satsuma, Florida called the HaLeigh Bug Center. The caller was Sara Sheffield – she was requesting medical assistance for her sister, Crystal Sheffield, HaLeigh’s mother. Sara Sheffield reported to responding deputies that a man dressed in black had been lurking around outside the HaLeigh Bug Center. She told the officer her sister fell down and hit her head and was having a seizure.
I interviewed the Sheffield family’s private investigator, William Staubs regarding this event. In fact, I interviewed most every professional working around Crystal Sheffield at the time. Each person provided me riveting details of a very dramatic event.
Every person I interviewed described a chaotic bloody scene. One rendition of events included several men being present, (multiple) babies crying, adults screaming and arguing, family members in vehicles were arriving and leaving, paramedics interacting with licensed professionals, and sheriff’s deputies questioning witnesses.
All of my interviews regarding that matter were recorded on audio. I possess audio proof of all the statements by each witness. For purposes of this article, I am going to focus on what Staubs told me.
PUTNAM COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE – STAUBS SAYS HE TALKED TO A COP – THE COPS SAY NO
William Staubs told me he was present and spoke face to face with a police officer. Others I interviewed also claimed to have spoken with paramedics and police officers and confirmed what Staubs claimed.
The alleged interaction between witnesses, and, police officers and paramedics, will become very relevant as you will see (because the Police Report says the opposite occurred).
William Staubs told me the Sheffield girls had a baby in the building and he discussed how they handled that situation.
William Staubs: “…and then there was a concern as I recall as to where this little child would end up going too – they had a cute looking baby – so they decided to give it to somebody else yadda yadda yadda I can’t – the story is kind of sketchy there as far as what I remember, but they turned the kid over to somebody else”
Timothy Holmseth: What kid?
William Staubs: “The baby. Some baby. They were babysitting some baby or something They had to get rid of this baby, and I think it was the new kid that, if memory serves me correct it was the new child that Crystal and her boyfriend have there. I can’t remember what his name is off the top of my head but I said well is it – and I gave – I’m not watching the kid – I’m not sitting here watching the kid so they called and somebody else came and picked up the child and then Crystal was transported to the hospital…”
I possess audio of a complete statement from Staubs.
Staubs describes arriving at the same time as another vehicle, which itself contains several occupants. They then found Crystal Sheffield bleeding profusely. He says approximately five minutes passed, and then he heard the sirens approaching.
Five minutes – make note of that – FIVE MINUTES.
Staubs talks about getting a towel for Crystal Sheffield who is still bleeding. He also describes Sara Sheffield walking him through what she claimed happened. He examines a hatchet he finds. The group then confers about what to do with a baby that is present at the scene. It is decided a relative should be called to come and pick the child up, which is then done. A relative is called who comes and picks up a baby.
But remember, he heard the sirens approaching within five minutes of his arrival.
There is a problem with what Staubs is saying. The problem is in the police report and there is no escaping it. The police report only reports Sara and Crystal Sheffield as being present (Crystal was erroneously referred to as Crystal Cummings in the report).
Other than police officers, the only other witness listed is the neighbor man.
Not only that – there’s NO BABY. The police report says there were NO MINOR children present.
What does this mean?
If you take the police report at face value, William Staubs was not present when the police arrived, nor was any of the other people that told me they were present.
They had all split the scene – with the baby (HaLeigh Cummings).
Staubs said they decided to have a cousin come and pick the child up. In a separate interview he told me he personally put the child in a car in front of the HaLeigh Bug Center.
Staubs said he spoke with Crystal Sheffield’s mother, Marie Griffis, to make sure it was okay to send the child away in a vehicle.
Staubs said he heard the sirens five minutes after his arrival. So, when did all this telephone activity regarding the ‘baby’ take place? What Staubs describes is ‘calling’ someone well after midnight (presumably waking them up) and asking them to come and pick up a baby. He then has the entire task being accomplished before the approaching the sirens arrive.
Remember, he heard the sirens approaching within five minutes of his own arrival.
The police report stated no minor children were present at the scene.
Now – what really went on, you wonder?
Well – probably this.
Staubs was staking the place out (the man dressed in black – peeking in the windows). When HaLeigh arrived from Georgia (having passed through Brunson, South Carolina where she was seen at the gas station) Cobra Staubs kicked the door in on the HaLeigh Bug Center (he told me he kicked the door in) and took HaLeigh away from her mother and gave her to her grandpa.
Now – hold on to your socks, because I am going to tell you what happened when I first tried to get a copy of that police report.
In the fall of 2010, I telephoned the Records department in Putnam County to request all available documentation on the event that took place per the 911 call on April 27, 2009.
Guess what?
The computer system contained no record whatsoever of the event. According to the computer system where all the records are kept – the whole thing NEVER HAPPENED.
Yep.
I had to fight it out with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and involve the FBI before they suddenly ‘found’ it.
THE HIDDEN POLICE REPORTS FOUND – HALEIGH’S AMBER ALERT RE-INSTATED – LEAD DETECTIVE QUIETLY EXITS SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT
HaLeigh’s disappearance has been classified as both a kidnapping and homicide. The press releases by the Sheriff’s Office are confusing to most, because although homicide is discussed, HaLeigh’s has an Amber Alert that classifies her as Missing and Endangered.
To help you understand this seeming discrepancy, we will go through the finer details and developments of the case, to explain why the case has appeared to toggle between these two classifications.
Approximately two weeks after HaLeigh’s disappearance, a quasi anomaly appeared in the investigation when cadaver dogs hit on a dumpster near HaLeigh’s home; but nothing was found. The dumpster hit was perplexing – if a body had been in the dumpster, where did it go? Why wasn’t the dumpster hit on immediately on the night HaLeigh was reported missing?
I will get back to that dumpster, but first, let’s look at some other searches that followed.
Law enforcement conducted several different searches – focusing primarily on bodies of water. In June, 2009 law enforcement searched property in Baker County, Florida on the property of HaLeigh’s maternal grandmother, Marie Griffis. In September, 2009 a pond was drained after receiving a tip.
It was never clear exactly what law enforcement was searching for during these targeted events.
By early 2010, several persons of interest in HaLeigh’s disappearance were in the custody of the PCSO on un-related drug charges. Misty Croslin and her brother, Hank Croslin Jr., were talking to police. While the Croslins were discussing various details about an alleged murder of the little girl, they did not confess to murdering HaLeigh. Rather, they provided statements implicating a family cousin from Tennessee named Joe Overstreet.
Law enforcement had long since interviewed Overstreet and cleared him. Polygraph tests administered on Misty Croslin did not confirm the new story she was giving law enforcement.
In April of 2010, based upon information emerging from the jail, an extensive search of the St. John’s River was conducted by multiple agencies and counties including Putnam, Clay, Marion, as well as the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Amidst this River search, the PCSO announced the missing person case had been converted into a homicide investigation.
It is at this point you might begin to consider and ponder the idea that a person may have been killed around the time HaLeigh vanished; a person that was NOT HaLeigh Cummings (because that’s what happened).
Major Gary Bowling, director of law enforcement, PCSO, was asked by the Gainesville Sun how officers reached the decision that the case was now a homicide. Bowling said, “It’s a lot of information over the last few weeks. None of us believe we are looking for an alive child anymore.”
Fair enough.
Now – what Major Bowling said was very significant – because according to the Director, the classification of the case affected the Amber Alert status. “You lose the Amber Alert out of that, but that’s the only significant difference between any tool or investigative strategy that changes or diminishes,” Bowling told the Palatka Daily News.
The Amber Alert was cancelled by the classification change Major Bowling said so.
HaLeigh’s new status will also keep the investigation on the path to her killer rather than the person that abducted her, Bowling said.
The idea that HaLeigh was dead was to be an idea short-lived.
The PCSO was about to discover something from me (Timothy Charles Holmseth), that would jump start the entire investigation, and will certainly change what you think about HaLeigh’s welfare status. Likewise, it will illuminate what law enforcement continues to refer to as a homicide investigation.
Let’s re-cap the events of April 26-27, 2009 – you will soon be amazed because that event, in conjunction with my request for the police report regarding the event, resulted in HaLeigh’s Amber Alert being re-instated.
On April 27, 2009 Putnam County Emergency Management (PCEM) dispatched an ambulance to a facility called the HaLeigh Bug Center in Satsuma, Florida after receiving a 911 emergency call from Sarah Sheffield – the sister of Crystal Sheffield (HaLeigh’s mother).
Now – remember – HaLeigh had been sighted at approximately 6:30 p.m., April 26 at the Tiger Express gas station in Brunson, South Carolina in the company of a man and woman traveling in the direction of Florida. The man would later be picked out of a group of pictures by the witness, who said she recognized him to be the man shown in a photo of Jeremiah Regan, administrator, HaLeigh Bug Center.
During multiple interviews I conducted, I learned about the late night incident at the HaLeigh Bug Center that resulted in a 911 call, and understood its shocking implications.
In the fall of 2010 I contacted Major (then Lieutenant) Johnny Greenwood, public information officer, PCSO, and asked him for the police report generated by the April 27, 2009 law enforcement activity at the HaLeigh Bug Center. Major Greenwood advised me there was no record of any such event – he said no police were at any such scene.
Of course, I knew better, because I had conducted so many interviews with so many people present at the scene, it was a no-brainer. It was even covered by the mainstream media at the time; including a news piece by T.J. Hart, news director, WSKY.
I decided to contact the department that handles records and emergency management dispatches in Putnam County, Florida. I called and was told the computer system did not contain any records of any emergency management personnel being dispatched to that location.
The records had all disappeared from the computer. You can listen to the telephone call I made (below).
I contacted Major Greenwood again. I told him I had conducted extensive recorded interviews that would prove what occurred at the HaLeigh Bug Center that night. I included the Jacksonville FBI in the email exchange. I became very forward and aggressive with my request.
Major Greenwood then found the police report. He said it had not originally appeared because the right words were not being used in the search.
Major Greenwood’s explanation did not reasonably account for an entire event disappearing from the mainframe computer system; but that’s for another time.
The narrative of the police report did not, in any way, shape, or form match what I had been told about the events of that night. I had been told of multiple people – crying and arguing – cars coming and going, small children being placed in automobiles and quickly taken away. Blood everywhere – fighting, screaming, arguing, phone calls, and wailing babies.
AMBER ALERT RE-INSTATED – A MISSING AND ENDANGERED CHILD
Shortly thereafter, HaLeigh’s cancelled Amber Alert was re-instated (the first time in American history that a cancelled Amber Alert was re-instated).
In this same time-window, Peggy Cone, the former lead detective of the HaLeigh Task Force (quietly) retired from the PCSO.
It is very clear – somebody took measures to hide the entire paper trail regarding the April 26-27, 2009 event. The subsequent activities by the Sheriff’s Office regarding Detective Cone provide a pretty good idea of where one might want to place their focus on that matter.
Major Bowling advised me of Cone’s departure, and noted a new detective had been assigned to the case and it was very active.
HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION RE-VISITED
When law enforcement re-instated HaLeigh’s Amber Alert – the message and reality was loud and clear – HaLeigh was not dead.
Obviously, this creates questions about the on-going “criminal investigation” being conducted by the PCSO, which they called a “homicide investigation” shortly before I exposed the HaLeigh Bug Center incident and hidden records.
Okay – now we will now jump back to the bizarre event that took place in February of 2009, when several German Shepherd cadaver dogs hit on a dumpster near HaLeigh’s home – but no body was found inside the dumpster.
I learned during an interview with a witness, who I am not going to name (but have named to PCSO) that a man was allegedly murdered in the home of Ronald Cummings shortly before HaLeigh was reported missing.
The homicide involved a gun and considerable activity took place with disposing of the body.
I have provided the names of the individuals that were allegedly present during the violent murder to the PCSO and FBI.
As you can see, the disappearance of HaLeigh Cummings can be classified as either a kidnapping investigation, homicide investigation, or criminal investigation.
It’s all of them.
Nancy Grace and her colleague, Art Harris, presented the fake kidnapping of HaLeigh Cummings as a real-time mystery
America's Little Girl 