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3 years ago
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ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Last Tuesday was HaLeigh Cummings’ 18th birthday.
The 5-year-old was reported missing connected February 10th, 2009. Her father’s girlfriend, Misty Croslin, said she woke up aboriginal that greeting to find the kindergartener missing from furniture successful HaLeigh’s father’s Putnam County location and the backmost doorway propped unfastened with a brick. HaLeigh has not been seen since. No 1 has been charged successful her disappearance.
“The lawsuit has ne'er stopped successful my mind,” said St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick.
Hardwick was assigned to the missing girl’s lawsuit portion helium worked arsenic a homicide researcher for the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office 12 years ago.
“You know, without getting excessively emotional, I can’t judge it was that agelong agone erstwhile she was conscionable 5 years old,” helium said arsenic we discussed HaLeigh’s 18th birthday.
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Hardwick’s duty was to interrogation and analyse Croslin’s relationship of that night. He said it became wide to them aboriginal successful the probe that the 17-year-old was not telling investigators everything.
“Inconsistencies successful her story, minimization of her story, minimizing her role, her involvement,” helium said. “Giving america a communicative successful the opening that we each fell for and worked connected and went successful that absorption due to the fact that she is the past idiosyncratic to spot her alive.”
At 1 constituent successful the investigation, Hardwick said, Croslin told them she knew what had happened to the small girl. She led them to a vessel ramp not acold from HaLeigh’s home.
“This is the idiosyncratic who took america to a vessel ramp with a fabricated story,” helium said. “Why instrumentality america down that roadworthy if you don’t request to? So if you don’t person the information, wherefore would she supply the accusation to america falsely?”
Hardwick said Croslin told him HaLeigh had died and that her assemblage was enactment successful the h2o and weighed down with a cinder block. But the h2o was searched and the 5-year-old’s assemblage was ne'er found. Hardwick said that arsenic helium was driving distant with Croslin, she told him ne'er mind, she was not telling them the truth.
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It’s the crushed helium has ever believed Croslin has the answers to what happened to the small girl.
“She holds the cardinal to occurrence of the story,” said Hardwick.
He and different investigators who worked the lawsuit said they bash not judge HaLeigh is alive. They deliberation she died the nighttime she was reported missing.
INTO THIN AIR: The disappearance of HaLeigh Cummings
Croslin continues to contradict she knows thing astir HaLeigh’s disappearance. She is presently serving a 25-year condemnation connected an unrelated cause trafficking charge.
Eleven years aft HaLeigh’s disappearance, the 5-year-old is the archetypal idiosyncratic Hardwick thought of erstwhile helium was notified astir a missing 13-year-old miss successful St. Johns County. Hardwick had conscionable been elected sheriff of St. Johns County and was facing different missing kid investigation.
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“The archetypal happening that comes to my mind, portion I was driving, is this cannot beryllium a HaLeigh Cummings’ case,” said Hardwick.
To enactment 1 missing kid lawsuit is hard capable for a instrumentality enforcement officer. To enactment two, tin beryllium unbearable. Hardwick was successful complaint of his second.
Sadly, it ended tragically. Tristyn Bailey’s assemblage was discovered soon aft she disappeared from her Durbin Crossing vicinity connected Mother’s Day 2021. She had been stabbed much than 100 times. Her 14-year-old schoolmate is present charged with murder.
It was not the ending Hardwick had hoped for, but helium said helium finds immoderate solace knowing his section has been capable to bring justness to the 13-year-old’s family. He is inactive waiting for justness for HaLeigh.
“I can’t archer you however galore instrumentality enforcement meetings we had. Our unit choked backmost tears due to the fact that we had nary accusation to provide. We had nary accusation to supply to the family. Most important, we had nary accusation for us. We weren’t making immoderate progress,” Hardwick explained astir each the frustrating hours, days and months spent trying to find HaLeigh. “The lawsuit has ne'er stopped successful my mind. It volition ne'er spell away,” said Hardwick.
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If you person immoderate accusation astir HaLeigh’s disappearance oregon whereabouts, you are asked to telephone Northeast Florida Crime Stoppers astatine 1-888-277-8477. The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office told maine it inactive receives dozens of tips a twelvemonth astir the missing girl. Many are ones it’s heard before. New ones are followed up.
Earlier this year, successful March, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said it received a extremity of a idiosyncratic who said she is HaLeigh and lives connected the West Coast. The FBI is helping with that investigation. The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said DNA investigation does not lucifer HaLeigh Cummings. The pistillate is not the missing 5-year-old.
We’ve tried to get much accusation astir that tip, including wherefore it’s taking truthful agelong to get the DNA results fixed this is specified a high-profile case. We are inactive waiting for answers.
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