Crystal Sheffield on Geraldo Rivera

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Crystal Sheffield, the mother of Haleigh Cummings, was interviewed on Geraldo at Large over the weekend (thanks for the tips), and her interview was interesting to me.

Crystal says that Cummings was abusive to her, physically and verbally.

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Geraldo: Do you believe his story about what happened?

Crystal: No, I don’t. I mean, I know he loves Haleigh….and………..ah (almost breaking down)……….his temper, it could get bad enough for him to hurt Haleigh, but I do know he loves Haleigh, Haleigh is his heart, and everybody knows that.

….

Geraldo: Do you believe that Ron Cummings knows who took Haleigh?

Crystal: He’s told my brother, and my fiance, that he knows, that he is 75% sure he knows where his daughter is.

….

Crystal: He acts like he’s crying, like that uh-uh. He’s not. I know when he is really crying–that is fake.

Overall, I believe Crystal Sheffield (I’m not going to break down details, but generally speaking) I think she is being honest with us, and sharing her true and genuine feelings here.

Later in the show, Geraldo talks to Cummings about these allegations, and Cummings’ response is classic. His anger is over the top, but he doesn’t want to let it out, so he. talks. like. this. in. an. attempt. to. control. it. I don’t trust ONE WORD out of Ronald Cummings’ mouth.

When Geraldo asked Cummings if he thought Haleigh was alive, his body language is, sadly, fascinating. He shakes his head no very briefly before he speaks, and then he moves his head abruptly to an up and down direction with a slight hook to the side. He says, “I’m always going to believe my daughter is alive until they find her.”

You can watch the interview on YouTube. Just search for “Geraldo 2/21/09”.

Misty Croslin’s Tennessee Relative

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….is not a suspect or a person of interest, according to Captain Dick Schauland of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.

FirstCoastNews.com

“The Truth About Liars”

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There is a show that ran last month in Canada (maybe you Canadian readers saw it)? It’s called “The Truth About Liars”, and was on the CBC. It featured both Dr. Paul Ekman and Dr. Maureen O’Sullivan. The website lists the show as a full-length video, but when you click on it, it says it is unavailable. I suspect this is because I am a U.S. viewer. However, the preview is available, and I thought you would enjoy it.

The beginning voice-over is Dr. Maureen O’Sullivan. You then get to see her. She hasn’t been in many videos, but here she is! Interestingly enough, as the video closes, the voice-over is Dr. Paul Ekman. Enjoy!

It appears that the CBC took down this video today after I posted this. Perhaps they don’t want the U.S. audience to see it? Sorry for this. Here is a link about the show (where you will find the video links to the show and preview), and here is another link to a segment of the show with Dr. O’Sullivan talking about expert lie detectors (I suspect “wizards”). Does this play for you?

Police Report Narrative

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MyFoxTampaBay.com has the police report narrative on their website for the Cummings case. If this is the actual police narrative, it shows there are many inconsistencies in the story being told by both Misty Croslin and Ronald Cummings.

Read moreIn the report, once the officers arrived, the cop said Cummings repeatedly said, “Someone took my child”.

Ronald repeadtedly [sic] said that someone had taken his child and also said, “when I find him, I’ll kill him.” Ronald was referring to a 9mm Beretta hand gun [sic] which heowed [sic] inside of his residence and that if law enforcement found whoever had this child, he would shoot them through the back window of the patrol car. I attempted to get information from Ronald regarding HAleigh [sic], however, due to his emotional state he was unable to provide any useful information.

I am in awe at how quickly Cummings ruled out every other potential outcome for his daughter’s absence within minutes of arriving home and finding Haleigh missing. How come he doesn’t have the normal thoughts of parents, and attempt to investigate, or consider other potential outcomes before jumping to one conclusion? Why did he not even once consider she may have wandered off, that the doors or windows could not have been unlocked by other people when he was away? It’s very notable. He clearly didn’t have 30 minutes to do any type of investigation, but he knows the outcome: someone took Haleigh.

I also find it interesting that Cummings was not able to calm himself down for his child’s sake, and help police get the information they needed. I suspect this was a facade, because he didn’t know what to say, personally.

The report continues:

I then made contact with Misty Croslin, Ronalds girlfriend. Misty told me that she had put the children to bed at approximately 8pm. MIsty [sic] said that they were sleeping in HER BED, and when she laid down at around 10:30pm both children were still in bed. I asked MIsty [sic] who the other child was and she advised the other child was Haleighs [sic] brother. Misty old me that she woke up just before 3am to get a drink and she noticed that Haleigh was missing, however the OTHER child was still in bed. MIsty [sic] ran around the residence franticallly [sic] looking for haleigh [sic] and that she noticed the back door was stanfing [sic] open. MIsty [sic] said that she was sure the back door had been locked prior to her going to bed.

There are multiple inconsistencies when reading this segment of the report above, if we compare it to what Misty has said in video interviews. Here Misty tells the police that she was in the SAME bed with Haleigh. Yet we’ve seen Misty say on video that Haleigh was in another bed. Clearly, Misty isn’t able to keep her facts straight.

Notice the time Misty says she went to bed as well? Misty has been saying in news reports that she went to bed at 10:00 p.m. Yet, early on, to the police (here), she is saying she went to bed at 10:30 p.m. Again, Misty is unable to stick to any facts.

Moreover, Misty doesn’t say she got up to go to the bathroom, which she has said all over the news. She says here that she got up to get a drink. She also doesn’t talk about finding the kitchen light on (or at least the police don’t report that here).

By the way this report is written, you get the distinct feeling that Misty told the police that she instantly noticed Haleigh was gone when she got up to get a drink, and then searched for her, whereas in videos, Misty has said she went to the bathroom, noticed the light on in the kitchen and saw the door open, and then realized Haleigh was missing. These are two very different stories.

The report continues:

Mist [sic] said that at approximately 5 minutes after she noticed Haleigh missing, Ronal [sic] arrived home.

In news reports, Misty has told us that she awoke at 3:00 a.m., and that Ronald Cummings came home around 3:30. This is another inconsistency.

Fox’s On the Record with Greta van Susteren, on February 12, even discusses this with Cummings, and notes there is a 27-minute time lapse from when Misty wakes up to when Cummings arrived home.

From “On the Record”:

VAN SUSTEREN: So let me — let’s — let me try to ask you some questions about it. What time did you arrive home, Ronald, on Tuesday morning?

RONALD CUMMINGS, FATHER: Approximately 3:30.

Clearly, the stories of Ronald Cummings and Misty Croslin are not adding up. Nothing in this report supports their latest version of events. What the truth is, of course, I can’t say, because I don’t know. But I know I don’t trust either one of these people. They are not telling us what I suspect they know to be true.

Ronald Cummings Participates in Search

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Yesterday when I was looking for news on the case, I found this article talking about Cummings participating in the search efforts on Sunday.

When I read it, one sentence just jumped off the computer at me, and I couldn’t shake it all day.

Read moreCummings says:

“If I get on a horse, I can clear my head and feel as if I’m really out there searching for my daughter. ”

This just blew me away.

The words “as if” and “really” are notably strange here. They are what I have coined hedge words. Look at the this British Councils explanation for the “as if” word usage. The website gives three examples of the words being used. It says, “We can also use as if and as though with a past verb tense to suggest that something is unreal.”

The website then gives examples for this usage:

She behaves as if/though she were the Queen. (She obviously isn’t the Queen)
He walks as if/though he were an old man. (But in fact he’s a young man)
They talk as if/though the world were coming to an end. (Of course it’s not)

That is precisely how this statement hits me.

People who wanted to search for their daughter wouldn’t want to feel “as if” they were “really” out there searching. They would want to “search”. Period.

I personally believe our brain leaks out clues to our real state of mind with words like this. I don’t think Cummings knew he said that, this way.

The article continues:

“In a break between rides into the woods, Miller said the benefit of including Ronald Cummings in the search was weighed against concern about what he might find.

But it turned out okay.

‘He literally looks like a different person,’ Miller said. ‘I think this has done him a lot of good.’”

I was amazed, too, that after the search that Cummings “looked” like a totally different person. Sure, one could argue that he was relieved he didn’t find his daughter dead, but why wasn’t he is still worried about her, and feeling deeply troubled and unresolved that there are no clues, that perhaps they aren’t looking in the right places, that perhaps she could be holed up in a room somewhere? Could it have been that Cummings saw how the search works, and what they do to look for bodies, and now he feels a whole lot better because of that? It’s chilling to think about, nonetheless write.

There are days just reading the news can be painful. Things jump out at me like knives–stabbing at me.