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In a wedding not made in heaven, at least one that their local pastor refused to sanction in his church because of his disagreement with the proposed relationship, Ronald Cummings (25) married his current teen-age girlfriend, Misty Croslin (17), after becoming engaged just four days earlier. Evidently Misty is but one of a number of Ron's believed recent underage girlfriends. A notary public preformed the back yard marriage that took place while over 100 Florida area law enforcement officers continued their search for missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings. The child has not been seen since the evening of February 9-10, 2009, when the then 17-year-old live-in girlfriend allegedly noticed Haleigh was not on her mattress on the floor a few feet away from the bed then shared by Misty and Ron Cummings' son, Ron, Jr.
Appearing on NBC's 'The Today Show' Friday morning, evidently the genesis of their honeymoon trip to New York City, the couple told Today's Meredith Vieira that they had both passed (FBI) polygraph tests concerning the disappearance of Haleigh (for those true believers in polygraphs, see my article "Do Lie Detectors Lie? at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7992482/). Misty, however, was unable to explain the changes and inconsistencies in her story of the morning Haleigh disappeared. Her latest version offered during her over 30 hours of interviews suggests as follows:
Misty had put Haleigh to bed at 8 o'clock. She then washed their blankets, and after that was done, she put Haleigh's blanket over her. "She was sleeping when I put her blanket on her," said Misty. "She was in her bed, and it was about 10 o'clock. I finally laid down and went to sleep. I woke up at 3. I got up to use the bathroom, and I noticed the kitchen light was on. I walked through the kitchen, and that's when I noticed the back door was open. So I run back to my bedroom to get my phone to call Ronald. That's when I noticed Haleigh was gone."
New husband Ron, the man who had previously referred to his teenage bride sitting next to him as his "dumb ***** girlfriend," appeared overly smug when he said he didn't know what happened to his daughter as, "I was at work," grinning over what he appeared to believe was the perfect alibi. As far as the focus on him and the new Mrs. Cummings, he said "nobody's business what I do with my personal life." I would be very glad to disagree with him on this fact should it be determined that the children in his home, to include Haleigh and Ron Jr., had being abused by the occupants of that trailer. Another interesting aspect of the interview was the apparent lack of any physical indication of the usual affection exhibited between newlyweds (like hand holding). They came off looking more like a strange father-daughter relationship, one in which the daughter was both emotionally and physically dominated by the father figure.
Investigators continue to question Misty's version of what happened the night Haleigh disappeared and Misty, for her part, has walked out of law enforcement interviews when she considered their questions to be rude. Haleigh Cummings' new stepmother has not been ruled out as a suspect and investigators point to her inability to explain in her "Today" interview what happened the night Haleigh disappeared as an example of what detectives have faced for weeks."Our interviews with her have been pretty much like what you saw on the "Today Show," said the investigator. "We've confronted her with her inconsistencies and America (now has) a sample of our interviews with her."
As indicated in my initial Newsvine review of this case (http://clintvanzandt.newsvine.com/_news/2009/02/16/2441536-update-teenage-caretaker-of-missing-5-year-old-florida-girl-says-i-didnt-do-it), Ron Cummings and the biological mother of both Haleigh and Ron, Jr., were involved in a custody battle concerning their two children at the time of Haleigh's disappearance, one that continues today. Crystal Sheffield, the biolobical mother of the children, has indicated through her attorney that Cummings has been abusive and has allegedly struck both children. Let's see; he's allegedly been abusive to his former wife, he is alleged to have abused both of his children, he has issues of substance abuse, and the court still awarded him custody of the children. What's wrong with this picture?
Meanwhile investigators must consider at least four explanations for the disappearance of the little girl who was afraid of the dark, to include: being kidnapped by an unknown child predator (all such known individuals in the local area have been identified and accounted for); a mistaken kidnapping related to the residents who had recently moved from the trailer home (a local pastor and his family, therefore unlikely); she was kidnapped to punish Ronald Cummings due to a personal vendetta with another (he has been involved in drugs and a drug related kidnapping would not, unfortunately, be unusual); she was kidnapped by someone known to Ronald and Misty, perhaps a friend or relative who had recently visited the home (while this has been explored, no known strong suspect continues to capture law enforcement interest); or she died of injuries sustained in the home and the report of her suspected kidnapping is a cover-up to hide the actual reason for her absence from the home.
Evidently Misty has not heard Oprah discuss the alleged beating sustained by pop star Rihanna (real name Robyn Fenty) at the hands of her boyfriend Chris Brown, this when Oprah rightfully said love should not hurt you and "if he hits you once, he'll hit you again." Ron Cummings has allegedly been angry and physically abusive toward the mother of missing Haleigh and Florida Department of Children and Family Services have investigated the current Cummings home. Meanwhile the reward for information concerning the missing girl has risen to $35,767. Ron Cummings appears to refute the story allegedly told by his son that a mysterious man dressed in black had stolen Haleigh, suggesting that story had been made up by the boy's mom and Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera, the latter of whom Cummings had previously excluded from his property due to a conflict between the two.
When asked why he had married Misty, I expected Cummings to say something that included a statement of his love for his teenage bride, but he only said that (marriage) was what Haleigh would have wanted. Noting that he has allegedly been through a number of teenage girlfriends, Misty would be wise to listen to the pastor who cautioned against the wedding and Oprah's wise advice. And why now, you must ask yourself; why engaged and then married a few days later? Most know that a wife and husband cannot be compelled to testify against each other. Could this marriage be one of legal convenience, even legal necessity for one or both of the newlyweds? Or could marriage be "part of the deal" for Misty? We just don't know.
Due to her age, Misty's parents had to provide their legal consent to the marriage and now the honeymooners are enjoying New York City as investigators look through the swamps of Florida for the missing child. Something just doesn't make sense here, but there is always some type of logic and reason in chaos and I believe that Misty holds the key to this case, one investigators are trying to shake loose. Meanwhile Ron Cummings continues to have that smug look on his face that appears to suggest he knows something we don't, and at this point, he may just be correct.
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