Safety for Children

More details are surfacing in the missing child case of Haleigh Cummings. Her brother, who saw Haliegh as she was abducted from her home, reports of a “man dressed all in black” coming into the house and taking Haleigh from her bed.

Crystal Sheffield, the children’s mother, said Haleigh’s father Ronald Cummings, Jr. and her son recounted the same story to her.

"When I see him [Haleigh's brother], all he said is, ‘I want to find my sissy,’ and he said something about somebody in black took her," Sheffield said, according to Central Florida News 13.

"He said they were all dressed in black, but I didn’t question him. I’m not going to question him."

It was not immediately clear when or where Sheffield made this statement. Haleigh apparently vanished Feb. 9 from her father’s Satsuma-area trailer home where she lives with 24-year-old Cummings, his 17-year-old girlfriend Misty Croslin and Haleigh’s little brother Junior, 4.

Family members of a missing central Florida girl are being asked to take polygraph tests in conjunction with the disappearance of the child. Five year old Haleigh Cummings went missing from her own home over a week ago and no promising leads have been found since. At this point in the search for the missing child, law enforcement is moving towards less of a ground search approach and more on following leads.

The Sheriff’s Office said they have received some 500 tips since Haleigh’s disappearance, but said some of those leads have been from people who are trying to get back at someone, for example: "An ex-wife trying to get back at a husband."

Officials said several people have inquired about Chad Reynolds, a sexual predator who disappeared from Marion County. Pape said that although Reynolds is not a person of interest at the present time in Haleigh’s disappearance, they are not ruling anything out and want anybody with information about Reynolds’ whereabouts to call law enforcement.

Have you received the following text message in the last few days? “A 7 year old girl was taken by a man driving a newer silver truck. The license plate reads 72b381 please, please pass on.” This turns out to be a known fake Amber Alert, but something that is quickly circulating across the country as a hoax.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) would ask that instead of forwarding AMBER Alert messages, the public is referred to the official locations designated by your particular state for receiving AMBER Alerts. This will ensure the AMBER Alerts are geographically targeted, they are updated, and there is a cancellation at the conclusion of the incident.

The AMBER Alert program is a highly successful nationwide effort that has resulted in 443 children being safely returned to their families. The success of the AMBER Alert program depends on the involvement of the entire community. The public has many ways to receive official AMBER Alerts via radio, television, roadway and digital signage, internet service providers, and through their wireless carriers.

To receive official AMBER Alerts on a cell phone, wireless customers can enroll in the Wireless AMBER Alerts program by visiting www.wirelessamberalerts.org or by texting the word AMBER followed by a space and their 5-digit ZIP code to 26237. Wireless AMBER Alerts is a free public service of the wireless industry, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and the United States Department of Justice.

 

If you are a resident of Lee County, Florida, there is now a new service focused on child safety and sex offenders. The Miami Herald explains the new program and how it will benefit parents in the area:

Residents in one southwest Florida county will get a phone call when a sex offender moves into the neighborhood.

Starting Sunday, Lee County authorities will send the prerecorded calls over land lines within a quarter-mile radius. The messages are similar to those already sent about missing children or Alzheimer’s patients.

Sgt. Tracy Booth says the phone calls will back up information already available on the sheriff’s office Web site or by e-mail alerts. The phone recording also states that the information should not be used to harass anyone.