ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (AP) - The woman at home with a Florida girl the night she went missing has reportedly told investigators she heard Haleigh Cummings being attacked before she vanished.
Misty Croslin's attorney Robert Fields said Tuesday that the 18-year-old told investigators the attack came after a cousin came to the Satsuma mobile home looking for a gun belonging to Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings.
Fields said "Haleigh was a substitute" for the missing gun and that Misty told investigators the day after she was arrested on the drug charges in January that her cousin, Joe Overstreet, and her brother, Hank Croslin Jr., came looking for a semi-automatic machine gun. Since the gun wasn't there, Overstreet took Haleigh as a substitute for the gun, the attorney said.
Croslin hid beneath a sheet with Cummings' 3-year-old son during the attack, said Fields, speaking with reporters after her court appearance in St. Johns County on unrelated drug trafficking charges.
Fields did not immediately return follow-up phone messages or e-mails from The Associated Press.
In a statement, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said authorities would not discuss any information about the case.
"The Haleigh Cummings investigation is far too important to be jeopardized by releasing this type of sensitive information," said Lt. Johnny Greenwood.
Previously, Croslin's family has said Overstreet was at the mobile home the night Haleigh disappeared.
He was arrested on drug charges last week in Tennessee, but he has never been charged or named as a suspect in Haleigh's disappearance. His attorney, Shawn P. Sirgo of Nashville, Tenn., told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Overstreet had nothing to do with the child's disappearance.
He told The Florida Times-Union that Croslin has changed her story numerous times.
"I don't believe anything she said," he said.
Croslin pleaded no contest Tuesday to a charge of trafficking in oxycodone at a St. Johns County truck stop. She pleaded no contest to seven similar charges in Putnam County on Monday.
Fields said Croslin gave her account to investigators after her arrest on the drug charges in January. Cummings also was arrested, along with Croslin' brother and two others, in an undercover sting.
The sheriff's office has questioned Croslin's credibility in the past. She also has said she awoke at 3 a.m. on Feb. 10, 2009, to find Haleigh missing and a back door propped open by a brick.
Tuesday marks Haleigh's 7th birthday. After Croslin's plea hearing, Haleigh's mother, Crystal Sheffield, told reporters that she believes investigators are doing the best they can.
"Do I believe my daughter's dead? No," she said. "And until they show me something, I won't."
Oh man seeing her Mothers reaction is heart breaking!! How sad! I Hope we know soon what happend to this little angel.
Kelseysmyangel 1 year ago
@Kelseysmyangel I do not agree. It is always all about her.
DotiBump 1 year ago
@DotiBump I can this mother cares number one about herself. So her reaction is not heart breaking to me, because I see it as her being just like the dad what she lost not about what Haleigh lost. All her statements.
DotiBump 1 year ago