Haleigh's Cummings Grandfather Speaks Out

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March 2, 2009

Haleigh's Grandfather Speaks Out
Monday, March 2, 2009

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. -- For the first time the grandfather of missing five-year-old Haleigh Cummings spoke out. Lester Cummings spoke Sunday about efforts to find his granddaughter.

The comments came as a popular Putnam County bar suspended its annual bike week party to hold a fundraiser for Haleigh instead. The grandfather asked that people put aside any controversy surrounding his son, and concentrate on finding Haleigh.

"It's all about my granddaughter. This is the first time I've spoken to you. I'm not one to get in front of the camera. I'm just telling you anyone who's got her, please let her go," said Lester Cummings.

Patrons and workers at the Hide Away Bar and Grill hoped their fundraiser will help generate more tip as the search for Haleigh continues.

HALIEGH'S HOME NO LONGER A CRIME SCENE

March 2, 2009

Haleigh's house in Putnam County had been cordoned off as a crime scene ever since she disappeared earlier this month. But Friday, the crime scene tape finally came down.

Haleigh Cummings' Green Lane home where she was abducted from in the middle of the night is no longer a crime scene. However, Ronald Cummings said he won't live in his home after knowing his little girl was taken out of her bed.

Meanwhile the search teams canvassed the thick wooded area for clues. Cadaver dogs continue to search areas around the home of Haleigh Cummings Friday. Thursday one dog alerted on a nearby dumpster, but a thorough search found nothing.

The wooded areas are new to the cadaver dogs. The sheriff's office wants to make sure nothing was missed in the search.

Bryan Selzer and his dog Eli came from Jacksonville to aid in the search for Haleigh Cummings Friday afternoon.

"We're just doing a different area today. We're hitting mostly the wooded area that we are searching and again we are searching that for the second time to make sure that everything's covered," said Selzer.

Seven cadaver dogs searched the wooded area and investigators said they are trained to sniff out human remains. The specially trained dogs searched the Cummings' neighborhood Thursday and found nothing but rotting trash in a dumpster.

Selzer said going through the woods is more difficult than it looks. "It just takes a lot longer; we have to take more breaks more often for the dogs to recover. But it's do-able but just takes longer," he said. The trained volunteers said they'll be searching until the end of the day.