1 Year Later: Haleigh Still Not Found

One year ago Wednesday morning, Haleigh Cummings was reported missing from her dad's Putnam County mobile home and an Amber Alert was issued.

The girl's former stepmother, Misty Cummings, said she put the then-5-year-old girl to bed Feb. 9, 2009, and when she woke up early the next morning, Haleigh was gone.

After investigators checked out 5,768 leads over the past 12 months, the sheriff's office still isn't sure what happened to Haleigh. And while investigators have not identified a person of interest in the case, they said evidence and information obtained indicate a strong likelihood that Haleigh's disappearance is the result of foul play by someone known to Misty Cummings and/or Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings.

"What do you say to the family that their child went missing and we have not been able to bring it to a logical conclusion at this point," Putnam County Sheriff Jeff Hardy said. "What we don't know is we can't break this timeline between Feb. 9 and the morning of the 10th. ... The reality could be that the child might not be alive."

Timeline:Video:

Family, friends and supporters gathered Wednesday night for a candlelight vigil for Haleigh in Satsuma, hoping and praying the girl will return home.

This week, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office released details of their one-year investigation:

• All of these leads have been reviewed by investigators, and leads containing specific information that can be verified have been followed up on.
• The sheriff's office said the majority of the leads received have been suggestions or opinions from citizens stating who they believe is responsible for Haleigh's disappearance and how the investigation should be conducted. The sheriff's office said these types of leads are reviewed by the investigative team, but many of these require little or no follow-up investigation.
• Investigators said they've conducted formal interviews with 76 different individuals who were identified as having possible information in the Haleigh investigation. DNA samples were collected from many of those interviewed and compared to evidence collected in the case.
• The sheriff's office said investigators have traveled out of state to conduct interviews when necessary.
• The sheriff's office said it has received 644 reported Haleigh sightings from various cities and locations throughout the U.S. Investigators said they've either personally determined that they were false sightings or asked for assistance from local law enforcement agencies where the alleged sightings took place to follow up on the information. To date, none of the reported sightings has been determined to be credible, according to investigators.
• The sheriff's office said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement processed the crime scene, and many items of potential evidentiary value were collected and sent to FDLE's crime lab for analysis. Investigators said all of that evidence has been examined and processed, but none of it has identified any suspect or additional leads as to who the suspect may be.
• The sheriff's office said it has searched thousands of acres, including all property south of Highway 17 near the Cummings' residence, and has had numerous underwater recovery and search teams search all of the water near the area of the disappearance. Investigators said aviation assets have conducted several airborne searches, K-9 assets have searched the area on several occasions, and volunteer civilian searchers on foot and horseback searched the wooded areas near the residence.
• The sheriff's office said it is very unlikely that Haleigh's disappearance is the work of a stranger.

Investigators said they have not identified a person of interest, and they still believe that Misty Cummings holds important answers in the case. The sheriff's office said she still refuses to provide any sort of detailed accounting of the hours during the late evening and early morning of Haleigh's disappearance. Investigators said furthermore, physical evidence at the scene contradicts Misty's sketchy account of her evening activities.

Investigators ask that anyone with direct knowledge of Misty's activities during that evening of Feb. 9, 2009, or into the early morning of Feb. 10, 2009, is encouraged to report that information to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office. Information may be submitted by calling Northeast Crime Stoppers at 888-277-TIPS or e-mailing the information to haleigh@putnamsheriff.org.

The sheriff's office said the recent arrests of Misty Cummings, Ronald Cummings, Hank Croslin Jr., Hope Sykes and Donna Brock on drug trafficking charges were not a result of the Haleigh investigation, but that independent information was received by narcotics detectives that these individuals were unlawfully selling prescription medications.

Investigators assigned to Haleigh's disappearance said they've interviewed these five individuals in the past, some on multiple occasions. However, investigators said, they will take advantage of every opportunity given to speak with any individual who possibly holds information regarding Haleigh's disappearance.

The sheriff's office said it will aggressively pursue this case until Haleigh is found.