Deputies Dig Near Haleigh's Mom's Home

Investigators with the Putnam County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement were searching property around the Baker County home of the mother of a 5-year-old girl missing since February.

Haleigh Cummings disappeared from her father's home in Putnam County on Feb. 10 and an Amber Alert was issued. More than 4,000 tips have come in, but there have been no confirmed sightings.

Haleigh's parents were never married and have lived apart for several years.

Putnam County officials spend Friday searching the property where Crystal Sheffield lives with her mother. Channel 4 confirmed that investigators are digging on the property, cadaver dogs are on site and a pond is being searched by diver.

Investigators said they learned in interviews with the Sheffield and Griffis families that some horses were buried on their 30-acre property a couple of months ago. Investigators said at midday they had already uncovered one dead horse. They were also going to search nearby property and a pond belonging to another family member.

A Jacksonville Sheriff's Office dive team and Baker County deputies assisted in the search.

Officials said they have no expectation that Haleigh's body is there, but they are conducting a search out of "due diligence."

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Sheffield told Channel 4's Laura Mazzeo she is glad that police searched their property even though she knew they would not find anything useful. She said she hopes they will search and research any area necessary until Haleigh is found.

Earlier this month, several agencies involved in the investigation met to review evidence and found some leads still needed to be followed and some evidence needed to be analyzed.

Sheffield recently closed an information center she had maintained near the home where Haleigh disappeared, saying she needed to stay closer to her Baker County home for medical reasons.