Eighteen months ago Tuesday is when the northeast Florida community learned 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings had vanished.

Family and friends of the girl who disappeared from her Satsuma home in February 2009 gathered Tuesday night at the First Baptist Church of Welaka for a candlelight vigil, still hoping Haleigh will be found alive.

Despite their hopes, investigators said in April they are considering the case a homicide investigation and no longer a missing person case.

Haleigh's family, however, said until there is proof, they will hope and pray that she will come home safely. They said the vigil was not only to honor Haleigh, but also to keep her name and picture out there so she could be found.

Annette Sykes, Haleigh's grandmother, said it is important for people to know Haleigh is still missing.

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"We believe she is alive, and not just our family, but there is an unbelievable amount of people who believe Haleigh's still alive," she said.

Also showing support for the family was Diena Thompson, whose own daughter, Somer, went missing and was found dead last October.

"We're talking about our similar situations and how it makes us feel, and I think we both give each other solace," Thompson said.

Haleigh's name has returned to the headlines repeatedly since January when her father, Ronald Cummings, his ex-wife and the last person known to see the girl, Misty Cummings, and Misty's brother Hank Croslin Jr. were all arrested on drug trafficking charges.

Croslin was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Misty Cummings' cousin, Joe Overstreet, was arrested Sunday in Tennessee on federal drug charges. He was visiting family in Satsuma when Haleigh disappeared.

Despite all of the attention placed on Haleigh's family, no arrest has been made in her case.