SATSUMA, Fla. – Four days into a search of the St. Johns River and a day after the Putnam County sheriff said Haleigh Cummings is most likely dead, Channel 4 has learned that investigators' search of the river was the result of information given to them by Hank Croslin Jr., Misty Cummings' brother.
Croslin's attorney, James Werter, said in an e-mail that Croslin took a polygraph test on April 8, and on Monday morning, Croslin met with private investigator Steve Brown to discuss the polygraph and the events of the night Haleigh disappeared from her Satsuma home.
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Werter said on Monday afternoon, Croslin met with investigators from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the State Attorney's Office, Putnam County Sheriff's Office and an FBI special agent, and as a result of the two-plus-hour interview, Croslin took the group to the Shell Harbour Road Boat Ramp.
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Investigators began searching that location of the St. Johns River the next morning.
Putnam County Sheriff Jeff Hardy said at a news conference Thursday afternoon that investigators believe Haleigh Cummings is most likely dead and persons of interest have been identified.
Hardy said items have been recovered from the river search. He said it's unknown if the items are related to the case, and they will be sent to labs for analysis. Sources confirmed to Channel 4 that two cinder blocks were pulled from the river.
Hardy said he's confident in calling this a homicide investigation based on information obtained by investigators over the past few weeks, and he said some "people are starting to cooperate" and talk, though he did not say who he was referring to.
Hardy said no one has been arrested, but investigators are, "Working on building a case."
The sheriff said of Misty Cummings, the last person to see Haleigh the night she vanished, that she has been acting more calm and, "I think she's coming to realize she's in trouble."
On Wednesday afternoon, Misty Cummings was seen on a dock at the river talking with investigators. She was later returned to the St. Johns County Jail, where she's being held on drug trafficking charges.
Investigators said when they got the tip that led to the river, they were encouraged it would lead to something significant because it's a place they've never searched before, it's in a remote area and it's a logical place to get rid of something. Hardy called the location Thursday a possible crime scene.
Croslin and Cummings' grandmother, Flora Hollars, who lives in Antioch, Tenn., said she has spoken to each of them about the case, and the sheriff's office confirmed Croslin has recently talked to her from jail.
Hollars told Channel 4 she talked to Cummings Thursday and knows what happened to Haleigh.
"Tied Haleigh up with a yellow rope and tied a bricker block to the rope, and dropped her into the St. Johns River," Hollars said.
Hollars said she does not believe Cummings was involved but said Cummings knows what happened that night.
When Croslin's attorney was asked why Croslin decided to "blow the whistle now," he said Croslin was "very upset about a number of things."
Night Haleigh Went Missing
Haleigh's father's 16-year-old live-in girlfriend, Misty Cummings, was baby-sitting her at the time she disappeared in February 2009. She told investigators she awoke at 3 a.m. Feb. 10 to find the girl gone and a back door propped open with a brick.
Within a month, Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings, married Misty. They have since divorced.
The sheriff's office has questioned Misty Cummings' credibility, saying investigators don't believe Haleigh was abducted by a stranger. Authorities said Misty failed to provide a detailed account of the late evening and early morning hours and called the account of her evening activities "sketchy."
Misty and Ronald Cummings, Haleigh's father, remain in custody after they were arrested in January in a drug sting. Both have pleaded not guilty.
When asked if the drug trafficking charges against Misty, Ronald and Hank Croslin Jr. have become a factor in the Haleigh case, Hardy said, "They have a lot of time to sit and think about it."
Investigators followed thousands of leads and searched the heavily wooded community on foot, with doors and by air via plane and helicopter. They also contacted all the sexual predators living in the area to eliminate them as suspects and searched the nearby St. Johns River by boat.
Anyone with information on Haleigh's disappearance or whereabouts is asked to contact the Putnam County Sheriff's Office at 386-329-0808 or Crime Stoppers at 888-277-TIPS.