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Search For Haleigh Enters Ninth Week

5-Year-Old Last Seen In Bed At Home

POSTED: Wednesday, April 8, 2009
UPDATED: 3:31 pm EDT April 8, 2009

The search for missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings has entered its ninth week after Tuesday marked the two-month anniversary of the girl's disappearance.

The kindergartener was last seen sleeping in her bed inside her Satsuma home. Despite hundreds of leads, Putnam County investigators have found no trace of the girl.

On the first day Haleigh was missing, more than 130 law enforcement personnel from several local and state agencies began searching for her, WJXT-TV reported.

Investigators proclaimed everyone -- family members, neighbors and associates -- as a suspect in the girl's disappearance.

"I will give up everything I own. All I want is my child, please," said Haleigh's father, Ronald Cummings.

Night after night, family members held vigils and prayed for Haleigh's safe return.

The search for Haleigh made national headlines, and it spread far and wide on the ground, in the air and on horseback.

The ground search for Haleigh continued into a second week. Investigators went door-to-door and stopped cars along main road. Hundreds of tips poured in to investigators but none led to Haleigh.

The focus began to turn toward Haleigh's parents when a heated interview on national television put Ronald Cummings on the defensive.

In week three, search dog activity around a large garbage receptacle in Haleigh's neighborhood prompted a frantic search. Still, nothing was found.

Police tape was removed from around Haleigh's home, which investigators said was no longer considered a crime scene. The home, however, remained vacant as Haleigh's father refused to move back home without his daughter.

A few days later, in week four of the investigation, Cummings tattooed his daughter's image on his calf.

He also made his first public statement in several days, saying simply, "Haleigh, I love you. That's all."

In week five of the search for Haleigh, Cummings and his 17-year-old girlfriend, Misty Croslin, got engaged. A few days later, they wed.

The newlyweds were interviewed on the "Today Show," where Croslin was unable to explain her inconsistent accounts to police.

The tents in Haleigh's community where family members had taken up residence during the search were vacated six weeks after the child's disappearance.

Signs asking about Haleigh's whereabouts remain throughout Putnam County, eight weeks after the girl disappeared.

Two months into the search, friends and neighbors said Haleigh is still on their minds.

"This is a small community. Everybody's hearts are going out to the family. And, we all still have hope. You have to have hope," said one resident.

Anyone who has any information that could help find Haleigh is asked to call Crimestoppers at 888-277-TIPS.

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