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NANCY GRACE

Cops Bring Misty to Haleigh Search Site

Aired April 14, 2010 - 20:00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, Satsuma, Florida. A 5- year-old girl tucked into bed. Five hours later, she`s gone. Daddy comes home from the night shift to find not a trace of little Haleigh. Last person to see her alive, new stepmother Misty Croslin, who goes on to flunk four polygraphs and a voice stress test. Little Haleigh`s own father, Ronald Cummings, and baby-sitter-turned-stepmother Misty Croslin both handcuffed, arrested, booked. Charges, drug trafficking.

In the last 24, after something or somebody leads search teams, cadaver dogs, scuba divers, helicopters to comb the St. John`s River into the night last night, bombshell tonight. Misty Croslin rousted out of her private jail cell yet again, but this time taken in cuffs down to the dock of the St. John`s. We have the video. As she stands there in handcuffs, she motions out to the water, pointing out a specific spot to police.

As the search for 5-year-old Haleigh goes on, a human ID crime lab vehicle just arrives on the scene. Family members gathering at the Putnam County jail. Is there finally a break in the search for Haleigh Cummings? Has the 5-year-old girl`s body been found? Did Misty Croslin finally crack?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news. Misty Croslin now appears to be at the search site where law enforcement is searching for Haleigh, the woman now at the site now wearing a blue jumpsuit and handcuffs, reportedly motioning to investigators at the dock.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dive teams went back into the water. They have resumed the search this morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re going to follow this thing through, and we`re going to work tirelessly. That`s what we`re doing again today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does law enforcement think this is a credible tip?

GRACE: Sources telling us this has officially turned into a homicide investigation.

HANK CROSLIN, MISTY`S FATHER: Misty, don`t be lying about nothing because that`s -- all it`s going to do is bury you deeper.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Among the people police have interviewed is Croslin`s 20-year-old cousin, Joe Overstreet, who lives in Tennessee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... allegedly in the area, possibly in the trailer where all this allegedly took place.

JOE OVERSTREET, MISTY`S COUSIN: I can`t imagine what they`re going through. I didn`t do it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You didn`t do it?

OVERSTREET: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know who did it?

OVERSTREET: If I knew who did, I would straight call the police and tell the cops who did it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sean Cergo (ph), criminal defense lawyer in Nashville, believes at this point that he`s being framed by people whose stories keep changing.

MISTY CROSLIN, HALEIGH`S BABY-SITTER: We`re all going to prison, Tim, unless I can come out and tell them something.

TIMMY CROSLIN, MISTY`S BROTHER: Huh?

MISTY CROSLIN: I said unless I come out and tell them something. That`s the only way I`m not going.

TOMMY CROSLIN, MISTY`S BROTHER: I hate this junk. I`m hoping this dude will still get me out. I can give him some publicity. I`ll do whatever he wants, (EXPLETIVE DELETED) make a story up. I don`t care.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was the family told yesterday at the jail the very same time this search was going on just miles away?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were seen in the vicinity coming out in tears.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Miss Teresa, can we get a comment from you, ma`am?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How long is this going to continue, you know, the search over there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As long as it takes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Misty Croslin rousted out yet again from her private jail cell and taken in handcuffs down to the dock of the St. John`s River. We have the video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news. Misty Croslin appears to be at the site of the search for Haleigh, wearing handcuffs and flanked by investigators. Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We received a tip yesterday that there was possibly some physical evidence in the Haleigh Cummings investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We do not know if that means they`re looking for Haleigh`s body or maybe something just related to this case. It could be a weapon. It really could be anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where did that information come from?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Misty Croslin, her brother, Tommy, they`re both in jail on unrelated prescription drug charges, but Misty was the last person to see Haleigh.

MISTY CROSLIN: They`re not going to put me away for something I didn`t do, and I didn`t have anything to do with Haleigh. And if I knew who did, I would tell them. I`ve told them everything that I can tell them, so they need to leave me alone about that.

HANK CROSLIN: I don`t know if she knows anything or not, but...

TOMMY CROSLIN: If she does, she needs to go ahead and tell the truth, man, and don`t be making up these stories.

HANK CROSLIN: I told her that, don`t talk to nobody but her lawyer and just tell them the truth and get it over with. Don`t be making up...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are going straight to the scene. Standing by right now is Natisha Lance. Natisha, you are on the air. What`s happening?

NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, there has been a file of cars, police cars mixed with unidentified -- unmarked police cars that are now filing through. The FDLE command post, mobile command post, also left the area. And it looks as if they are wrapping up their search for today down at the dock for any evidence of Haleigh Cummings.

GRACE: OK. Natisha, why are all the police cars coming to the scene?

LANCE: No, they are leaving the scene at this point, Nancy. They`ve been...

GRACE: They`re leaving the scene?

LANCE: Yes.

GRACE: OK. Natisha, what can you tell me about what we thought was an ice chest being pulled out of the river last night?

LANCE: What I can tell you, Nancy, is that we were able to get a shot of this area across from where they are. We went to a neighbor. We were able to sit on their dock and see them putting down a tub into the water, then dragging the tub up and then sifting through whatever they were coming up with from that tub. What we were told last night from investigators is that there was no cooler that they found. However, it did appear from different photographs that there was a cooler that was pulled out of the water yesterday afternoon during their search.

GRACE: OK. To you, Marlaina Schiavo. Misty Croslin taken back out of her private jail cell today, rousted out in cuffs and prison blues, taken down to the dock. And I can see her. There she is, between police investigators in plain clothes. And at several junctures, she points out to the water with the cuffs, like she`s showing a specific spot. What happened?

MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Misty was taken out for a second day in a row, Nancy, and this means that she is telling police what she knows. Now, we know that all along, she`s saying she didn`t know anything. And now it looks like, from what she told investigators yesterday and what she was showing them today, she is pointing out what may have happened that night that Haleigh went missing.

GRACE: Back to Natisha Lance standing by there in Satsuma, Florida, at what we believe is going to be officially designated as a crime scene.

Everyone, Natisha is standing by at the St. John`s River. It`s about three to five miles south of where Haleigh was last seen alive, her own home. In the last 24 hours, there has been a massive search. Something or somebody tipped of police, scuba divers, cadaver dogs, helicopter search teams combing the murky waters of the St. John`s River into the night last night, resuming this morning when a human identification crime lab vehicle showed up on the scene.

Natisha, what if anything did they take away?

LANCE: Well, Nancy, what they are telling us today as of 4:00 o`clock this afternoon is that they have not found anything of evidentiary value. However, there are...

GRACE: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! What do you mean, not anything of evidentiary value? They`re not saying today -- last night, they said -- police said, We did not find Haleigh Cummings. Today they`re saying, We didn`t find anything of evidentiary value. Why the change-up, Natisha?

LANCE: You`re absolutely right, Nancy. There does seem to be some terse (ph) in words there. Last night, they were saying they did not find Haleigh Cummings, and today they are saying they did not find anything of evidentiary value. So we don`t know exactly what is going on.

However, there were divers who were in the water all day today sifting through that area. And as Marlaina pointed out, Misty Croslin also appeared to be on the scene today in handcuffs, pointing out something for investigators. So there does continue to be fluid movement at this crime scene, just as you said earlier.

GRACE: Back to Jean Casarez, who has been joining us throughout this search. Everyone, the search went on through the night last night, resuming this morning. Jean Casarez, what more can you tell me? Misty Croslin down there on the docks, motioning to police where they should look out in the water. Police are dredging the bottom of that river.

Jean Casarez, what we were told and what appeared to be a blue ice bucket last night is actually a device that they use to dredge the bottom of a river in a particular spot, pull up the sand, and then you sift through it for human bones or evidence.

JEAN CASAREZ, IN SESSION: Something they believe is so credible, they have taken all these resources. But Nancy, let me take you from Florida to Tennessee. I confirmed with the attorney for Joe Overstreet, that is, cousin Joe -- his name is Sean Cergo. He confirmed to me that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement left Florida yesterday, they flew and arrived in Nashville late yesterday, and at midnight had an interview session with Joe Overstreet. It was short. They asked him questions. He answered them.

FDLE flew back to Florida, and Joe Overstreet is saying today publicly, I had nothing to do with the disappearance. Nothing. If so, I would have gone to the police.

GRACE: OK, I`ve got two theories. Back to Ellie Jostad, our chief editorial producer. She`s been on the case from the very beginning, knows it like the back of her hand. Ellie, think back. At the very beginning, cousin Joe was in town the night Haleigh went missing. He hightailed it out of town. He`s been in Tennessee ever since.

JOSTAD: Right.

GRACE: Now, police could either arrest him if they thought he was the perp -- but they haven`t -- or they could be waiting until they possibly, theoretically find Haleigh`s body and see if he runs. Because nothing looks more incriminating to a jury than somebody running, OK? So it could be either of those two things.

But it speaks volumes to me, Ellie, that they didn`t bring Joe down, they didn`t bring Tommy Croslin out of the jailhouse that we know of, they brought Misty Croslin down to the docks to show police a specific spot in the St. John`s River.

JOSTAD: Right. That`s right, Nancy. And remember, the whole cousin Joe was involved somehow -- that story originated with Misty Croslin. She was telling media and people that about nine days after Haleigh went missing. So this whole Joe Overstreet involvement started with Misty`s allegations.

GRACE: Everyone, the search is going on as we speak. We are live in Satsuma, there on the banks of the St. John`s River as the search for the body of this 5-year-old little girl goes on. What happened to 5-year-old Haleigh?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do believe that she`s holding something. I`m not sure what it is or, you know, how it can help. But I think that she`s holding something back, that she knows something. And I don`t know -- I know they`ve spoken to her. I do not know if this new lead has anything to do with her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do have a search going on at this time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... a search...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are conducting a search.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... search for Haleigh.

MISTY CROSLIN: If I had something to do with it or knew where she was...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s called accessory after the fact...

MISTY CROSLIN: ... we wouldn`t be sitting here today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... punishable by life.

HANK CROSLIN: Regardless of what the outcome is, I want to know where Haleigh`s at.

GRACE: The St. John`s River...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s the St. John`s River.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... St. John`s River...

MISTY CROSLIN: I don`t want no one to stop looking for Haleigh.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At least four, five sheriff`s office and law enforcement boats...

GRACE: Cadaver dogs, scuba divers, helicopters, search teams...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was more divers being brought out by boat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re just following up on leads.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... just scouring that particular part of the river.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They haven`t done a search this extensive since she first went missing.

GRACE: If the scenario is true, she has not come forward with the truth because she was part of it...

MISTY CROSLIN: They got me where they want me.

GRACE: ... part and parcel!

MISTY CROSLIN: I never thought -- ever thought this would ever be, like, something to even think about happening.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) out there to rule it in or out.

RONALD CUMMINGS, HALEIGH`S FATHER: Well, of course I want to know if she knows anything.

MISTY CROSLIN: I don`t know where she is!

I`m not hiding anything.

I don`t...

There`s nothing to break me on.

There`s nothing!

That`s all I know.

HANK CROSLIN: Think she can come home?

MISTY CROSLIN: Of course, Dad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: After all that, as we go to air, Misty Croslin rousted out of her private jail cell yet again and taken down to the docks. There she is -- we`re showing you the video -- the docks of the St. John`s River, less than five miles south of where she was last seen alive, where Haleigh was last seen alive. She`s pointing something out in some of the video with her handcuffs on, out to a spot in the water, motioning to police where they should look, apparently. This after months of declaring she knew nothing about the disappearance of this helpless, defenseless 5-year-old little girl.

We are taking your calls live. Out to Sheila, Illinois. Hi, dear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, darling. How are you tonight?

GRACE: Well, I tell you what. It`s either that, as it looks right now, Sheila, that she had a hand in the murder of this child or that she stood there and let the child be taken away.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agree -- I can`t agree with you more. It`s just -- I just -- there`s no words...

GRACE: I`m just disgusted. I`m disgusted. A 5-year-old little girl, can you imagine, looking up at Misty Croslin for help, for protection, for anything. Anything!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And isn`t it time that we bring this case to a close.

GRACE: It really is, dear. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, isn`t bringing Misty to the river -- isn`t that just giving Misty just a little bit too much attention at this point?

GRACE: That`s a good question. Unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, Paul Batista, defense attorney and author of "Death`s Witness" out of New York, and Penny Douglas Furr, defense attorney out of Atlanta. What about it, Paul?

PAUL BATISTA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, the police are not devoting attention to her. The only reason we`re seeing her, Nancy, is that there are helicopters floating above her head. She`s not -- they`re not devoting the attention to her. She clearly has flipped. She clearly, Nancy, has significant information. The police have brought her to the river to show where she saw this child go into the river. That`s pretty simple.

GRACE: What about it, Penny?

PENNY DOUGLAS FURR, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, I would ask if her attorneys have cut some kind of deal for her, if they`ve worked out some arrangement that if she can help them locate the body that she will escape the Florida death penalty.

GRACE: That`s a very good insight, Penny.

I want to go back out to Marlaina Schiavo, our producer, who`s also been on the story from the very beginning. Marlaina, tell me what you can about what we know about police activities in the last 48 hours. Who have they been questioning? What have they been doing?

SCHIAVO: Nancy, they took Misty from her current jail and they questioned her. We also know that they met with family members, Haleigh`s family members...

GRACE: Marlaina! Marlaina! Marlaina!

SCHIAVO: Yes.

GRACE: Rule number one. Who, what, when, why, where. Took her out of what jail when and took her where?

SCHIAVO: Yesterday. The current jail she`s in, St. John`s County. Putnam County officials took her out, took her to Putnam County, and questioned her. They also took Haleigh`s family members down to Putnam and gathered them and had a private meeting and won`t release those details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... divers near the Shell Harbor boat ramp on the St. John`s River.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw probably anywhere, like, say, between 12 to 15 divers just searching in front of the dock area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see three divers peering under the water`s surface.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was more divers being brought out by boat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is day two for Florida investigators searching a very murky river.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Deputies say they`ve interviewed a cousin of Misty`s who was visiting from Tennessee before Haleigh`s disappearance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They`re looking for any evidence that would tell them what happened to Haleigh Cummings.

HANK CROSLIN: I think they need to go get Joe and lock him up. If they think he had something to do with it, they need to go get him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This investigation today may take a long time.

HANK CROSLIN: Got to come to an end.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) extensive.

HANK CROSLIN: The truth got to come out. We got to find out where she`s at and let her come home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Out to Heather in Kentucky. Hi, Heather.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I`m just -- I hate to say it this way, but I`m starting to think maybe the rumors of the partying and maybe Haleigh getting a hold of Oxycontin might have really happened. But my question is, if they was to find her in that river after so long, will they still be able to find that in her system?

GRACE: Let`s go straight out to Dr. David M. Posey, medical examiner, forensic pathologist at the Glen Oaks Pathology Medical Group joining us out of LA. Dr. Posey, I know you heard the caller`s question, Heather in Kentucky. What`s the answer?

DR. DAVID M. POSEY, MEDICAL EXAMINER/FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Right. Yes. It depends on how much of the body is left. This length of time, I would think, we`re going to have most of the body gone. I think it`ll be down to bones. And I would say we`re not going to find anything...

GRACE: Dr. Posey. Dr. Posey, it`s been over a year. Wouldn`t she be completely skeletonized by this point?

POSEY: You know, there`s a lot of variables here. We don`t know how deep she is. We don`t know where the body is. I agree with you, Nancy, I think she would be completely skeletonized. I don`t think there`s going to be anything left. You need to have some kind of body fluid...

GRACE: Doctor, I can hardly stand to look at this little girl`s face -- there she was sleeping -- and say the words "completely skeletonized." Doctor, if she had been put in a container such as an ice chest, would there be a possibility of soft tissue, and from that soft tissue, could you derive Oxycontin traces?

POSEY: There`s a possibility. If she was in an ice chest and the ice chest was sealed such that no liquid could get in there, there would possibly be some fluids, especially if she was buried in the river or in a dirt grave. There may be some fluid left, and you`d be able...

GRACE: Got it.

POSEY: ... to extract from that and find if there`s something there. But it is -- I agree with you, Nancy, it`s heart-wrenching.

GRACE: But I don`t buy into that party theory or somebody at that party would have cracked by now.

To Heather Walsh-Haney, forensic anthropologist out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Doctor, thank you for being with us. Doctor, what do you expect the condition of the remains to be in if they have been under water, and what can we learn from them?

HEATHER WALSH-HANEY, FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST (via telephone): Well, Nancy, having worked in Florida over 15 years, I would -- and in that area particularly with the St. John`s River, if the responders were lucky enough to find Haleigh`s remains, at this point I would expect them to be completely skeletonized.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Nearly two days of searching.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Breaking news. Misty Croslin appears to be at the site of the search for Haleigh, wearing handcuffs and flanked by investigators. Why?

MISTY CROSLIN, BABYSITTER/LAST SAW HALEIGH CUMMINGS: I don`t know where she is.

JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION": Misty was the last person to see Haleigh.

M. CROSLIN: If I had something to do with it or knew where she was we wouldn`t be sitting here today. We would have her.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The woman appearing to be Croslin surrounded by cops.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Among the people police interviewed is Croslin`s 20-year-old cousin Joe Overstreet.

CASAREZ: Overstreet is distraught over this, that he doesn`t know where to turn. They want to get out of jail --

HANK CROSLIN, FATHER OF MISTY CROSLIN: If I wasn`t in trouble I would put a pistol in Joe`s mouth and make him tell me something.

JOE OVERSTREET, MISTY CROSLIN`S COUSIN: I didn`t do it.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You didn`t do it?

OVERSTREET: No.

CASAREZ: But believe that those in jail right now at any cost will say anything and pin this on anyone to get themselves out of jail.

TOMMY CROSLIN, MISTY CROSLIN`S BROTHER: I don`t see Joe doing nothing like that but he is a little (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out there. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) crazy.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did he have any type of contact with Haleigh? Did he see her? Did he talk to her during that time of vacation?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Only in passing.

H. CROSLIN: I don`t understand why he would -- why anybody could hurt a little baby.

OVERSTREET: If I knew who did I would straight call the police and tell the cops who did it.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Straight back down to the St. John`s River, everyone. The search ongoing. Standing by, Natisha Lance.

Natisha, there is movement. What`s happening?

NATISHA LANCE, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, there was a deputy who was right behind me. There were cones that were preventing the media from going any further past that point.

That deputy has now moved further back, and we can only assume that he is closer to the water`s edge where the searching was taking place earlier today. We don`t know exactly what is going on in that area, but we can only assume that there is continuous searching going on back there.

GRACE: So contrary to what we thought at the beginning of the show tonight, everybody`s not leaving, they`re still working through the night.

Listen, I`m just telling you, this is not a bogus tip.

Out to Lou Palumbo, former Nassau County police investigator, now private investigator.

Lou, this is not all happening on a bogus tip. They`d have already packed up and left yesterday instead of working through the night. They`ve got something.

LOU PALUMBO, FMR. NASSAU COUNTY POLICE INVESTIGATOR, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: I agree 100 percent with you. I think that this young lady, Misty Croslin, for whatever reason has decided to come forth with information regarding how this child was disposed of.

It`s part of the deal-making. I think the cousin has knowledge of what happened here. And I think we`re going to see this thing come to an end very shortly. I mean, just by virtue of the fact she`s standing there pretty much implies that she`s provided information to this law enforcement agency to direct them to where this child was disposed.

GRACE: Everyone --

PALUMBO: The next part of it`s going to come down to charging her and finding out who else was complicit in this crime.

GRACE: Everyone, right now the search is going on. Police have not left. There are scuba divers, cadaver dogs. Earlier helicopter search teams. Something or somebody has led police, who then brought out Misty Croslin down to the docks to find the body of 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings.

I want to go now to Michael Gast, a special guest joining me out of Miami, founder and trainer of the National Academy of Police Diving.

Mr. Gast, thank you for being with us. After a couple of hundred dives myself the little bit I know about lake and river diving is that especially unless there`s white water you`re going to have very murky water. What do you think?

MICHAEL GAST, FOUNDER, TRAINER, NATIONAL ACADEMY OF POLICE DIVING: Well, that`s correct. The deeper the water is the less murk you may have. It depends on how fast the water flows.

GRACE: How do you go about a search like this? They`re actually having to dredge the bottom of the river with a box to see what -- and then pull it up and sift through. See them taking out tons -- they`re just taking out a great deal of sand and sludge off the bottom.

GAST: Well, that`s because of the flow of the river. The sediment is being redistributed daily, and it builds up. If you have a lot of rain, it builds up more. If you have less rain it builds up less. But they would have to get down to about where the bottom would have been 10 months ago or 14 months ago.

GRACE: Mr. Gast, it`s a lazy river. It`s only traveling at 1/3 of a mile per hour. And it`s about 30 feet deep, as I recall.

GAST: So that would have a little bit of disposition but not a whole lot. Maybe, you know, a few inches. But it only takes a few inches to hide bones.

GRACE: That`s true. That`s true. How murky would the water be in 30 feet?

GAST: That would depend, again, you know, what part of the river you`re talking about, whether you`re out toward the middle or the sides where it runs a little faster. It varies. It depends on the sediments that`s in the river, what part of the St. John`s you`re in.

Some parts of the St. John`s you`ve got 10, 15-foot visibility. Other parts you have less than a foot.

GRACE: I`m hearing in my ear we are now being joined by bounty hunter out of Sacramento, Leonard Padilla.

Leonard, what do you make of these developments?

LEONARD PADILLA, BOUNTY HUNTER, OFFERED TO BAIL MISTY CROSLIN OUT OF JAIL: Well, basically, if we go back to when Misty wrote that letter and then her sister-in-law in Massachusetts forwarded it to me over the weekend, I looked at and I thought to myself --

GRACE: Which letter are you talking about? Which letter are you talking about?

PADILLA: It`s a letter that Misty wrote to her relatives, including her brother Timmy, up in Massachusetts. Where she claims that -- excuse me?

GRACE: I`ve got it right here in my hand. Go ahead.

PADILLA: OK. Where she claims that Joe and Tommy came to the house and that Tommy left and that Joe took the child.

I`ve got to tell you this. Joe didn`t harm that child. The child was dead by the time Tommy and Joe showed up. Speculatively speaking, she had called them to come help her dispose of the body.

Tommy himself had lied to his wife and all of his relatives throughout the whole ordeal until Monday morning when he decided to fess up.

Steve Brown, the investigator working for his attorney, basically sat with him and got a statement from him and subsequently his wife threatened him with divorce and basically confirmed that Tommy had been there.

Law enforcement also in Satsuma actually went to the house where Tommy and his wife had been living with their two -- with their three children and were looking for a yellow rope. The type of rope that you would tie something up with if you were to throw them in the water and weight it down with a brick.

So it all aims toward the fact that the child died somehow. But I don`t think that Joe was responsible for the death nor Tommy. They were responsible for helping her get rid of the body.

I also think Misty possibly might not have caused the child`s death other than through negligence of pills or something laying around. So I think in the next 48 hours we`re going to see a lot of revelations that are going to bring to the surface the truth behind this whole ordeal.

GRACE: What do you make, Leonard Padilla -- everybody, joining us by Skype from Sacramento the bounty hunter who offered to bond Croslin out in exchange for her coming clean about what happened to little Haleigh.

What do you think about the fact that it`s not cousin Joe, it`s not brother Timmy or brother Tommy out there on the docks showing the cops where to look? It is Misty Croslin.

To me that shoots your theory down that they disposed of the body. She had to be there too, Padilla. She`s showing cops where to look.

PADILLA: Not necessarily. I think when you get into a circle of youngsters like Misty and Tommy and Joe and several other relatives there`s going to be loose talk amongst themselves regarding the body being dumped.

And the situation is such that that particular van was being driven on that evening, it had been borrowed from Tommy`s wife. It was being driven by Tim and his wife, who were visiting their father.

However, if you look back in the past TV reports, it`s -- Timmy wife states that the van in the morning was at a different place than where she had parked it that night. So the van was definitely used and Joe had use of the van.

GRACE: I remember that.

Everyone, the search is ongoing right now. Who cracked? Who cracked? Is Haleigh Cummings at the bottom of the St. John`s river? Did she die at the hands of Misty Croslin? What scenario could possibly have happened?

I can see one thing. They don`t have Ronald Cummings out there.

Out to the lines. Anita, Pennsylvania, hi, Anita.

ANITA, CALLER FROM PENNSYLVANIA: Hi, Nancy. Thank you for taking my call.

GRACE: Yes, ma`am.

ANITA: My question is does Ronald know everything that`s going on?

GRACE: Good question. What about it, Ellie?

ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Ronald Cummings is one of the family members that was brought to the Putnam County Sheriff`s Office yesterday. There was a little bit of video of him leaving. He was still in his jail outfit, still in the handcuffs.

But he was part of this confidential family meeting where investigators supposedly told the family what was going on and they won`t reveal what details they gave to the family at that secret meeting yesterday.

GRACE: As we go to break, everyone, on a happy note, happy birthday - - first birthday to Florida tiny crimefighter Alexis Cameron. Favorite toy, Elmo. Favorite word, daddy. But she loves mommy too.

Alexis, father Rob and mother Gina never miss a show. What a beautiful, beautiful child. And God bless you for taking such good care of her.

Happy birthday, beautiful Alexis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Major developments in this case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are conducting a search of the waterway.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: We were able to speak with Putnam County Sheriff Jeff Hardy. We asked him if they`d found Haleigh Cummings.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you found Haleigh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, we have not found Haleigh.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: He did not hesitate. He said no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We received a tip yesterday that there was possibly some physical evidence in the Haleigh Cummings investigation.

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST, FMR. DC POLICE DETECTIVE; FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: The big question is where did this tip come from?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sheriff`s office brought together the family, Ronald Cummings, who is here at Putnam County jail. The mother, Crystal Sheffield, Haleigh`s mother. The two grandmothers of Haleigh had a conversation with investigators.

Misty Croslin-Cummings was actually removed from a jail in the next county over. Detectives went and picked her up and brought her out and questioned her.

CASAREZ: Combine it with some of those jailhouse phone calls --

M. CROSLIN: This is -- you know, it`s so hard to talk.

CHELSEA CROSLIN, MISTY CROSLIN`S SISTER-IN-LAW: I know.

M. CROSLIN: Yes.

C. CROSLIN: You know --

M. CROSLIN: But it`s going to hurt two people. It`s going to hurt two people.

CASAREZ: Another phone conversation she implicates that the person that is responsible is walking the streets free and we`re behind bars.

M. CROSLIN: You think, Chelsea, use your head. And you`ll know.

TERESA NEVES, GRANDMOTHER OF HALEIGH CUMMINGS: They called us in to tell us that they were going to be doing a search. That the search was from a lead that they had gotten. It`s just a couple --

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: That is Haleigh`s paternal grandmother, Teresa Neves, who has been with us many, many times in the search for her granddaughter Haleigh. Just then she was on NBC`s "Today Show" talking about the search for Haleigh.

Liz, if you could roll back the video of them leaving the jail. Look. She`s crying. Teresa Neves and her son, Ronald Cummings, Haleigh`s father, have been with us on many, many occasions, begging for help in trying to find Haleigh.

And I have gone on the record many times, stating that neither of them could possibly be involved in her disappearance. And now most likely her death.

The search is ongoing there at the St. John`s River tonight.

Jean Casarez, what more do you know?

CASAREZ: I spoke with Joe Overstreet`s lawyer in Tennessee. One thing he told me that when he met with the FDLE last night -- Florida Department of Law Enforcement -- he said they were so professional.

He said they came in, they had their questions, they knew what they wanted to ask, they were done with it, and they left. It was just -- I`m summarizing -- as if there were puzzle pieces that they needed to get, information they needed to get to continue with the conclusion of this investigation.

GRACE: To Wendy Walsh, Dr. Wendy Walsh, psychologist and expert on momlogic.com. Weigh in, Wendy.

DR. WENDY WALSH, PH.D., PSYCHOLOGIST; EXPERT ON MOMLOGIC.COM: Well, I`ve got to say, I have a big parenting tip for parents out there if you`re raising small children. Don`t choose the career of drug dealer. OK?

Maybe there were drugs lying around. Maybe there were disputes over deliveries of drugs. We hear about a potential dispute over a missing weapon.

All this -- nothing should be near the environment of children that`s going on. So I think clearly Haleigh is broken. The unconscious can only hold those secrets for so long. They come out in all kinds of ways.

I`m sorry, not Haleigh. Misty has broken. And I think she`s finally done a deal and we`re going to have some answers soon, Nancy.

GRACE: You know, to Ellie Jostad, I`m listening to Wendy Walsh. She`s got an excellent point. But I just can`t believe that they have done a deal, so to speak, with Misty Croslin.

I mean, this is a little defenseless girl who was killed in the night. I just don`t see them giving up on the death penalty, although -- how old was Croslin at the time of the incident?

JOSTAD: Well, she was 17 at the time of the incident, Nancy.

GRACE: Well, she can`t get the death penalty anyway.

JOSTAD: Right. Right. But Nancy, you`ll remember back on what would have been Haleigh`s sixth birthday, investigators put out a press release and they said that they still believe that the key to what happened to Haleigh lies with Misty, that she had failed to provide an accurate account of what happened that night, that physical evidence at the scene did not match her account, and they said she has failed to give them anything but a sketchy story about went on in that house.

GRACE: Jean Casarez, what is in this letter? I`ve got it here, but I want you to tell the viewers about this letter that she writes -- Misty Croslin writes, talking about how her life was threatened.

CASAREZ: Well, she talks about that cousin Joe put a knife to her throat and threatened her if she would say anything to anybody. And this is what Cousin Joe is worried about now. Not the truth of the matter but the fact that he believes those in Florida that want to benefit, to get out of jail, are going to lie and say anything to implicate him.

And Nancy, I want you to look at the posture of the detectives that are surrounding Misty Croslin out there. Look at their posture. One thought is that they are pressuring her, that they are really trying to get information from her by taking her out there.

GRACE: Look at the investigators, the detectives out there wading through the water. They have been working like dogs, trying to crack this case. Always knowing the answer was right under their noses.

To Leslie, Indiana, hi, Leslie.

LESLIE, CALLER FROM INDIANA: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: Hi, dear. What`s your question?

LESLIE: My question is, is if Tommy Croslin is not more involved than what he`s saying, how does he know anything about the St. John`s River?

GRACE: You know, Leslie, I think he is involved. I think that is why he is behind bars. What about it, Natisha?

LANCE: Well, Nancy, this also goes back to the letter that Jean was just talking about. In that letter Misty also indicates that she believes Tommy knows more about what happened that night.

GRACE: Out to the lines, Carla, Missouri. Hi, Carla.

CARLA, CALLER FROM MISSOURI: Thank you, Nancy, for taking my call. My question is even though the box has been out for a while, will they be able to lift prints.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKS: The family was all called to the sheriff`s office and some of them were seen very, very sad after they met with the sheriff. What they were told it could not have been good news.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Florida investigators searching a murky river for signs of Haleigh Cummings and among the people police interviewed yesterday is Croslin`s 20-year-old cousin, Joe Overstreet.

OVERSTREET: I didn`t do it.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You didn`t do it.

OVERSTREET: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He might be just be the fall guy. Maybe he`s convenient. He`s out of the area. He`s not one of them. So let`s pin it on him.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Back out to Leslie in Indiana`s question asking, could there be fingerprints on the box.

Excuse me, was it Carla`s question or -- Carla in Missouri`s question. There could be still be fingerprints on the box even though it`s been submerged if there even is a box. Yes, fingerprints can survive water.

Back out to the lines. Rachel, Pennsylvania, hi, Rachel.

RACHEL, CALLER FROM PENNSYLVANIA: Hi, Nancy. Thanks for taking my call.

GRACE: Yes, ma`am.

RACHEL: My question is, in the beginning of the week they said that the person of interest was in custody. Well, that would not mean Cousin Joe because he`s not in custody.

GRACE: Rachel, I`ve already thought about that. Today they came out -- police came out and issued a statement stating that rumors a suspect was in custody were false.

Now what do we believe? What they said at the beginning or what they said today? But I can tell you something. They have something in the water. I don`t care what they`re saying. They haven`t found anything of evidentiary value. BS. Because you don`t have cops working through the night with lights and scuba divers, search teams, cadaver dogs.

You come back the next day, you bring Misty Croslin out there in her handcuffs to points out a specific spot in the water. No, they`ve got something.

What do you think, Jean Casarez?

CASAREZ: You`re exactly right. And I think what is so interesting is that it is Misty and it is the one that we just heard Ellie say in the press release months ago. They said they believe Misty is not coming forward with information. And she is the one that they are standing right on right now waiting to hear what she has to say at the water`s edge.

GRACE: Natisha Lance, have they packed up and left yet?

LANCE: Nancy, there have been a few cars that have left, but there are still cars that are back there. So once we figure everything out, we are trying to find out at this point what is going on.

GRACE: So bottom line, they`re still there working into the night. All I can say tonight is, God bless little Haleigh. May she finally be put to rest. Our hearts go out to Teresa and Ronald Cummings tonight.

Let`s stop and remember Marine Corporal Matthew Zindars, 21, Watertown, Wisconsin, killed Iraq on a second tour. Awarded the Purple Heart, Unit Combat Action medal, Unit National Defense medal.

Lost his life weeks after promotion to corporal. With a smile that lit up a room. Loved outdoors, football, snowboarding, rock climbing. Dreamed the studying journalism at the University of Wisconsin.

Leaves behind grieving parents Ken and Lynn, sisters Tracy and Jennifer, brother Mark.

Matthew Zindars, America hero.

Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us. And tonight we are praying for little Haleigh. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern, and until then, good night, friend.

END