Haleigh Cummings

Hank "Tommy" Croslin Jr.'s attorney released a statement this morning saying that he did not confess anything about Haleigh Cummings' disappearance to his grandmother.

Croslin Jr. is the brother of Misty Croslin, who reported the 5-year-old missing Feb. 10, 2009. She had been dating and living with the girl's father, Ronald Cummings, who was at work when she said Haleigh disappeared from their Satsuma home.

Croslin Jr., who is in jail on unrelated drug charges with her sister and Cummings, submitted to a lie detector test this month and later met with representatives of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, State Attorney's Office and FBI.

His attorney said Croslin Jr. then took the investigators to the Shell Harbour Road boat ramp, which became the epicenter for three days of revived searching for Cummings this week.

Croslin's grandmother, Flora Hollars, said she was responsible for the revived search after calling investigators with new details the Croslins gave her.

Jim Werter, who represents Croslin Jr., said in a news release that Croslin Jr. "did not tell Flora Hollars anything about the investigation except to have his attorney contact and meet with him."

Did Misty Croslin Kill Haleigh Cummings?

The Fingerpointing May Only Just Be Beginning in the New Homicide Investigation

As the Haleigh Cummings case has moved from being a missing person case to being an active homicide investigation, authorities have begun focusing on persons of interest -- although they have yet to actually name anyone. Three days of intense searching in and along the St. Johns River just south of Satsuma, Fla., has resulted in little physical evidence but the Haleigh Cummings case has seen an increase in recent activity as several people who may have been involved in the disappearance seem to be breaking their silence and are turning on each other. Putnam County Sheriff Jeff Hardy told reporters Thursday that they were "hoping to make an arrest."

And if Misty Croslin, Tommy Croslin, and Joe Overstreet keep talking, one, two, or all three of them will undoubtedly soon be arrested in connection to what Sheriff Hardy says he can feel "comfortable" calling a homicide. It has become apparent that investigators have received enough information to believe that 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings is dead. But are there any indications as to who may have killed her?

At present, most information that has been made available to the public has pointed in the direction of Joe Overstreet, Misty and Tommy Croslin's cousin. According to statements made by Flora Hollars, the three cousins' grandmother and source of the lead that had Putnam County authorites dragging the St. Johns River, Misty and Tommy both implicated Joe Overstreet in phone conversations. The grandmother also made a few damaging remarks about Joe Overstreet on "Nancy Grace" Thursday evening.

Flora Hollars told Nancy Grace that her grandson, Joe Overstreet, had been a changed man since returning from a trip to Florida, the same trip which placed him in Satsuma when Haleigh Cummings went missing. The grandmother noted that Overstreet's demeanor changed, that he refused to talk about Haleigh Cummings at all and would leave the room if conversation led to the little girl or even if someone walked into the room with a t-shirt on bearing the child's image. But mannerism peculiarities were as nothing compared to what Hollars told Nancy Grace that the other grandson, Tommy Croslin, told her from his jail cell.

Flora Hollars told "Nancy Grace": "He told me -- he was crying -- and he says, Nanny, 'I`ve got to break down. I`ve got to tell somebody.' And I told him, I says, 'Tommy, I know in my heart exactly what you`re fixing to say.' He says, 'Nanny, what do you mean?' I said, 'Are you going to tell me that Joe did this?' He says, 'Yes, Nanny, Joe did.'"

She gave no details or could give no information as to motivation, but the grandmother also divulged that she had talked with Misty Croslin Thursday morning. She, too, had implicated her cousin, Joe.

Flora Hollars: "He and Tommy -- she (Misty Croslin) said Joe Overstreet and Tommy wrapped the rope around Haleigh and carried her to the dock at the St. John`s River and put a block around the other end of the rope and throwed her in the river."

With everything seemingly pointed at Joe Overstreet, does this mean that he killed Haleigh Cummings? If not, then who else could have been involved?

When Tommy Croslin told his grandmother about the killing, he never mentioned an involvement on his own part. Misty Croslin claims that her brother and cousin disposed of the body but gave no details as to how the child died -- or if Haleigh Cummings may have been alive when they dropped her bond body into the St. Johns River.

Thus far, no one has yet pointed a finger at Misty Croslin, unless that information is being withheld from the public.

Still, Joe Overstreet seems to feel that he has become the fall guy. He was questioned by Florida Department of Law Enforcement authorities Tuesday but maintains that he had nothing to do with Haleigh Cummings' disappearance. His lawyer says the Joe Overstreet "knows he is being used by people whose story keeps changing."

And what about that ever-changing story? Misty Croslin has been the focus of the missing person investigation ever since Haleigh Cummings went missing in February 2009. The last person to see the child, Misty, who was babysitting both Haleigh and her younger brother, Ronald, has given authorities several conflicting stories about the missing girl. She has also failed four polygraph tests, according to Nancy Grace. Physical evidence also contradicts some of the information given in Croslin's accounts.

Could she and her brother, Tommy, be setting up cousin Joe?

Nancy Grace's chief editorial producer, Ellie Jostad, also presented information regarding a letter supposedly obtained by Leonard Padilla, the bounty hunter that attempted to help in the Caylee Anthony case when that 2-year-old child was believed to have been missing. Jostad said the letter, allegedly written by Misty Croslin to a family member, reveals that Misty Croslin, Tommy Croslin, and Joe Overstreet were all at the mobile home in Satsuma that night. The letter went on to say that all were intoxicated, but she wasn't sure what happened.

Rumors that cousin Joe Overstreet may have done something to and with Haleigh Cummings cropped up early in the investigation. Police spoke with him then and released him.

But police have zeroed in on Misty Croslin's involvement from the outset. They have said in the past that they believed Misty Croslin had information that she was not divulging. Given that this now appears to be true, how much credibility can be given her stories that she wasn't involved? Various accounts now put her in the position of having knowledge of Haleigh Cummings' death -- at least, after she was killed.

But could Misty Croslin have killed Haleigh Cummings? Certainly. She could have killed her and talked her cousin and brother into disposing of the body. She may have aided in the disposing of the child. She and her brother may have been the only parties involved and have brought cousin Joe into the scenario to take the murder or manslaughter rap. Or she may be the only one involved, having told her brother the story that he told his grandmother.

No matter where this case has turned in its 14-month history, it has always turned back to Misty Croslin.

Hope Sykes' tearful pleas before a Putnam County judge Tuesday weren't enough to stave off a 15-year prison sentence in a drug-trafficking case that is embroiling the family of missing HaLeigh Cummings.

Her mood was in stark contrast to the angry defiance the judge heard in a phone call Sykes made to her mother last month after agreeing to plead no contest to the trafficking charge.

"I'm not going to boot camp," she said in the recording played for the court. "I'm telling you right now they think I'm bad now, wait till I get out of that."

Sykes was 18 when she was arrested in January on a charge of trafficking after she, her cousin Ronald Cummings, 26, and Misty Croslin, 18, were recorded selling 25 hydrocodone pills in an undercover officer's car.

Cummings was brought from the Putnam County jail Tuesday as a defense witness but was not called. His 5-year-old daughter disappeared from home in Satsuma in February 2009 and has not been found. Croslin was in the mobile home the night of the disappearance and called 911.

Cummings has been charged with five counts of trafficking and Croslin has been charged with eight in the monthlong investigation that began in December.

Croslin's brother Hank "Tommy" Croslin Jr. and a friend Donna Brock, also face single trafficking charges in the same investigation.

After Sykes' sentencing, Misty Croslin's attorney, Robert Fields, said it was difficult to weigh what the 15-year prison term meant to his client's case.

"I'll have to digest it," he said. "Judges rule on a case-by-case basis and this is a different case."

Circuit Judge Terry LaRue said he ordered the minimum mandatory sentence because Sykes sold drugs within weeks of being released from jail on an earlier drug charge.

Sykes had been out of jail less than two weeks on a possession charge when she was arrested in the trafficking case, which LaRue said disqualified her for youthful offender consideration that would have meant a much shorter sentence.

"I don't want to live this life no more," Sykes said before LaRue imposed the sentence. She admitted making light of the first arrest after she was let out of jail on her own recognizance.

"I thought, 'OK, the drugs are still out there,' " she said.

LaRue said the youthful offender statute is for young people who are pressured or led astray by peers.

"That's not the case here," he said. The later charge was more serious than a second possession arrest.

"What she did was engage in trafficking," he said.

He imposed the sentence and fined Sykes $250,000 after an hour of testimony by her family and others.

Sykes and her family were clearly shaken and tears ran as her mother buried her face in her hands. More than half a dozen people spoke in Sykes' behalf, which her attorney, Marcella Beeching, told the judge attested to a "fantastic support system."

Sykes needed drug rehabilitation and did not have a serious criminal record, her attorney said.

"There is no violence in her background," Beeching said.

Prosecutor Jacquelyn Roys requested the minimum mandatory sentence and said Sykes was an active participant in the drug sale.

Roys also played the recorded jail call for the judge, with Sykes profanely railing against any stiff sentence.

"Well, stupid us if we let her out, because she already told us what was going to happen," Roys said.

Beeching has 30 days to appeal the sentence.