Haleigh's Great-Grandmother Speaks Out, Defends Croslin
A day after detectives said they were following up on a tip that Croslin may not have been at home when Haleigh disappeared, the 5-year-old's great-grandmother, Annett Sykes, said she doesn't believe the tip at all. Ronald Cummings joins about 30 volunteers on horseback in the continuing search for Haleigh Cummings.
Sykes said there is no way Croslin wasnt home the night Haleigh went missing.
"That's a crock. I went by the house that night. She fed them. She bathed them. Every morning when Haleigh went out to go to school, she looked like she just stepped out of a beauty shop," Sykes said. "Y'all don't know her. Those children love her, and she loves them. I know everybody makes a big deal that she's only 17, and that's true, but she's a lot more mature than a lot of people that I've seen and that I know who are 25 and 30."
Police said they received a tip that Croslin was out instead of home with Haleigh and her 3-year-old brother last Monday night. However, Sykes said that tipster was wrong.
"We have heard rumor after rumor after rumor that has scared the daylights out of us, and it was absolutely nothing but a rumor," Sykes said.
She said she last saw Haleigh outside on the porch eating dinner at 7 p.m. on Monday.
"Her and Junior were sitting up there with a plate in their lap and eating. When we drove up they hollered, 'Hey Granny. Hey Granny,' like they always do," Sykes said.