The 911 Call, LE Radio Call & Police Report

[Brefie]

I don't know, his behavior during this call sounds very immature. I can understand being hysterical, just coming home from work, but he refers instantly to "killing that m.f-er" and threatening to shoot him right through the windows of the patrol car. I don't believe he was very rational in the beginning. And Misty just was not any help at all, couldn't give sensible answers to sensible questions. It almost sounds fake to me, but I try to visualize how I might have reacted at that young age, and I can't imagine being calm or rational myself.

Oh, I don't discount these people as suspects at all, just wanted to point out that those particular points don't give me indication either way. Wwweeeellll, maybe the part about him shooting through a patrol car, on reflection, that is a really suspect thing to say. The swearing doesn't sway me one bit, though.

One thing that sticks out to me, which I must say is more annoying than anything, is the way Misty says 'our' daughter. It just conjures up images of a little girl playing at grown up happy families and not getting swayed by the fact that she is reporting SOMEONE ELSE'S child missing. I HATE when people assume parental roles too quickly, especially when they are children themselves.

 

[AuburnJenn]

Oh, I don't discount these people as suspects at all, just wanted to point out that those particular points don't give me indication either way. Wwweeeellll, maybe the part about him shooting through a patrol car, on reflection, that is a really suspect thing to say. The swearing doesn't sway me one bit, though.

One thing that sticks out to me, which I must say is more annoying than anything, is the way Misty says 'our' daughter. It just conjures up images of a little girl playing at grown up happy families and not getting swayed by the fact that she is reporting SOMEONE ELSE'S child missing. I HATE when people assume parental roles too quickly, especially when they are children themselves.

I thought it was weird that she continued to go along with the 911 operator by not clarifying that she was NOT Ron's wife, nor was Haleigh her biological child. I would think those facts would be pretty important to state up-front. She continued going along with the phrases husband, wife and "our daughter." Not sure what to make of that, but it stuck out at me.

 

[LaLaw2000]

I find Ronald's anger in that call to be way over the top. If your child is missing and you are calling LE for help, you cooperate. You make yourself answer the simple questions the dispatcher is asking.

Ronald assumes right away that a guy took Haleigh. Right away he is threatening to kill him. He has enough presence of mind to know he is making a recorded threat to kill someone on a tape that he knows will exist forever. He is a 25 year old guy that knows how important an emergency 911 call is - his Mom is a dispatcher. I think he was making Misty make the call and has told her what to say. The whole call came across to me as contrived. Ronald is very controlling and has a vicious temper.

Way too theatrical, IMO, to be believable.

 

[Wise Old Owl]

Good idea to "revisit" this call. I just did - re-read the transcript on the first post. Something JUMPED OUT at me.

911: "what is a brick?"

Misty Croslin: "it's almost like-- on the stairs- we have a walkway..."

911:" uh huh....and there was a brick laying there?"


Now, we know that door that was open had a handicapped ramp. NO STAIRS!! NO walkway. The stairs are on the screen door of the front porch. So why would she say stairs?

This whole call has bothered me from the get go. Dad seems way "too over the top" and way "too sure he "knows" someone "took" her". Like some have said, he goes from high pitched whining and crying to sensible, cussing and swearing and what he's going to do to that person.

If I had the money (I do have the time) I would drive up there myself, check into the ONLY hotel and start doin' my own "checkin' things out".

 

[Mr. E]

I'm glad to finally read the transcript...I can never hear the call because it's too quiet or staticky for me to make out what's being said.

Misty -- I don't know; she doesn't act like I think I would act in a similar situation. Not frantic enough, maybe?

Dad -- I can completely see where he's coming from. He wants action and he wants it now.

 

[Indigo]

Anger aside, I can't see one thing that RC said or did during the 911 call to help find his daughter. He wasted a lot of time.

 

[Mr. E]

He doesn't seem like the type of person who puts rational thought before emotion. But the emotion is there, at least, and seems genuine.

 

[Brefie]

Yep, and I believe he did retract his statement about hurting whomever may have took her. I'm sorry, no link, but I do think I read it here at WS.

 

[Indigo]

Here is Ron's portion of the 911 call alone:

Ronald Cummings: "Man, I need somebody to get here now!"


Ronald Cummings: "I just got home from work, my five-year-old daughter is gone- I need someone here now."

Ronald Cummings: "if I find whoever has my daughter before you all do, I'm killing them...I don't care- I will spend the rest of my life in prison....you can put that on the recording...I don't care."


Ronald Cummings: "I don't f%$ know!"


Cummings: (inaudible, in background ) "Where my daughter at?"


Ronald Cummings: "they better bring f'ing something out here- because if I get my hands on that mother f'er I'm going to kill him...I don't give a f%*)@# about prison...mother F'ing prison doesn't scare me."


Ronald Cummings: "i'm going to f'ing kill somebody"


Ronald Cummings: "F her date of birth- we need to find her- f her date of birth."



Ronald Cummings: "where is my f'ing phone...we've got better people to talk to then some mother f'ers who ain't coming."


Meanwhile, Ron allows Misty to struggle with the address, Haleigh's description, birthdate, etc. It's a miracle this dispatcher got anybody out to this house, IMO.

(BTW: I have had to call 911 several times. All have been life-threatening situations--two involved children. I know how scary it is and I don't want to seem uncaring about this.)

 

[ScorpRising]

Good idea to "revisit" this call. I just did - re-read the transcript on the first post. Something JUMPED OUT at me.

911: "what is a brick?"
Misty Croslin: "it's almost like-- on the stairs- we have a walkway..."

911:" uh huh....and there was a brick laying there?"


Now, we know that door that was open had a handicapped ramp. NO STAIRS!! NO walkway. The stairs are on the screen door of the front porch. So why would she say stairs?

MOO... I think MC is trying to describe what a brick is because the dispatcher asked "On the stairs we have a walkway..." I remember during construction on our house we used cinder blocks and bricks as steps before we had the steps poured. I don't think she is trying to say the brick is on the stairs

 

[cyn0matic]

<snip>

This whole call has bothered me from the get go. Dad seems way "too over the top" and way "too sure he "knows" someone "took" her". Like some have said, he goes from high pitched whining and crying to sensible, cussing and swearing and what he's going to do to that person.

</snip>

The call bothers me too. There seems to be something 'staged' about it.

Leaving me to think that one likely scenario is that they are in collusion about what happened to the child. Something bad happened, and they decided to hide her and claim her kidnapped. The discussed it before calling 911, maybe rehearsed a little bit, and chose the Girlfriend as the one to make the call.

Girlfriend was having quite a time with it, fumbling around with words, not knowing vital weight statistics, and basically blowing her lines until Dad became enraged (at her poor performance) and got on the phone and started cussing and threatening.

I remember a sort of half-drunken time with a boyfriend, I felt very responsible and grown up, and told him I'd call in sick for him; of course I'd be much better than he. Only I really screwed up the call, fumbling my words and getting mixed up. He got all kinds of mad at me and called in sick for himself again, apologizing for my poor calling etiquette.

I won't deny yet that it still could be a slithering sex predator, and these folks just had a stressful time with panic and loss.

 

[AuburnJenn]

I won't deny yet that it still could be a slithering sex predator, and these folks just had a stressful time with panic and loss.

I agree, but I just don't think that's likely. If I'm wrong, I'll be the first to admit it. There has been way too many lies, inconsistencies, wild tales, stories that don't pan out told BY THE FAMILY! That is such a red flag to me and I am sure to LE too. It's one thing to accidentally misspeak, but to regularly flub your answers and tales for more than a week is too strange.

And I agree, the call seems staged.

 

[JayBee1940]

Okay I'm gonna jump in here and say why I think this 911 call doesn't make sense to me.

The first reaction to a child missing from the home (especially if a door is open), is that the child probably wandered out of the house. I know the family said she was afraid of the dark and wouldn't go out in the dark alone. That's just plain stupid to assume that! Young children are apt to do anything. You may think you know what your child will or will not do, but they can surprise the he!! out of you.

Questions:

Why did the dad automatically think some M&*% F'er came in and took her?

Why wasn't he out looking for his daughter while GF called 911????

Scenerio: About 20 years ago my great niece (3 or 4 years old) climbed on a chair and unlocked the door to their apartment and decided to go out and play or go for a walk. This was early in the morning while her parents were still asleep. The entire family panicked, but the one thing on everyone's mind was to start looking for her and call 911. My nephew (the baby's uncle, who was still very young, called me at work. He was bawling like a baby "Aunt J____, B____ is missing!!!" He told me what had happened. My immediate response was... I had to leave right now and go find my niece (I was 20 miles away). I grabbed my purse and keys and then realized I had not driven that day. I called my husband to come pick me up, but he wasn't home...more panic. Then I remembered he had planned to go somewhere with a friend of his. I grabbed the phone book to look up friend's number, but for the life of me I couldn't remember his friend's name.....more panic. All ended well. She was walking down a very busy highway and came upon a man on a ladder at a furniture store and stopped to see what he was doing. The man realized this was not a good sign...a 3 year old walking alone, down a busy highway, in her nightgown and barefoot. He came down from the ladder and tried to talk to her, but she was leery of talking to a strange man, so he got a female coworker to come out and talk to her and she told them she knew where she lived (don't think she knew the address though, but did know how to get home) and she agreed to let the man walk back home with her. Happy ending, back home, safe and sound.....thank you God!

My point: I believe the above scenario to be a normal reaction (even in a state of panic) to a missing child. You call 911 and also call other family members and friends and everybody goes looking for the child.

Did Ron call his family, friends, neighbors to come help him look for Haleigh. I'm thinking he did not. He was too busy cursing his girl friend, blaming his girlfriend, threatening to kill somebody. Now, his mom is a dispatcher. Surely he knows the person on the other end of the 911 call is not the same person who will be coming to find his daughter. Why is he attacking the 911 operator (who handled the situation very professionally and calmly IMO).

Ron, in my opinion is controlling and irrational; i.e., his way or no way. However, I want to know why he didn't feel it urgently necessary for him to immediately go out looking for his daughter while the girlfriend was calling 911.

 

[LaLaw2000]

Anger aside, I can't see one thing that RC said or did during the 911 call to help find his daughter. He wasted a lot of time.

Yes, he did waste a lot of time.

I just think that there was only one phone there because in the 911 call, he does say, "Give me my phone." Then there is only one phone number on the incident report. I know you cannot always believe NG, but the 911 call was played and also the transcript was on the screen in print.

You just do not leave a barely 17 year old with a 5 and 2 year old with no phone if that is what he did. It had been said that Haleigh had been in the hospital a few times recently. What if there had been an emergency? And in a community full of SO's.

I may be completely wrong about that, but I really think there was just one phone and Ronald had it with him at work. Maybe Misty could not have called 911 any sooner.

At any rate, that was the most bizarre 911 call I have ever heard.

 

[desertmom]

Okay I'm gonna jump in here and say why I think this 911 call doesn't make sense to me.

The first reaction to a child missing from the home (especially if a door is open), is that the child probably wandered out of the house. I know the family said she was afraid of the dark and wouldn't go out in the dark alone. That's just plain stupid to assume that! Young children are apt to do anything. You may think you know what your child will or will not do, but they can surprise the he!! out of you.

Questions:

Why did the dad automatically think some M&*% F'er came in and took her?

Why wasn't he out looking for his daughter while GF called 911????

Scenerio: About 20 years ago my great niece (3 or 4 years old) climbed on a chair and unlocked the door to their apartment and decided to go out and play or go for a walk. This was early in the morning while her parents were still asleep. The entire family panicked, but the one thing on everyone's mind was to start looking for her and call 911. My nephew (the baby's uncle, who was still very young, called me at work. He was bawling like a baby "Aunt J____, B____ is missing!!!" He told me what had happened. My immediate response was... I had to leave right now and go find my niece (I was 20 miles away). I grabbed my purse and keys and then realized I had not driven that day. I called my husband to come pick me up, but he wasn't home...more panic. Then I remembered he had planned to go somewhere with a friend of his. I grabbed the phone book to look up friend's number, but for the life of me I couldn't remember his friend's name.....more panic. All ended well. She was walking down a very busy highway and came upon a man on a ladder at a furniture store and stopped to see what he was doing. The man realized this was not a good sign...a 3 year old walking alone, down a busy highway, in her nightgown and barefoot. He came down from the ladder and tried to talk to her, but she was leery of talking to a strange man, so he got a female coworker to come out and talk to her and she told them she knew where she lived (don't think she knew the address though, but did know how to get home) and she agreed to let the man walk back home with her. Happy ending, back home, safe and sound.....thank you God!

My point: I believe the above scenario to be a normal reaction (even in a state of panic) to a missing child. You call 911 and also call other family members and friends and everybody goes looking for the child.

Did Ron call his family, friends, neighbors to come help him look for Haleigh. I'm thinking he did not. He was too busy cursing his girl friend, blaming his girlfriend, threatening to kill somebody. Now, his mom is a dispatcher. Surely he knows the person on the other end of the 911 call is not the same person who will be coming to find his daughter. Why is he attacking the 911 operator (who handled the situation very professionally and calmly IMO).

Ron, in my opinion is controlling and irrational; i.e., his way or no way. However, I want to know why he didn't feel it urgently necessary for him to immediately go out looking for his daughter while the girlfriend was calling 911.

ITA!!! This has been my thought all along and the main thing that doesn't sit well with me about the 911 call. Why isn't he asking Misty, "have you looked out back"? or "have you looked here", "did you look there?" It looks like they live in a very rural area where neighbors are scarce, so it seems the very first thought would be that she got up and wandered out, for whatever reason. He jumped way too fast to the "somebody stole her, I'm gonna kill him" theory, considering they don't live in an area where people are strolling by all the time. I hope I'm wrong, but it just doesn't sit well with me.

 

[catch_22]

i'm really leaning in a different direction, but.......

what if ron and misty are in this together, and misty was "supposed" to call 911 while ron was at work to give him a solid alibi (maybe because he committed the "act" and expected the focus to be on him). then he comes home from work and misty hadn't called 911 yet. he was furious. he got out one of his guns and threatened her life and forced her to call 911 and "go along with it". this could maybe explain his anger and the unusualness of the 911 call.

again, this is just a possibility and i'm really leaning towards ron not being involved. i kind of think misty would have come clean by now if this were the case but maybe not. maybe she is afraid of ron or she was involved and knows she would be in trouble if she came clean.

it would be nice to get solid evidence of ron's exact work times and the last comfirmed sighting of haleigh from someone other than family (i've also wondered if ron's mom and gma could be covering for him about seeing haleigh at 7pm that night).

 

[not_my_kids]

Why does everyone keep saying the call is odd? Honestly, this is the most realistic 911 call I have ever heard.
I can only imagine, God forbid, that a call coming from my home would sound pretty much the same under the circumstances, at least as far as the father's reaction.
I would be a little more together than Misty. But other than that, pretty much the same.
The weird part of the call, IMO, is that Ron walks into his home and his daughter is missing, he is confronted with his gf that is acting totally out of it. I'd sound a little off too.
You can tell from Misty's recent change in attitude that it's been an act up until now. That had to confuse Ron on top of everything that was going on at that moment.

 

[LaLaw2000]

Why does everyone keep saying the call is odd? Honestly, this is the most realistic 911 call I have ever heard.
I can only imagine, God forbid, that a call coming from my home would sound pretty much the same under the circumstances, at least as far as the father's reaction.
I would be a little more together than Misty. But other than that, pretty much the same.
The weird part of the call, IMO, is that Ron walks into his home and his daughter is missing, he is confronted with his gf that is acting totally out of it. I'd sound a little off too.
You can tell from Misty's recent change in attitude that it's been an act up until now. That had to confuse Ron on top of everything that was going on at that moment.

Well, I keep saying this call is odd because it is the most bizarre one I have ever heard. Just my opinion is all.

 

[mommyto4]

Having been a dispatcher for 6 years this call is actually pretty normal sounding to me. You would be amazed at how many times over the years I had a parent call to report a missing child that had no idea what the child was wearing. I have also taken calls where the parent didn't know where their child was, who they left with, when they left, etc.. these parents were completely calm and knew their children had left the house and they couldn't give squat for information so not having proper descriptions is not really that out of the norm.

 

[hawki123]

Good idea to "revisit" this call. I just did - re-read the transcript on the first post. Something JUMPED OUT at me.

911: "what is a brick?"

Misty Croslin: "it's almost like-- on the stairs- we have a walkway..."

911:" uh huh....and there was a brick laying there?"


Now, we know that door that was open had a handicapped ramp. NO STAIRS!! NO walkway. The stairs are on the screen door of the front porch. So why would she say stairs?

This whole call has bothered me from the get go. Dad seems way "too over the top" and way "too sure he "knows" someone "took" her". Like some have said, he goes from high pitched whining and crying to sensible, cussing and swearing and what he's going to do to that person.

If I had the money (I do have the time) I would drive up there myself, check into the ONLY hotel and start doin' my own "checkin' things out".

I believe a lot of what we heard from Misty on that 911 call. She didn't know that was a "cinder block" not a brick which is a big difference,note a word or two the dispatcher used and Misty didn't kow what the word meant,the fact that she stated Haleigh weighed 40,50,or 60 lbs??? I know Misty is not the mother and maybe never went along to the drs. ofice when Haleigh had an appointment but common sense should have told Misty that Haleigh couldn't possibly
have weighed any where near 60 lbs! Turns out Haleigh only weighs 39 lbs! It tells me Misty is not the sharpest knife in the drawer...not throwing down on her but from the beginning one could tell her hesitancy about so many things asked her by LE and the media has more to do with her seemingly slow mentality than trying to make up lies. Altho there is much that bothers me about Misty once she started changing her stories. I think also that the cousin from Tn.who supposedly left Putnam Co. the same day Haleigh went missing is going to figure into this scenario when all is said and done. It also bothers me that it was Misty who told about that cousin sexually abusing her at the age of 13 yet why would she allow him in her house. Was Ron the dad there? Was there truly a fight that ensued between Ronald and the cousin the night before Haleigh went missing and the fight was over a gun of Ronald's that the cousin had stolen and later the gun was found in a ditch? Misty told it originally,Ron's mom said it happened only that it happened two weeks prior and there was no fight. So it's hard to figure out why dad would not tell the truth about that in case the cousin is involved.