Reading Between the Lines

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What Ronald Cummings says in this jailhouse interview is quite revealing.

Interviewer: Have they asked you about Haleigh yet…What happened?

RC: …They just told me that their main focus is not on putting me in jail, its about finding Haleigh.

Why would the police say that, if they didn’t think Cummings knew something? Does this make any sense? It reveals to us that the police clearly believe Cummings knows more than he is telling us.

If Cummings was being looked at unfairly, you would have expected him to say something like, “Look man, they have the wrong person. The person who took my child is still out there, other children are at risk. I worry about my son!!”

Have you ever noticed he never has worried his son? That’s another huge red flag–two in one sentence.

Cummings goes on to say, “The 911 call, I haven’t changed my mind about the 911 call since the minute it was made.”

What?

What would he change his mind about in the 911 call? The fact that Ronald thinks there is something he could have changed his mind about the 911 call is a concern for me. I wish the reporter would have delved into this more to see what Ronald would have said. I suspect he may have been talking about his threat to kill the abductor (because that is what this segues into, but one can never be sure).

He then babbles on that if he finds out who did it, he’ll go after them. It’s ridiculous babble, if you want my opinion. He says, “That still remains that it don’t matter 40-50 years from now, if I found out whoever done it before they do, you know whatever, might be done whether they took Haleigh because they took because they lost a child, or whatever the case might be, you know, uhm…yeah….”

The word “yeah” here is indicative that Ronald is thinking as he is talking and he is confirming things to himself as if, “Yeah, that’s right. That’s what I want to say.” It’s uncommon for people to do this. When people are deceptive, some have a habit of verbal confirming to themselves that they are saying what they wanted to say. It’s like there is a cognitive overload, and their thoughts of self-censoring slip out unconsciously. I’ve seen it multiple times.

In his ramblings, Cummings talks about how someone “stole” his child. Later on, however, he talks about how if Haleigh is found it will be because someone is reporting a “homicide”. He says:

“They know I won’t be the first ones to know. I wouldn’t call’em or nothing else. They would probably be notified by the news media or…or somebody, you know…report’en a homicide, so that’s how they’ll know I haven’t found anything.”

Ronald is all over in what he believes. One minute he suggests someone may have stolen his daughter to replace their missing child. The next, he talks someone took his daughter and if she is found ,it will be cause it is a homicide. The two are contradictory. He seems to change his position as the wind blows… Then when the interviewer questions if Cummings is talking about him committing a homicide against the abductor, Cummings owns that, too, but that is clearly not what he was saying.

There is little sense to what Cummings says. When people have genuine feelings, their beliefs are consistent one way or another, or they don’t own anything, if they are ambiguous. They don’t blow in the wind like Cummings is here. Deceptive people often do this…

Interviewer: …Do you think she (Misty) know more?

RC: That’s a hard question to answer….It’s hard to believe that she don’t know more, but…It’s also hard to believe that if she did know more, she didn’t already talk, you know…especially if they got her locked up like they got me locked up…

Notice the pauses? They are suggestive that he is thinking as he speaks (hot spot for deception), rather than talking from his heart.

Cummings behavior towards Croslin is just crazy. If he truly was not involved and didn’t know anything, he would be demanding the truth from Croslin. But he never has. Instead, he insanely defends her which makes no sense whatsoever, unless they are both in on this. His reply above is just more senseless ramble, if you want my opinion.

And the idea that Crolin will talk in prison could still happen, but Cummings may have scared her that if she does, she could face the death penalty. That would be enough for Cummings to be confident that Croslin will never talk. Life in prison or the death penalty? I think the choice would be easy for most people: Keep your mouth shut.

Cummings says interestingly, “I want my girlfriend to know I love her.” Did Ron get a new girlfriend or is that a message for Misty (that he is still loyal to her so she stays loyal to him)???

This is plain creepy!

Thanks, KC, for the story lead.