
SATSUMA, FL -- It's those last moments before Haleigh Cummings disappeared that police want to know about. They are relying on a four-year-old, Haleigh's little brother, Ronald Junior, for help.
Detectives have talked to the child. Relatives on both sides say he told police he saw a man in a ski mask come in their trailer and leave with his big sister.
"They questioned Junior. I asked them (police) about it. They couldn't tell me anything other than he's a little child. He was questioned and the story went from one thing to another and another," says Sykes.
Child psychologist Dr. Lynn Wadelton says the average four-year-old can give an accurate account of what they witness. But there are factors that can sometimes cloud the story.
"The research on four-year-olds in general, says that the amount of time that elapses between when they first see something and the things they see in the interim can affect their memory and can be confused."
Wadelton says interviewing a child has to be done carefully, without suggesting details. "They will try to ask questions that don't lead in a particular way, like was it a car or truck. They might say 'how did they leave.'"
She says police look for key factors in a story, like consistency and is the child telling the same story to several different people.
"It's not just the words a child says, the non-verbals, the emotions that goes with the words they're telling."
Police won't comment about the interview. They say they are following up all information that comes in to investigators.
Haleigh's great grandmother says she doesn't believe Haleigh's little brother really knows what happened in the home.
"We ask him, he'll tell you one thing. You ask another way, he'll tell you something else. He's just a little child."
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Created: 2/24/2009 4:55:05 PM 



