JR's story credible...?

[Chezhire]

I am new to your blogging site and have to say that you are some of the most informed and intelligent people online! (I have done a little lurking before choosing to join.) I have a degree in Early Childhood Development and 30 yrs of experience working with young children. I truly concur with many of you that JR has confused reality with imagination in this matter. He has to be extremely stressed about his missing sister and all of the confusion surrounding him. He is undoubtedly experiencing fear for his sister and himself. The person in black is probably a result of dreams mixed with the reality which he cannot comprehend. The person in black could in Jr's mind represent Batman or a positive character simply to reassure himself that Haleigh is OK! JMO.

Sorry, if I have rambled too much! : )

Good to have you here and thanks for your comments.

 

[BetsyB]

I don't think it's a credible story. I think there are too many distraught adults surrounding him--and too much hubbub from which he's absorbing scary bits and pieces of information.

Poor little kidlet--I wish he could be distanced from the situation.

 

[travelgal]

Thanks so much for the welcomes, I am so happy to be here with WS.

I have another comment re: JR - I think it was inappropriate for Craig Rivera to even have JR on camera while Crystal asked him about the person in black. Even though the camera was on JR's back, it was inappropriate IMO. Crystal makes no better use of her maternal judgement than Octomom!

 

[samsmom02]

I am not sure about his story, but at this point I think anything is possible and should be taken seriously anyway.

 

[Leila]

I doubt JR's story because he was only 3-year-old, turning 4 almost two weeks after the abduction of his sister.

I don't feel that a child that young would be able to differentiate between a dream and reality. Upon waking on the morning of Feb. 10th, JR's world was different, with strangers in his home - police officers dressed in black uniforms, news media milling about, and people discussing the disappearance of his sister. He's overheard bits and pieces of grown-ups talking.

I'm not sure if JR is recalling an actual event, or is just saying what he believes happened based on what he's seen and heard going on around him. His sister is gone and he's trying to process what's happened.

I'm sure LE has had someone, a child psychologist, work with JR in order to determine if there's anything he can add that would help find Haleigh.

 

[Prayin_4_Grace]

I'm not sure if its credible or not. I do know that children that age are very open to suggestion and so he may have overheard something or seen something even before Haleigh went missing that gave him a "false memory". To a child all the bad guys wear black, right? On the other hand maybe he did see something....I think it might be a good idea to have someone medically qualified to talk with him. LFlorida had a really interesting post on the moms thread so I'm not ready to say its just his imagination yet.

 

[balaney]

Returning to the movies the kids watched before Haleigh came up missing - in Air Bud - what were the thieves wearing? A ski mask? Dark clothes?

 

[Kat]

I doubt JR's story because he was only 3-year-old, turning 4 almost two weeks after the abduction of his sister.

I don't feel that a child that young would be able to differentiate between a dream and reality. Upon waking on the morning of Feb. 10th, JR's world was different, with strangers in his home - police officers dressed in black uniforms, news media milling about, and people discussing the disappearance of his sister. He's overheard bits and pieces of grown-ups talking.

I'm not sure if JR is recalling an actual event, or is just saying what he believes happened based on what he's seen and heard going on around him. His sister is gone and he's trying to process what's happened.

I'm sure LE has had someone, a child psychologist, work with JR in order to determine if there's anything he can add that would help find Haleigh.

You're last sentence reminded me of a thought I had about Jr. the other night Leila. I hope that he is getting assistance from a child psychologist or someone that is trained in helping him work through all of the emotions, fears and confusions this little guy is most certainly going through. I am very sad for him.

 

[twilight829]

I can possibly see a three (almost four) year-old becoming confused if he didn't wake up until LE was there. Here is crime scene photo--frame #14 shows what he might refer to as "men in black." But MAN in black is different IMO, and could just be what SO/perp happened to be wearing. Hopefully trained psych. was used to help Jr. to verbalize more. If accurate, it means there was someone besides gf involved anyway. JMO

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...haleigh-cummings-photos,0,705399.photogallery

arrot:

Bolded by me. Since I mostly lurk, please forgive me if I am doing this wrong. I am bringing this over from another thread, but it also goes along with this one, as I tend to agree with kiki, about what LE was wearing. It would be helpful to know from RC if JR was awake by the time he arrived home. I would really think he would have at least been awakened by RC's yelling, but with such a young child, just the trauma of all the LE being in the house, and dad being so upset, he could be associating LE with the bad thing that happened to his sissy. (BTW, I think my brain has blown a gasket!):doh:

 

[Leila]

You're last sentence reminded me of a thought I had about Jr. the other night Leila. I hope that he is getting assistance from a child psychologist or someone that is trained in helping him work through all of the emotions, fears and confusions this little guy is most certainly going through. I am very sad for him.

I certainly hope JR is getting some sort of assistance from a qualified child psychologist. He's so young and impressionable that no matter how this situation turns out, he will have emotional scars.

 

[LaLaw2000]

IMO, RJ appeared 'coached' by his mother last night.

Question to anyone who has experience in child psychology: RJ did not appear to be distraught by his mother questioning him last night. Had this been a true event in his life, wouldn't he have become animated, recount what happened, and been somewhat upset?

 

[samsmom02]

Returning to the movies the kids watched before Haleigh came up missing - in Air Bud - what were the thieves wearing? A ski mask? Dark clothes?

I thought it was Madagascar?

 

[balaney]

I read it was both movies.

 

[samsmom02]

I certainly hope JR is getting some sort of assistance from a qualified child psychologist. He's so young and impressionable that no matter how this situation turns out, he will have emotional scars.

I definitely agree. If he saw something or not, his sister is still missing and his mind maybe telling him that this story is true, if it is not. And as this is not enough, the families are more at war now than ever.

 

[samsmom02]

I read it was both movies.

Thanks balaney. The facts change in this case daily and I find it difficult to keep up.

 

[not_my_kids]

Thanks balaney. The facts change in this case daily and I find it difficult to keep up.

Don't we all?

 

[mydailyopinions]

If LE were to come out today and say that they had Junior questioned in the home on the very morning that the report of Haleigh missing was made, and say that this is what he said, I would believe it.
Since then, this child has been around plenty of conversations in regards to theories, finger pointing, and all the conversations going on in both camps. I am sure at 4, he repeats what he hears..most kids do.
I do find it strange that he tells his mother things that he doesn't tell his father or grandmother. This makes me believe that Ron is heavily talked about during his visits with his mother.
I can only believe this story if it was told from the start. I can't believe it if it were after.

 

[Logger]

I have another comment re: JR - I think it was inappropriate for Craig Rivera to even have JR on camera while Crystal asked him about the person in black. Even though the camera was on JR's back, it was inappropriate IMO. Crystal makes no better use of her maternal judgement than Octomom!

Ditto. -- Also, consider only the MOTHER has reported her child told her this. Both grandmothers, girlfriend, neighbors, LE have all spoken regarding the case. No one else have mentioned the little brother. Perhaps this is a time to consider the source.

 

[belimom]

IMO, RJ appeared 'coached' by his mother last night.

Question to anyone who has experience in child psychology: RJ did not appear to be distraught by his mother questioning him last night. Had this been a true event in his life, wouldn't he have become animated, recount what happened, and been somewhat upset?

I'll try (yes, that is my field...). I think it would depend on alot of things.

First of all, if he's been asked questions numerous times, then answering them has become almost a rote task rather than the first time or two of reliving it in his mind.

Second of all, he might not necessarily get upset if he didn't see anything bad happen to Haleigh (such as someone actually hurting her). Even if he did see a man take Haleigh out of the bed, his world is small and his imagination limited to his world experiences. For all he knew, this was just as family friend who was moving Haleigh to another room or something. Unless he was familiar with the idea of kidnapping, he would not have thought that this person was taking Haleigh away for good. Even now, after the fact that she really is missing for real, in his mind he can't comprehend that it's forever. He doesn't even grasp that concept yet. And things that go "missing" - toys, shoes, etc - always turn up somewhere, right? So the reality of the situation probably hasn't even hit him yet.

 

[MysteryAddict]

Shame on Crystal for putting RJ on TV like that. It was her story she was telling of a black man with squeaky shoes. The child just nodded his head.

I think if he really woke up and saw a scary man stealing Haleigh from her bed- he would have tried to wake Misty and at least crawled in bed with her!