missing

Haleigh Ann-Marie Cummings, 5, went missing from her home in Satsuma, about a 1.5 hour drive from Gainesville, last Monday Feb. 9. Authorities are treating it like an abduction, but everyone is suspect. I spent the last three days there. It's a small tight-knit rural community, and the families have received tons of support from the surrounding areas. When I first arrived, the ground search was in full force, with a Texas-based group called EquuSearch on horseback trampling through the woods. Today, they called off the search and are pursuing only the investigative side of the case. The authorities they have leads, but can't give any details yet.

It's terrible when something like this happens, and as a photographer it's difficult to shoot when the families really just want to be left alone. They appreciate the coverage since they recognize the value of raising awareness about their child, but the hordes of TV cameras in their faces pushed the parents to the edge at points--already deprived of food and sleep. So, I tried to lay low and not cause them more grief than they were already experiencing.