2.17.2009

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.

4 comments:

Ian MacLellan said...

Really powerful series. I especially like your reflections shot through the window. Also the portraits of the media are very compelling.

ben fredman said...

great work tim!

Mike Terry said...

15 is money buddy. real nice

Anonymous said...

tim, these are amazing, as is everything else on the blog and on your website. sorry i dragged your excellent photographs down with the burning ship of that religion class dvd. i thought the peeps in charge would have given us a little more credit for going into the friggin' everglades.