Contact Me

Dr. April Bradley PhD; Dr. Madaline Barnes PhD; Dr. Jean Gullicks PhD; Therapist Kathy Colley MSW; Therapist Kristina Cavalli MSW.

What do they all have in common?

In short – the kidnapping of HaLeigh Ann-Marie Cummings.

In 2007 Judge Donna Dixon, Roseau Family Court, ordered Timothy Holmseth and Rhonda Callahan, Parties in a high conflict custody matter that was before the Court, to submit to parental capacity psychological evaluations.

Both parties were tested by Dr. April Bradley, PhD, Family Institute, Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Both Parties passed.

But the situation between the Parties never stabilized.

In 2012 Judge Dixon again ordered Parties to submit to parental capacity psychological evaluations. Both Parties were tested by Dr. Madaline Barnes, PhD, Sanford Medical Behavioral Health Center, Thief River falls, Minnesota.

Both Parties passed.

Neither Holmseth nor Callahan showed pathology or presented any concerns to the evaluators; both were deemed to be good parents.

But the devil is in the details.  

Holmseth’s results were based upon the interviews, testing, and his life history.

However - Callahan’s descriptions of Holmseth to the psychologist during her own evaluation sessions were highly critical of Holmseth, and contained serious allegations against him that described a man that was essentially, insane.

The anomaly carried over into the work of several therapists that were working with the child. Callahan’s descriptions of the child’s behavior and mental health at intake, and his relationship with his father, would always fail to match what the Therapist would find upon meeting with the child.

The disturbing trend, again showed itself, when trained child protection specialists from social services in Polk County, Minnesota and Grand Forks County, North Dakota repeatedly responded to Callahan’s allegations against Holmseth.

Every CPS investigation came to the same conclusion – ‘no signs of abuse – no services recommended’.

But statements made by Callahan to Barnes in 2012 introduced information that could be critical regarding a five year-old unsolved missing person case in Florida.

Callahan introduced Holmseth’s journalistic involvement in the kidnapping of HaLeigh Cummings. Not only did she introduce the topic, but it dominated the entire session and the 'History' section of the report was all about Holmseth and the HaLeigh Cumminsg case.

HaLeigh Cummings was five years-old when she was reported missing from her Satsuma, Florida home on February 10, 2009. An Amber Alert was issued for the child, but she has not been found.

What Callahan told Barnes about Holmseth was not only false, but served no useful purpose, except to discredit Holmseth, and perhaps interfere with any search for the missing child by law enforcement.   

In March of 2009, Holmseth became involved with key figures in the HaLeigh Cummings case after he conducted interviews with the missing child’s family and legal team. He was journalistically brought into a world of organized crime that included kidnapping, baby-brokering, sex trafficking, child pornography, and murder.

In 2010, the Jacksonville FBI requested the Minneapolis FBI meet with Holmseth and obtain select copies of recorded interviews he’d done with actual suspects in the kidnapping.

In 2011 Holmseth released a book he wrote on the subject. Shortly after Holmseth’s book was released, Callahan filed a Motion to the Roseau Family Court and asked for restrictions on Holmseth’s publishing and journalism. She based her Motion on allegations that Holmseth was sharing adult related aspects of the case with their son.

And – par for the course – Callahan accused Holmseth of being mentally unstable.

But it was all a criminal charade.

Holmseth was not sharing anything innapropriate with his small son.

In reality - Callahan was in consistent communications and acting as an agent of individuals working for Crystal Sheffield, HaLeigh’s mother, who were under investigation in Florida for the kidnapping.

The Motion was filed to discredit Holmseth and slow him down.

In June of 2012, Callahan met with Dr. Barnes - and the truth was hers to tell.

But she didn’t – it was full steam ahead.

Callahan absolutely butchered Holmseth – describing him as mentally unstable, psychotic, and delusional. The entire history section of Callahan’s evaluation with Barnes was about Holmseth and his journalistic work on the HaLeigh Cummings case.

She shredded him.

“Ms. Callahan said that she was never married to her younger son’s father but left while she was still pregnant because he had auditory hallucinations and was yelling at Satan in the bathroom,” Barnes said in her report.   

The report continued.

“Because he continued to be psychotic, including having a complex delusion about a young woman who has been missing in Florida for several years, she eventually requested a parenting evaluation in 2008,” Barnes said in her report.

While there were general disagreements between the Parties during their psychological evaluations in 2008, Callahan had graduated to new lows in 2012. Her descriptions of Holmseth now included psychosis, hallucinations, and the devil.

The ever-present theme and message, rolled out year after year, is that Holmseth is ‘paranoid’ and ‘delusional’ and ‘hallucinating’. The labels, commonly known as thought-stoppers, are intended to dissuade anybody that might be listening to Holmseth.

However - while in the frenzy of decimating Holmseth during the interview – Callahan mix-matched dates. She claimed Holmseth was suffering complex delusions and obsessed with a missing girl in 2008, although HaLeigh Cummings did not even disappear until 2009.

But the discrepancy regarding the year would only be the beginning of several impossible scenarios Callahan presented to Barnes. The high-risk nature of Callahan’s lies is strange, considering all the evidence is easily found in the relatively innocuous findings of the evaluations performed in 2008.

After all…

Holmseth (and Callahan), did in fact, submit to parental capacity psychological evaluations with Dr. April Bradley, PhD, Family Institute, Grand Forks, in 2008.

However…

Holmseth completely passed the test. He already had sole physical custody of his twelve year-old daughter and had been raising her as a single parent since she was four years-old. He was/is an experienced and loving parent. He was at no risk during a parental capacity evaluation.

At no time whatsoever during either Party’s evaluation was there talk or mention of a missing girl. There was also no mention of Holmseth yelling at “Satan” or having hallucinations.

Photographs taken shortly before the child’s birth, show Holmseth and Callahan were a couple, which directly contradicts what she told Barnes. Holmseth was present during their child’s birth and held Callahan’s hand through the delivery. While Callahan was medicated and recovering from problematic child birth, Holmseth traveled alone from Thief River Falls to Meritcare in Fargo to sit with his son who was in the Intensive Care Unit. Photos taken later showed the two adults with their kids and new baby in a family picture.

Photo taken by Timothy Charles Holmseth shortly before his son was loaded onto an airplane to Meritcare in Fargo, ND

Timothy Charles Holmseth w/baby son in ICU Meritcare, Fargo, ND

Callahan lied to Barnes about her relationship with Holmseth at the time their son was born, because she needed to develop a ‘boogie man’ that would date back years into his past.

The lies piled up.

And so did red flags that an agenda involving an illegal attack on a witness in a federal kidnapping was taking place. After all - the original attack began on Holmseth in 2009 and was still in full force at the 2012 session with Barnes.

Callahan did not tell Barnes, that at the same time Holmseth was conducting interviews regarding the Cummings kidnapping in 2009, she was in extensive contact with the very people Holmseth was interviewing.

The omission is colossal.

Callahan was working with people that had been questioned by law enforcement per suspicion they had transported a missing child across state lines.

Callahan had come to the court-ordered psychological evaluation as a mouth piece with talking points that would benefit not only her; but others.

Police record with the East Grand Forks Police Department show Callahan and several others, working for Crystal Sheffield, HaLeigh’s mother, began calling the police and social services on Holmseth in the spring of 2009 – telling the authorities he was mentally unstable.

An Affidavit later drafted by the private investigator working for HaLeigh’s mother, and sent to Holmseth, sets forth the details of the entire plot against Holmseth, which involved Callahan.

In 2009 a barrage of CPS complaints were filed against Holmseth.

Planning sessions for the CPS complaints were captured in time-stamped emails between Callahan and the people under investigation for the Cummings kidnapping. The emails capture conversations between Callahan and people she never met, discussing how to file a CPS complaint that would involve Holmseth’s gun.

In fact - the fifth complaint filed against Holmseth in 2009 did include ominous references to his “gun”. Emails authored by Callahan show she wanted to go with a story that Holmseth slept with a loaded rifle.

However…

The report was eventually made that Holmseth had a loaded gun in reach of a child. The report resulted in police and CPS coming to Holmseth’s home and demanding entry.

In strategic fashion by experienced professionals that were creating a false record, a call was first placed to police to inquire whether or not law enforcement had received any reports of shots fired near Holmseth’s residence.

In October of 2009, Miranda Cassetta, child protection agent, Polk County Social Services (PCSS) contacted Play Therapist Kathy Colley after PCSS received five CPS complaints against Holmseth in only four months. Cassetta contacted Colley because Callahan had entered their son into play therapy during the barrage of CPS complaints.

The plan was to have a play therapist support the claims that Holmseth was a threat to his child. Therapist Colley’s statement, as recorded by Cassetta was profound.

“After discussing the concerns with [the child’s] therapist, Kathy Colley, she states Timothy is unaware of [the child’s] involvement with her and she is [redacted] [the child] shows no sign of fear at his fathers. He also expresses a love for his father. Kathy is concerned this young man may be in the middle of a custody dispute where the child is put in the middle of adult issues [redacted],” said Miranda Cassetta.   

Colley said the child never presented with any of the issues reported by Callahan at intake. Not long after Holmseth was invited to attend therapy sessions with his son, the sessions had to be ended, because Colley could not identify any problems, or justify charging insurance, for what she described as a very healthy relationship between father and son.

In September of 2011, Callahan took the minor child to Dr. Bradley. She laid out a brand new tale of child abuse and neglect. This time she even made accusations against the child’s sister – Holmseth’s daughter from another relationship.

The large part of the report by Bradley is about Holmseth’s book regarding a missing child from Florida. Callahan told Bradley that Holmseth was experiencing forms of psychosis, and several references were made to people from Florida that were characterized as Holmseth’s victims.

Again – it appears Callahan did not tell the evaluator she was in communications with the people from Florida, or that Holmseth had conducted countless hours of interviews with the very people that were now trying to label him as ‘delusional’.

Bradley’s synopsis contains no mention of the FBI or the assistance that federal agency sought and received from Holmseth.

During the one hour session, Callahan succeeded at convincing Dr. Bradley to recommend Holmseth’s parenting-time be suspended until an investigation could be conducted.

Within a matter of days, the letter written by Bradley magically appeared on the Web. The letter was accomponied by anonymous commentary that told the viewing public that the "HaLeigh Cummings conspiracy author" had lost his child due to mental problems.

In November of 2011 Grand Forks County Child Protective Services issued a finding of “No Services Required or Recommended – No Risk Factors for Abuse or Neglect”. 

“The Grand Forks Child Protection Team met on 11-17-11 to discuss the information gathered in the assessment. After careful review and discussion the Team made a finding of “No Services Required or Recommended” and identified no risk factors for abuse or neglect of [the child] by you or [your daughter],” said Jackie Poitra, CPS, GFCCPS.