I'm glad you enjoyed the read. My father is the one who mentioned the Negritos to me, though he was referring to the ones living on the Philippine Islands. He was stationed on the Philippines years ago and remembered them clearly.
I have been somewhat following this floresiensis discovery and wondered why none of these small-statured people were mentioned at all. Especially since so many of them are found in that same area. Perhaps, it's simply too early for speculations of that sort. I'm sure it's been (and being) considered by researchers.