Tad Cummins, the Tennessee teacher believed to be on the run with 15-year-old student Elizabeth Thomas, may have fled to Mexico with the girl, investigators say. Maury County District Attorney Brent Cooper tells ABC News that the 50-year-old Cummins, who allegedly kidnapped Elizabeth more than two weeks ago, is a "religious man" who might be posing as a missionary.
"He planned this in such a way that he had a 24-hour head start, easily enough time for him to make it to Mexico," Cooper says.
He urges members of the public to share the Amber Alert with family members in Mexico and Central America. More than 1,100 tips have been received in the US, but none have panned out, investigators say.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director Mark Gwyn said it would be a mistake to describe the relationship between Cummins and Thomas as "romantic," the Tennessean reports.
"Let me be clear. She is 15, a child. He is 50, a grown man," Gwyn said. "This is, and was not, a romance. This was manipulation solely to benefit Tad Cummins. This is not a fairy tale. This is a case of kidnapping."
Sick man.
ReplyDeleteI hope for the young woman's sake she will be found alive and okay physically.
Her emotional state may take years to sort out.
:(
Poor girl. Hope she is not pregnant and she will be full of regrets later in life.
ReplyDeleteWhat about all the reports where she had a crush on him, and people caught them making out? She is old enough to know what she is doing. She even posted her Facebook status as wife, before she left. Sure, it's sick, but don't paint her as an innocent child.
ReplyDeleteShe's in "love." For her, everybody else is the problem. It would be interesting to watch an interview with her ten years from now, though.
ReplyDeleteNo, but she's a 15-year-old playing grownup and she really doesn't understand how life works. She'll get quite an education, I will say that.
ReplyDeleteA 15-year-old's brain is still developing. They cannot possibly make rational decisions. Volatile teen years with changing brains and hormones. I hope the creep gets life in prison.
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