Elizabeth Thomas Is Reunited With Her Parents
The Tennessee teenager who was kidnapped by a teacher more than a month ago — and recovered in California this week — has been reunited with her family, an attorney for them said.
Elizabeth Thomas, 15, was in a safe location and resting comfortably, attorney Jason Whatley said in a statement, adding that she was being evaluated and treated by mental health experts specializing in trauma.
"There is no doubt that she suffered severe emotional trauma and that her process of recovery is only just beginning," he said Friday.
Whatley noted that while the family is "extremely grateful for the thoughts and prayers" that they have received, they are asking for privacy following the ordeal, which began March 13 when Thomas and 50-year-old Tad Cummins disappeared.
Whatley added that he was "taken aback" by how small Thomas looked upon meeting her, and said the law enforcement and media were misguided by using photos of her appearing older.
"Elizabeth is a little child. The primary photo used and reprinted ... is very inaccurate," Whatley said. "She is a little girl in every sense of the word. This was the abduction of an impressionable, little child."
Law enforcement, including the FBI and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, helped in the recovery of Thomas on Thursday morning in the small community of Cecilville, California, after a caller tipped off their remote cabin location the night before. Cummins was arrested at the site.
The caller, Griffin Barry, owned the cabin, and said he found it suspicious that Cummins didn't have money and silenced Thomas from speaking up.
"He talked for her a lot," Barry told NBC affiliate KOBI. "[Thomas] was kind of shy and timid, or something. He said she was 24, and he said he was 38."
