Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Amber Alert: Teacher flees Tennessee with teen student

Episode Date: March 17, 2017

A high school teacher is allegedly on the run with a 15-year-old female student and investigators warn he is armed and dangerous. Elizabeth Thomas was last seen stepping into Tad Cummins’ SUV at a Columbia, Tennessee gas station Monday. A nationwide Amber Alert was issued when police determined the teen was in extreme danger. Cummins lost his teaching job last month amid accusations about his close relationship to his student. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke take a close look at the investigation in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an i with Nancy Grace. Elizabeth was last seen in Columbia. Investigators say that she is with Tad Cummins. TBI says that Cummins was a teacher. She's 15, he's 50. He's now facing a charge in which the district attorney has confirmed her to be the victim. Investigators are now going on the theory that Cummins has taken Elizabeth either to an area outside the public or outside the southeast.

They're missing. They could be anywhere. We want her home. We want him in custody. If you see them, don't approach them. Cummins may be armed. Amber Alert. Amber Alert. A Tennessee Amber Alert is in effect. A missing girl is with a school teacher, and he is wanted for sex with the student. This Tennessee girl goes missing.

Authorities believe she is with a 50-year-old school teacher. The FBI is so concerned they have joined in the search for Elizabeth Thomas. Now, many believe that because she knew the teacher, she got into his vehicle willingly. That makes no difference. A child does not have the ability to consent. The teacher, 50 year old Tad Cummings. We believe that he picked her up at a Maury County, Tennessee restaurant and took off. And there's more bad news. The Amber Alerts issued in both Tennessee and Alabama, but I have reason to believe this guy could be headed to Florida for this little girl.

A warrant for the arrest of Tad Cummings for sex contact with a minor. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has received dozens of tips so far, and they've gotten their hands on surveillance footage from a gas station where Tad Cummings refueled his vehicle before fleeing with the girl. Here's a problem. Another problem. Cummings has the cash to continue refueling without stopping to use his ATM. He doesn't have to use a credit card. How do we know this? Because we have learned from police sources, he actually went and took a title loan for his car days before he disappeared, getting nearly $5,000 in cash, a loan against his car.

He is driving a silver Nissan Rogue, Tennessee tag, 976ZZebra, P, Pennsylvania, T, Toy, 976ZPT. For all you truckers listening to this podcast now, please help us bring this girl home. TBI says, Silver Nissan Rogue, Tennessee Tag, 976ZZebra, P-Pennsylvania, T-Toy. He is armed with two handguns. Do not approach Tad Cummings. Please help us bring this girl home. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories.

And with me, Alan Duke, investigative reporter. Alan, have you looked at his Twitter? I am, ugh, what do you see? But Alan, wait, wait, wait. Before we divulge what we've learned on this freak's Twitter account. And he is a teacher. He is a teacher for Pete's sake. I want to thank Simply Safe, as always, for being our sponsor today

and helping us get the word out about the Amber Alert of this beautiful young girl. This little girl goes missing, and now we have reason to believe she has been groomed by this high school teacher to get in his car. And we know now he is one of her sex contact with the minor. Now, how did they figure that out? Maybe through her devices, maybe through her computer. He's been charged with that, and he's on the run. And I have reason to believe he's not headed to Alabama but to Florida.

Back to SimpliSafe, who's making our Amber Alert alert possible. SimpliSafe is our sponsor because I believe in SimpliSafe. I've been offered other sponsors that I turned down, not because they were bad, but because I didn't feel the same way about them as I do about SimpliSafe. I think SimpliSafe is making home security available for everybody, not just people living in a luxury estate or a mansion. People like my mom and dad, people like me, people that I know can now afford home security at $14.99 a month. It keeps not only your home and possessions, but your family safe. Go to simplisafe.com slash Nancy for another 10% off. SimpliSafe, thank you for letting our Amber Alert podcast be created. Now, Alan, I want to go back to this freak, Tad Cummings' Twitter account.

What did you learn? I'm looking at it right now. I'm going to let you describe it. Well, first of all, how does he... But don't drag Jesus into yet another felony, okay? Keep him out of this. Just let me mention the very first self-description he has is Jesus freak, child of the king. I won't mention Jesus again. Won't drag Jesus into this. Husband...

Hey, wait a minute. Wait. Husband? Husband? This guy's married? Oh, it's worse. Father... Ugh. won't drag Jesus into this husband hey wait a minute wait husband husband married oh this is worse father that's me gagging grandfather high school teacher clinician drummer audio tech a jeep owner singer songwriter and a warrior poet a what warrior poet apparently he likes to write poetry a warrior poet he feels he's a poet who he's quite the renaissance man really is this is the other thing that i find by looking at his tweets he's a freak that's what he is he's a freak he is a apparently he was the sponsor of the organization that is the Future Health Professionals in the high school in Maury County, Tennessee, where he was up until very recently. And when he was fired, a teacher, Cummins' wife, Jill Cummins, made a public plea at a news conference Friday afternoon asking her husband to give up and bring the girl home.

This is not who you are. We can help you get through this. No matter how far you've gone or what's happening right now, God's grace is sufficient for you, and he wants you to come home. Your family wants their poppy back. Please do the right thing and turn yourself into the police and bring Beth home. To those of you in the media.

Thank you for helping to spread the word. Help us get to get this message out as far as we can because we need help to find Pat and Beth and to bring them home safely. Thank you and God bless. You know what's really, I'm really looking at this whole drummer, singer, songwriter, warrior, poet thing.

Have you ever noticed how many oldsters, adults, like to talk about when they were a quote, hippie? I used to be a hippie. And they'll like show a photo of themselves to say, like at a concert or at Woodstock. That's their claim to fame. They used to be a hippie. Okay, so that's kind of this guy's mindset, but it's inconsistent. Husband, father, grandfather, school teacher, drummer, warrior, poet, singer, songwriter. Okay. There are a lot of clues in here as to what he might be up to, where he might be going. I'm looking at who he follows on Twitter. He follows one of the most beautiful...

Let me guess, a bunch of little girls? Well, I'm looking. I haven't found that. He's following the Twitter account for Gulf Shores, Alabama. You've been down there, I'm sure. You've taken the twins down to those beautiful beaches. Oh, yes, many, many times. Well, wait a minute. You know, my dad was from Haycote, Alabama, which is near Sampson, which is near Mobile, which is near the Florida Panhandle. It's like the whitest beaches you have ever seen. Unbelievable. White sand beaches. They're just beautiful. So tell me your extrapolation from seeing him following the Panhandle.

He also tweets about Panama City Beach. Oh, wait a minute, wait a minute. I said he may not be headed toward Alabama. He could be headed toward Alabama to get to the panhandle. The Alabama coast and the Florida coast, the Redneck Riviera, which I practically grew up on, is filled right now with 15 year olds and teachers because it's spring break spring break in a lot of the southeast right now and it is the time where they all take the road trip and they fill up on the sand of those beaches well wait wait wait wait i'm looking at something. June 18, 2016. I think the best photo I took on our PCB, Panama City Beach trip this week. Right. You know what?

You're right. So he goes. He has taken this girl to the beach. Road trip. That's where they are. He has taken this little girl to the beach. He's already had charges filed against him for sex with minors. Catch this post.

A teacher is never a giver of truth. He is a guide, a pointer to the truth that each student must find for himself. Now, true, he stole that from Bruce Lee, but that's his mantra. What else do we know? Well, he follows, you know, we're talking about Jesus. He also follows the Dalai Lama. So there is that. I'm looking at who's following him.

And he does have some apparently high school girls following him on Twitter. I'm not going to name any names. But he travels around to these future health professional events. Were you in the 4-H club when you were in high school? I bet you were. I'm sure I was. You know I in the 4-H club when you were in high school? I bet you were. Alan, Alan. I'm sure I was. You know I was in 4-H. My mother was a master 4-H-er. My sister was a master 4-H-er in forestry.

And I was a camp counselor at the National 4-H Center, Rock Eagle in Eatonton, Georgia, where I was a hiker, a hike master. I've been up to Rock Eagle myself. Probably saw you there. So what are you trying to tell me? I'm telling you he would take these trips, these weekend trips to various events and competitions. And he posted some of the pictures on Twitter. You know what's freaking me out? Just what you're saying.

I'm looking at all these little girls smiling in these pictures where he's taking them on trips. I don't like it. Well, is he currently married? Married. I don't like it. Well, is he currently married? Married. He's a husband, a father, a grandfather. So yes, and he's 50 years old. And look at this guy. He just looks like the high school teacher, but he is a he looks a lot older than 50. I can tell you that. Okay, let's talk about what we know. Let's get back on track to what we know. Tell me about the disappearance. Tell me what we know, the mechanics of the disappearance.

This young lady, and we're using her name. She's on the poster. It's Elizabeth Thomas. She's 15 years old, a high school student. A friend of hers dropped her off at the Shoney's. The Shoney's is a popular restaurant in Columbia. Home of the big boy. Used to be.

The big boy left Shoney's. Yeah, I hate that. Home of the big boy. Used to be. The big boy left Shoney's. Yeah, I hate that. But that happened 30 years ago, Nancy. Good grief. Well, I still hate it. Hate lives. I hated it too. And plus, it's a tribute to my longtime friend from Court TV, Helen Lucatus.

She collected big boys. Of course. And we, you know, the little statuettes. And we would travel all over covering cases for court tv and she would go to shoney's and get a big boy at every place she traveled okay so just put the kibosh on bashing big boys you you never collected big boys on your travels though no i didn't i didn't have time to slow down and stop at shoney's but go ahead so she's dropped off by a friend at 7.30 in the morning.

We know that he shows up next door. Now, I've looked at the map on this. You see surveillance video, the security camera video of the gas station, the Shell station, right next door to the Shoney's. The Shoney's. Yeah, I see it. He pulls in, and he gets gas for this car that we've got the lookout for. He doesn't go inside. He uses a card.

He goes up, uses a card. It looks like he filled it up because he's there for about two minutes pumping. So I calculated that he filled that thing up. Then you see him turn, walk behind his vehicle, and look over toward the Shoney's like he's looking for someone. Then he gets into his car and drives to the left around the pumps and over to the little access street that would take him right into the Shoney's. I'm looking at it right now. You guys, you can see the Amber Alert video at the gas station. You can find it if you go to Tennessee Amber Alert. Now he is driving his Nissan Rogue Silver, correct? Yes. I see him. I see him gassing up right now. I'm trying to find

the Shoney's. Where is the Shoney's in this? It is over to the left. Okay. Yeah. There's just a little side street that separates them, but they're pretty much the same. And there he goes, and he goes that way. Yes. There he goes. This is just before he picks her up. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation now stating they are extremely concerned about the well-being of little Elizabeth Thomas. It's an ongoing Amber Alert out of Tennessee and it has been extended. This Maury

County, Tennessee girl has been missing for a couple of days now and the TBI say they believe she is with an armed teacher, Tad Cummings, in a Nissan with himself and the little girl in the car. He was a teacher at a Maore County School where she was a student in Columbia, Tennessee. Now, as Alan Duke was just telling you, she was dropped off at the Shoney's that morning by a friend. Her parents reporting her missing later the same day. Let me understand. They can place the girl in Decatur, Alabama at 3.06 p.m. Central Time. That's 2.06 p.m. Eastern Standard. Neither has a connection there. Decatur, Alabama.

Hey, Alan, while you're sitting there, can you go on and see MapQuest? Already did this. Already did this. It's 80 miles south of where they left at the Shoney's. 80 miles on I-65. Okay, my question is, where does it fit into a trip to PCB, Panama City Beach? Directly toward it.

It is the route you would take. I think you're right. I think that's where they're going. So they were in Decatur, Alabama. Her name, everybody, the little girl's name is Elizabeth Thomas. And they're saying they can place her in Decatur, Alabama. How many states away is that? He's almost immediately in Alabama after about 45 minutes.

He's in northern Alabama. Decatur, Alabama is about halfway between there and Birmingham. It would have only taken him about two hours to get from that Shoney's down to Decatur, Alabama. But they would have left at 7.30, 8 o'clock that morning. I don't even want to. Well, they would have left at about 8.35 or 8.40 if they immediately went. And that would have put him there at about 10.30, which means maybe they stopped someplace along the way. No one has any credible sightings about the whereabouts of either of them. There is a disturbingly low number of tips, and the TBI is concerned about that.

This means the two are staying out of view of the public or outside the original net the TBI has cast across the southeast. So right now they could be anywhere. I'm still betting on Florida. The TBI is also trying to track Cummings' action in the weeks prior to the Amber Alert. For instance, securing that title loan for his vehicle, getting about $5,000 for that before they leave. So let's take a look at the timeline, Alan. A friend drops her off at a Shoney's, Columbia, Tennessee. Surveillance video 832 shows Cummings at a Shell station filling up his Nissan Rogue. That's 832 a.m. Central. 12.41, Maury County Sheriff's Department

enters the child as missing at the NCIC. That's the nation's law enforcement internal communications database. Now, that would be around 1 o'clock Central, 2 o'clock Eastern. I wonder if that's when the parents realize she's gone. What do you think? I am very impressed with the law enforcement reacting so quickly. We work with these missing person cases so many times, and they have to beg them for a week or so to realize this is not a voluntary missing. Well, you know, I got a little tip right before the Amber Alert went out, or just as it went out from an old buddy of mine that I used to work with at CNN, who's now in Tennessee, asking for help to publicize it,

that she's missing. So I guarantee that's when the parents first find out she's not at school. 306 Central, info places her in Decatur, Alabama. Next day, a full-on Amber Alert is requested, endangered child requested, that gets, uh-oh, and here we go, five o'clock about the next day, a warrant for his arrest charging him with one count of sexual contact with a minor. Now that he is actually is a subject of an arrest warrant, it's now finally upgraded to an Amber Alert. They must have gotten that information from a little friend or from one of her devices to confirm they believe that he is having sex contact with her. I'm looking at the school calendar to see what would have been going on this week.

Alan, hold on. I want to give the tip line number very quickly. 931-375-8654. Repeat, 931-375-8654 or 1-800-TBI-FIND, or 931-375-8654. So what are you seeing on the school calendar? They didn't have school Monday because it was a professional development day, you know, the teacher work day, and they did not have school there. He maybe didn't have to be there on that day. So he got a slip on him by being gone. Right, on Monday. And their spring break starts on the 27th, which is just over a week away. That's when spring break is. She is a white female, blonde hair, hazel lines, 5'5", weighs just 120 pounds, last seen wearing a flannel shirt and black leggings. He is a white male, 6 feet, 200 pounds, brown hair and eyes,

armed with two handguns, driving a silver Nissan Rogue with Tennessee plates, 976 Z Zebra P Pennsylvania T toy. Last seen in Decatur, Alabama. So what are they doing besides issuing the Amber Alert? Well, actually, they've put out several alerts over the last couple of days to make sure that this is nationwide. The big emphasis is on getting the word out in other states because they do not believe that they're hanging around Tennessee. They want everybody in the nation to know that this man with this child,

they're apparently on the road. Nancy, on the phone with us now is Shane Dietert. He's with WATN-TV in Memphis, Tennessee. He's closely following this. Shane, what can you tell us the latest on the search for Elizabeth? We have learned that earlier in the week, the car they were driving in was deemed on a cell tower in Alabama near Decatur. And since then, there's been no sign. So that's one of the Tennessee Bureau investigations. They've had agents go over there. And of course, Alabama authorities and the FBI are now helping in this search for Elizabeth Thomas. So the cell phone that belonged to either the teacher or to the 15-year-old student, one of those two cell phones was picked up having been in the area of Decatur, Alabama,

which is, gosh, I guess about halfway between Columbia and Birmingham, Columbia, Tennessee and Birmingham, Alabama, so along I-65. Neuville won't have ties to the area either. That route, I-65, along that corridor is the way you would go southward, let's say if you were going to Florida and the Redneck Riviera, the beaches of Panama City or around there. I noticed on, I don't know if you've seen this, but I noticed on Ted Cummings' Twitter account, Nancy and I both were scanning it and looking at it closely, actually, we saw a lot of pictures from down there around the Florida coast, the

northwest panhandle coast. Is that one theory you think that maybe they're headed down there? PBI hasn't brought that up, and they seem to think that they're headed north. But, you know, it's not like they tell us everything. But if he's familiar with the area and it is spring break, that would be a great hiding place for a little while for them to blend in because it's going to look like a father and a daughter. Exactly. He could color his hair a little bit or shave his goatee, which is kind of scraggly anyway, and easily blend in down there because there are tens or hundreds of thousands of high school students

and teachers and parents down there on the beaches right now. But why would they think they're headed north if the telephone, the signal, the cell signal, was pinged 80 or 90 miles south of where they left from? They have not told us that. Why they know that? They're not letting out or why they are thinking that. The point is that if that's the only place the cell phones have been pinged, you could also surmise that maybe the cell phones have been cut off because they figure they have to do that in order not to be found. Right. And you can tell by the way this

was put together by Ted Cummings, this wasn't a spur of the moment. He planned this. He'd been grooming this girl and then he got a loan for $4,500 for them to have on the road and to live on. He left behind a wife and two kids, so I'm sure she's cut off his access to money. I bet you they threw away their phones, and they probably have burner phones. They really don't need to contact anyone either. Well, good point there. I mean, you're not going to exactly call people generally and let them know where you are, so cut the phones off. Now, the social media accounts for Tad Cummings suggest that he was the sponsor of the organization on campus for future health professionals. Do you

know what he taught? What kind of classes he had? TBI has just told us that he was one of her teachers. So he was her teacher. I looked at some of the photographs. It seems that I'm seeing her on his Twitter account in some of these organization photos that he's sending out. Maybe it's just another student who looks a lot like her, but it seems that she is in some of his tweets from a few months ago. And it looked to me that, have you seen this, that they traveled around, that he would take groups of young female students on field trips, school field trips, like perhaps even over the weekend. Yes, and from what we understand, Alan, that is part of what he was

doing when he was grooming her. I don't know anything about our home life, but if you, you know, even if kids have the best home life, if they're battling their own demons, they're so vulnerable to a manipulator such as tag coming in their lives. Teachers have tremendous influence on a 15-year-old student. And if they're traveling with them on field trips and that sort of thing and have a lot of contact with them,

I guess that's something that parents need to always be aware of. Right. You know, we all know about the monster on the internet and how parents need to be checking their kids' social media and what they're doing and everything. You know, then we go back and look at their social media that, you know, Elizabeth Thomas and Ted Cummings in, it appears that, you know that she's with his club at school, and she's learning something, and she's growing. You wouldn't expect it. A couple other things with the case is evidently the school district found out about it the 22nd of January. I believe the parents were notified the 27th, so they waited a week of January.

And then February 6th, there was finally a meeting to fire Cummings. To me, it seems like if a school district found out about it, you would take care of it right then. And the parents are upset that they weren't notified. So the timeline is that it was their relationship, their inappropriate relationship, was actually discovered by school officials almost two months ago, is what you're telling me. Exactly. When was he fired? February 6th.

He's been away from the school for a month, and then on Monday of this week, that's when they both disappeared. Right. She was with a friend who dropped her off at a showroom there in Columbia, Tennessee. And across the street, Cummins was filling up his gas, if you've seen that video from that Shell station. She walks over and they leave. The school calendar suggests to me that Monday was a day off for students because it was a professional development day for the teachers, a teacher work day. Have you seen that? Is that right? Yes. Yes. You know, that's what, you know, she spent the night with her friend.

She had no school. And then the friend dropped her off at Shoney's. So far, police haven't said that the friend knew anything. You know, she just thought she was dropping her off at Shoney's. She was going to meet someone and go home. And then the police didn't, you know, the parents were missing until after 3 o'clock because they really had no idea. Maybe they even didn't realize it was a teacher work day. Exactly.

So there would be an indication that she was planning to, or is there any indication that she was planning to leave that day, that she knew what was up that morning, that she had anything packed? Do we know anything about, did she prepare? By looking at the video, I don't see her carrying anything. I would like more, you know, more proof before I would say she also planned. The law enforcement are treating her as a victim. Well, obviously she is. She's 15. Until I see more, I just don't know about that part,

but she did go willingly. He describes himself on social media, on Twitter. His platform says he's a father and a grandfather. So he's leaving behind a family. He is. He is. $4,500 isn't going to take you a long way when you have, you know, you're going to have to come up with a fake identity and documents to get a job and you're hiding a 15-year-old. I have a 27-year-old daughter and when she was 15, she changed her mind every other day about what she liked. Maybe he has other money as well, that something saved or something borrowed and that that's not his only resource is that $4,500 car loan that he took out. But you're right, it wouldn't take you very far, but we don't know if they're going very far. So we have a huge Amber alert out and we're getting

a lot of attention. The national media, Nancy Grace and others are paying attention to this. So I suppose there's hope that people will be alert and watch out for his car. Yes. There are signs describing his Nissan Silver Rogue with a license plate all over the country on the electronic billboards. Police are getting leads. They've had 80 so far. None have led to anything, but they're not leaving stone unturned. They are looking hard. And I just encourage anybody, if you see a silver Nissan Rogue, please let police know if it has a Tennessee tag, because that's how we're going to find her. And of course, if he really planned this thing out, he could have had another car someplace else that he was going to. Right.

A lot of ways to do that, I suppose. So if you see a 50-year-old man, he actually looks like he might even be a little older than 50. He didn't seem to take very good care of himself. And this 15-year-old girl out and about together with a Tennessee tag especially, and they're not in Tennessee. Be suspicious. Be very suspicious. What should people do if they think they see Elizabeth Thomas and Tad Cummings? The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, they're asking people to call 911 and report it.

Do not confront them. If you can't keep an eye on them, do it, but do it where you do not put yourself in danger. And it is believed that he's got a couple of guns with him, right? A couple of firearms? Yes, yes, yes. Which, you know, down in this part of the country, that's very common that when you kidnap a 15-year-old and you're going to face the kind of charges he's going to face, you know, he may not want to go to prison. So just be very careful. Call 9-1-1, and then the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, ALA, has also, they have the number, it's 1-800-TBI-FINE, and you can call and report it there. And of course, law enforcement will keep you anonymous if you so wish to be

anonymous. All right. Thanks for checking in. We'll keep tabs with this case. Shane Dietrich of WATN-TV in Memphis, Tennessee. Thank you. Thank you so much, Alan. Now, the local district attorney, Brent Cooper, insists that he believes Cummings is staying off public roads and may even have switched out of his Nissan Rogue to another vehicle. The family has issued a statement thanking everyone for tips and for their continued support to bring their daughter home. They are brokenhearted. They ask everyone to continue to share Elizabeth's story and help them bring the girl home. It's just amazing that this guy had the trust of all the teachers and all the students.

His Twitter account is very disturbing on many, many levels, Alan. I'm looking at all of these pictures of these groups of 15-year-old girls, approximately, who he was taking weekend road trips, school trips with. Ew. We are on the case doing all we can. Please share this story with your friends. Facebook it, tweet it, Instagram it. Help us bring this girl home

before someone. I don't even want to finish the sentence, Alan. Because when police show up to get this guy or he realizes that they're both going to be caught, I don't know what's going to happen because he's got those two handguns. Do you see that posting? It's somebody he actually retweeted on Twitter account, his Twitter account. I'll read it to you. Yeah, I saw it. The fastest way to change the behavior of a lethal threat is to shoot them. Again, to simply say thank you for making this podcast possible as we continue to be vigilant to find Elizabeth and to pray for her family. Simply Safe, thank you for keeping our homes safe.

Go to simplysafe.com. Eyes and ears open in the search for Elizabeth. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.