Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - New revelations about runaway Tennessee teacher Tad Cummins

Episode Date: March 22, 2017

While Elizabeth Thomas’ father complains he was never told a teacher was romantically involved with his daughter, it’s revealed Tad Cummins’ wife works for a high-ranking school official. Police fear the teacher and the 15-year-old girl may be hiding far away from their Tennessee hometown. They reveal Cummins had search the web for info on marrying a teen. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke look at the latest in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. had Cummins. TBI says that Cummins was a teacher. A student reported seeing Cummins kissing Elizabeth in his classroom in late January. She's 15, he's 50. This is Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. He stole my daughter from me. We really need the public to realize that this young girl is in danger. I had no idea my husband was involved with anything that could have led to all of this. 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. If you see them, don't approach them. Cummins may be on. The plot thickens. We are learning more and more about the pervy teacher, Tad Cummins, who kidnaps his student, a gorgeous young girl, a young girl, Elizabeth Thomas. Now we are learning

so much more about his premeditation. And was there a cover up that allowed him to stay in the classroom instead of getting booted from his job as he should have been back on January 23rd when it was reported he was smooching the student in the classroom? And as of right now, Elizabeth Thomas, the little girl, is still missing and believed to be with her teacher, Tad Cummings, who is armed with at least two handguns. This is Crime Stories. I'm Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. As the net is cast further, hours tick by, and no sign of Elizabeth Thomas. Many fear, including me, this could turn out to be a Romeo-Juliet scenario where both of them end up dead in the end rather than being caught. Another fact that has come out in the last hours is that

we learn, according to her own family, Elizabeth Thomas told her siblings, if I'm not home by six o'clock tonight, call police. That really casts a nefarious shadow on all of this. It's been portrayed that she wanted to go willingly, but to be telling her siblings, if I'm not home by 6 o'clock tonight, call police, that's a new wrinkle. But first, I want to talk about hair dye. According to some news outlets, and you can see it for Pete's sake,

what this guy has in his Walmart shopping cart is ladies' hair dye. Clear all nice and easy brunette. And we know that Elizabeth is blonde. It's really hard for me to believe what the TBI is saying on this, that it has nothing to do with the kidnap. That's just really hard for me to believe what the tbi is saying on this that it has nothing to do with the kidnap that's just really hard for me to believe alan in fact i have a goatee and i dye mine with clairol do i need to know that is that something i need to know i'm an old man and i i've got to keep my youthful beauty up alan what we do see at walmart this, yes. Beauty has a price.

It does. Good looks don't come free, dear. Tell me about it. That's why they call them beauty secrets, Alan. Beauty secrets. You're not supposed to blab them on a podcast, okay? So you keep your nice and easy to yourself. Let's get back to Tad Cummins.

Okay. So he's actually buying hair dye. Now, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has tweeted about this, confirming that, yes, he did purchase hair dye at Walmart just before the kidnapping. But, quote, we have determined the purchase of hair dye by Tad Cummins was not part of his intended plan for Elizabeth Thomas. Maybe he's not dyeing his goatee. If I were him, I would just shave it. It's kind of scraggly anyway. Well, I was thinking it was about her, for her to dye her hair. But you know what?

I've already stated that I think they've altered their looks. He may have shaved his beard. She may have cut her hair and dyed it red for all I know, or used this clear all nice and easy. You know, in criminal law, there is no coincidence, and I find it very coincidental that he goes and buys ladies hair dye, and then next thing you know, he has kidnapped Elizabeth Thomas. Another thing that has happened is that we believe there may have been a cover-up within the school system because Allen has uncovered that Tad Cummins' wife is an executive assistant with the school board. And here you've got a teacher smooching on a little girl in class, and they don't kick his rear end out on the sidewalk for Pete's sake.

No, they don't. The timeline is really suspicious and Elizabeth Thomas's dad is very upset about it. But we find out that Jill Cummins, according to her own Twitter account, is Maury County Schools administrative assistant to the Department of Instruction. In other words, the person who supervised and would have fired her husband, and eventually did, but like six weeks later, she is his assistant. Well, yeah, after he kidnaps the girl. It was only a day after the kidnapping that this teacher was even fired.

Now, he had been suspended a month earlier from the classroom, but he hadn't been fired. Wait a minute. Suspended from the classroom? I thought he was still teaching, but she wasn't in his class anymore. No, he was suspended. He was suspended on February the 6th, but that was only after the lawyer for the dad, Anthony Thomas, sent a scathing letter threatening a lawsuit against the school system if they didn't get some action. And it was only after that letter was sent to the school board that he was actually suspended and taken out of the classroom. Thank you today to our

awesome sponsor, the upcoming CrimeCon. It's a national convention for crime sleuths, amateur and professional. It will be held June 9, Friday to June 11, Sunday, 2017 in Indianapolis at the JW Marriott. You can go on Crime Online and find out about it. I'm going to be there. The Duke, Alan Duke, and I will be there podcasting live. I really hope to see you there. All sorts of criminal experts speaking and shedding light on the world of crime. I am really looking forward to it. My only question, am I bringing the twins? Crime Con, thank you for being with us today and making this podcast possible. Have you seen the picture that has emerged of her in an office with this perv well at least he wasn't she wasn't sitting in his lap i mean she was on the other side of the desk it doesn't look anything

anything strange there's a student there sitting on the other side of the desk talking to the teacher what's unusual about that other than the fact that he kidnapped her a couple of days later and is probably out in some cheap motel having sex with her. Other than that, nothing. But, you know, back to the cover-up, the alleged cover-up. Here you've got Tad Cummins' wife working as the executive assistant to a member of the school board, the head of the school board, I think. Department of Instruction. Thank you, Department of Instruction.

The number two person in the school system. What another coinkydink that he doesn't get suspended or fired the minute it comes out that there's a witness placing them smooching in the classroom. And it doesn't end there because according to the father and his lawyer, there's the smooching incident that is witnessed and reported immediately by the student. They deny it. The teacher, Tad Cummings, and the student, Elizabeth Thomas, deny it. I think they take the girl out of his classroom, but then when the father finds out about it, when cops show up to investigate and ask him about it, you know, weeks later,

he looks at her cell phone and the teacher is still communicating with her. And he is still teaching at that time. And the dad goes ballistic because this teacher is not doing what he's supposed to be doing. He's still texting her and emailing her in a seductive manner. And that is not okay. But his wife is wormed in in the school board. Now, do we know there was a cover-up? No, we don't. But it's highly coincidental. And the father, what does the father say?

Just today, the father is speaking out. He has released a series of nine tweets that he has posted today, just really complaining about this. Because yesterday what happened was... Well, saying what? What does he say? He's complaining that the Maury County school system is lying about the timeline. He says that they released a story saying that they sent him files on their finding per his request by his attorney. He says, that's not true. They sent me zero. The school says they sent me information. To be clear, I've never received anything from Elizabeth School regarding this incident.

To date, no employee from Elizabeth School has communicated with me in any way. The school's not even communicated with me to let me know there was an allegation of inappropriate contact between her and a teacher. Once I hired the attorney, the Maury County School Central Office has sent my attorney what appears to be the personnel file for Tad Cummins. The school central... Wait, wait, wait, wait. I got to cut through all the legal jargon here. You're not even a lawyer for Pete's sake and you sound like one. That's scary. I'm reading his tweets. These are his tweets. Okay, all right. Now that makes sense well i gotta get to something more important than the tweets okay listen listen hold it you're

making me hit the hard stuff i am currently having an irish breakfast tea double bag okay all right double bag that's a lot for me now hold on There's something more. Allegedly, in the days before this little girl was kidnapped, Cummins searched online to see if police could track his car, his Nissan Rogue. I think it was a 2015. Yes. So the TBI says they've discovered, of course, this troubling pattern of behavior prior to his disappearance. He searched online to find out if police could track his Nissan Rogue. And he also searched the topic of teen marriage. Oh, OK, let's talk about how you track a Nissanissan rogue or any late model car go ahead hit me modern cars and this is a 2015 are equipped with all kinds of computer devices that communicate

back to the car companies that have all kinds of data that is stored in computer servers that the car companies own it's part of the maintenance program in everything. These are smart cars. Just like your phone can be tracked, many of the modern cars can be tracked. And in fact, the TBI was asked the other day, are you tracking his phone or his car? And they said, we're not going to tell you, but we're doing everything that is possible. So if you're driving a 2015 car, it's very possible that some computer someplace is pinging your car and knows where you are. Now, here's the deal on the teen marriage. In the U.S., all but one state requires a couple be 18 in order to marry without parental permission. Nebraska sets the age at 19. Now,

here's the catch. Some states will waive the requirement if there is a pregnancy. And if there is a pregnancy, the couple might still have to go to have court approval. But everybody, unless you're living in a cave under a rock, knows that Tad Cummins has made off with this little girl. So if he tries to get court approval, that ain't happening. All right, that's a technical legal term, Alan. So you can add that to your legal repertoire. But Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma,

allow pregnant teens or teens who've already had a child to get married without parental consent. In Florida, Kentucky, and Oklahoma, they have to have authorization from a court. Maryland requires the minor be at least 16. Now, catch this. Repeat. Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, and Oklahoma allow pregnant teens or teens who've already had a child to get married without parental consent. So if they go to get married and say that she's pregnant or if she is pregnant, they can get married.

What about that? Well, there is the complication that he's already married. Oops, forgot about that. That wouldn't really stop them. That wouldn't stop them. They could still get a marriage license because another state, a probate court judge or whoever would not know. Yeah, there's that little complication of the wife who just made a public appeal for them to come home. You know, I noticed that one of her friends also has been begging for her to come back, to get away. And this friend, Thomas's best friend,

Ashley Riggins, pleads publicly for Elizabeth to get, quote, get away from Cummings if possible. Quote, I know you may love him and think he's perfect, but he's not. I love you. And there's so many people here who need you and want you back. I mean, you know, she's just a little girl. She is just a little girl. I want to go back to tracking the Nissan. That's in practically every newer car. And his is a 2015, right? Yes. These are smart cars. They've got computers. computers many many cars now have gps of course built into them and they also have wi-fi and all of that and they're connected cummins claims that he is a black belt in karate investigators say he's armed with at least two handguns

the tbi now admitting that despite more than 600 leads, they have no idea where these two are. So let's talk about what we think. Let's project. Let's hypothesize. Going 60 miles an hour, stopping overnight. I bet they're driving at night and sleeping during the day. I bet you anything to go under the radar. Well, by now they could

be anywhere. Yeah, they could be. And living off cash. But what's your best bet? I'm thinking he went far, far away. You know, early I was thinking maybe the Gulf Coast of Florida, that kind of thing, because of spring break. But this man apparently, from what we're now seeing, had a long-term plan. I mean, he was planning marriage, and he was gathering up cash. I'm thinking a long, long way. Three days, he could be in the mountains of northwest Washington State or something like that. You know what I'm thinking he might do? I'm thinking he may go out to the Utah area where an older man married or seemingly married to a young girl would not be

questioned. Well, there are a lot of places to hide in this big, beautiful country. There really are. But I think at this juncture, they would have to basically assume new identities. Don't you think? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And new looks, new identities, and she has to go along with it. But we all know from many cases that you have closely covered, and so have I, that these young ladies can disappear with these men for many years. For anyone that has information on the whereabouts of Elizabeth Thomas, please call the TBI immediately at 800-824-3463. Repeat, 800-824-3463. Also, Nancy, people can call and leave us a voicemail tip at 909-49-CRIME. That's 909-49-27463. The TBI says if you actually pull up behind this Nissan Rogue 976ZPT, don't call that TBI number. Call 911 because it's got to be fast. And if you pull up, don't try to pull him over. Don't say anything to them because he's got a couple of guns.

And now we're finding out he's got a black belt in karate. So call 911. Or so he said. Even Barney Five had a, what was he, a green belt? Oh, no, that was judo. So, okay, tell me, 964-Z-Zebra-B-Brother-T-Toy, was that it? Yes, 976-Zebra-Papa-Toy. Was that it? Yes. 976 Zebra Papa Toy. Silver Nissan Rogue

2015. And again, thank you to our sponsor today, CrimeCon. CrimeCon is going down June 9 through June 11. Indianapolis, JW Marriott. There will be a host of

professional and amateur criminal sleuths there enlightening us about the world of crime and all sorts of new techniques in crime fighting. Alan, you are coming, right? I certainly hope to. Indianapolis in June. What could be better? Indianapolis in June.

I get a 20% discount, right? Because I know you. How do you get a 20%? Oh, yes, that's the place to be. What could be better? Indianapolis in June. I get a 20% discount, right? Because I know you. How do you get a 20%? Oh yes, that's right. You get a discount if you register with code NANCY. 20% off. Okay, I've got to re-register and use my own discount. Crime Con June. Be there. Crime Con, thank you for sponsoring

us today. I get discounts a lot dropping your name. I was at Starbucks the other day, and I just used your name, and they only charged me $6 for my latte. I don't think I would be telling that I go to Starbucks. Have you tried the McDonald's coffee, Alan? It's pretty good. It is so good. I always get a large regular with two creams in it.

That's my guilty vice, the two creams. As the search for Elizabeth Thomas goes on, we are watching it and investigating it ourselves. Prayers out for Elizabeth now and for her family and her safe return. As we sign off today, Crime Online is confirming some very sad news. We focused, Alan and I, for some time on a missing woman, Maricela.

And we have learned that Maricela Garcia, the young woman we were looking for, she was last seen by her sister leaving a local Goodwill store. She had been looking for an outfit for a decades party and she has just been found dead. Tanya Kitchens, the private detective who's helped the Garcia family since the 26-year-old Tarzana woman disappeared in January, tells me today that a body found in the Santa Clarita area north of Los Angeles two weeks ago has been identified as being Maricela Garcia. Maricela was found about 25 miles north of the Goodwill store in Reseda, California, where she disappeared. Unfortunately, many of the clues that we uncovered in our last podcast about this case in February apparently were right on point.

Our prayers and thoughts with Maricela's family tonight. This is not the ending that we wanted for this story, but it's the ending that we have, and it makes me want even more to find missing people before it's too late. Nancy Grace signing off. Goodbye, friend.