Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Tad Cummins caught & Elizabeth Thomas heads home!

Episode Date: April 20, 2017

Fugitive Tennessee teacher Tad Cummins was nabbed in Northern California and 15-year-old student Elizabeth Thomas was rescued from his clutches. Nancy Grace and Alan Duke talk to the 15-year-old’s family lawyers about the great news and with psychologist Caryn Stark about what the ordeal means for the child. You’ll also hear the full news conference detailing how it ended 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. And as daylight broke this morning, they were able to take Tad Cummins into custody and safely recover Elizabeth without incident. Elizabeth Thomas was brand new to the Cullioca School in Murray County. She started as a freshman this year, entering the public school system for the very first time. She's 15, he's 50. This is Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. TBI says that Cummins was a teacher. A student reported seeing Cummins kissing Elizabeth in his classroom in late January. Police arrested Elizabeth's mom Kimberly Thomas last year. They charged her with five counts of child abuse and neglect.

Cummins told two students he's a father figure to Elizabeth. He stole my daughter from me. This afternoon, we couldn't be happier to tell you she will soon be on her way back home to Tennessee. Tad Cummins is arrested. Repeat, Tad Cummins charged with the kidnap of his student Elizabeth Thomas, arrested. Joining me right now, special guest, the victim's family lawyer, Jason Watley. Jason, in the last moments, an arrest has gone down on Tad Cummings. What do you know? We know that they're in the northernmost county in California,

the largest county along that border. I can't even pronounce the name. Cecilville, California is the closest town. We know it was about two hours away from the sheriff's department there. There had been a tip called in last night that law enforcement was able to get to that. And it literally took law enforcement two hours to get out there due to snow that is literally still on the ground out there. Apparently it's so remote there wasn't cell service. These details have been trickling in because it's having to be radioed into dispatch. It's just amazing. We're just absolutely beside ourselves. All I can say is

praise the Lord because I understand that Elizabeth is safe. We understand that she's physically safe right now. You know, beyond that, we don't know any details. We're literally in the process of working out what happens next in terms of Anthony going to California. What do we do? You know, what do we do with her step one, two, and three? We've got some things lined up, but I mean, this is all so overwhelming at this moment, and the details are still trickling in. It isn't like we have a flood of information yet. It's just moment by moment. How did the father respond? Poor guy. Look, Anthony is beside himself. He really, he's at a loss for words. Right now his focus is on just getting to her. That's his focus.

You know, I know that you're racing, but I just want you to know, when I heard that she was found safe. I just couldn't believe it. I've been so afraid all along this would end badly. And to think he has her out there in this snow, in these conditions, doing anything to get away from authorities. I'm just, you know, this is really a miracle. You know that, right? And it's going to be an uphill battle from here. She's probably brainwashed.

Yeah, well, let's just pray for the best. Let's pray that she can quickly recover from this. And so we're going to do everything in our power. This community is going to rally together. We're going to get her through this, and we're going to see her through to the other side. So, so. Jason, before you go, I have one last question. My last question is this. Do you know how they managed to find them? It was a tip called in by someone who had seen their car at this particular

commune. It's a commune. That's what they're calling it. And the tip was called in last night and through whatever channels they had over there with local law enforcement, they were able to confirm the car and they found them next to that car, which is amazing to me. The Nissan Rogue that we all assumed was long gone was still there. Still running. Okay, Jason Whatley, run. Run and know our prayers are with you and the family. Thank you, Nancy. And now joining me, a special guest, Dr. Karen Stark, psychologist. Karen, I am overwhelmed. I have

been beside myself about this girl, Elizabeth Thomas, taken by her teacher of all people, Tad Cummins. And what really burned me up all along, Karen, is people going online. I know it had to be men. No offense, Alan Duke, really. It's not. Men individually are wonderful, but as a group, they're, well, I won't say.

Anyway, they would write online, they would write comments that, why are we looking for this girl? She went willingly. A 15-year-old girl who has been homeschooled her whole life, who has been allegedly beaten and abused in many ways by her own mother with nine siblings and a father that works out of town. She enters school for the first time in public school, and this teacher abducts her. She used to hide from him, Karen. She hid from him. She did not want to go with him, and if she

did go willingly, she was brainwashed. I'm just telling you. And people would write in, why do you care? She went on her own. This is romantic. I guess if date rape is romantic, then this is romantic. Well, I guess there was a time where people just didn't understand that developmentally, you're not able to make that kind of decision for yourself when you're a 15-year-old girl. And if you look at it, Nancy, does it... I mean, Karen, Karen, you can't even buy cigarettes at age 15. And there's a reason for that. You can't make a moral decision. You can't make one with being able to weigh the facts about what's happening. And it's a perfect storm in terms of who she is. She just went through tremendous trauma. She's already been exposed sexually. And when that happens with her mother, in the incidents that I had read about, where,

you know, her mother made her take off her clothes and children blame themselves. So she's already not understanding what happened to her and gets exposed to this teacher without really being able to be in the bigger world, in a wider world where she understood people and understood relationships. She was so vulnerable. And you know, Karen, she's going to carry this around with her the rest of her life. But the good news right now, everybody, is Elizabeth Thomas has been found with the former Middle Tennessee teacher, Tad Cummins. They were found in Northern California. Elizabeth Thomas with Tad Cummins is safe, according to the TBI. Now, we have just learned from her father's lawyer, Jason Watley, that they were found at a commune in Northern California, of course, snow on the wife did not believe the kissing incident for many, many days after it was reported. And really, I don't blame the wife.

I wouldn't believe it either. I think it was a bunch of hooey. But then to find out so horribly that your husband has betrayed you in such a way must have been awful. Although I wonder, Nancy, it's hard to believe that this just came out of nowhere. And when people want to say they're married, there's a lot that they're in denial about. And I'm not saying that with anything intentional, but on some level there is a possibility that she's realized something about him before this. After 31 years, it would be a surprise if nothing hinted that he was interested in young girls.

Well, you know what? You got a point, Karen, because it came out and we interviewed the then young girl that he was singing love songs to. I just want to gag, even saying that. A high school teacher singing love songs to a little girl, it's sick. And then what we understand, Karen, is after this whole thing cracked wide open, other faculty members at the school were basically calling Elizabeth the tramp, like it's her fault. They just don't understand that she's not able to make that decision, even if she consciously says yes. They're not understanding developmentally. There's a reason why she's considered a minor, because she can't make those kind of choices,

not the way you would or I would. And it's so easy to blame the victim in this case, you know? It is. It is. And that's what so many people are doing. He had really gone a long way with her, Alan Duke, joining Karen Stark and I. They had made it all the way to Siskiyou County. It's a remote area in the Shasta Trinity National Forest, and it's only about 120 miles south of the California-Oregon state line. Where do you think he was heading, Alan? Well, I think he got to where he was heading, Nancy. It's a commune. It's a place that you go to hide away.

I mean, this is a very rural area. This is where people are known to go and hide. And it was really in one of our theories about what he might do, but he found a commune. I understand that he had taken the license plate, the Tennessee license plate off of his, his rogue. And, but it was still recognized. Somebody thought it was suspicious that it didn't have a license plate. Also another detail. I understand that yesterday he went into a saloon, a bar near this place, and asked for a job. And that is one of the things that raised suspicion and led to the tip to law enforcement. Yeah, Karen, can you imagine the life?

Having her living with him on a commune while he worked in a bar, hiding out under a false name. I mean, this is a little girl. She's 15 years old. You know, Karen, you know my twins very, very well. That's just six years from now. That's not even six years. That's about five and a half years from now for Lucy. With her teacher living in a commune

and the teacher working at a bar in Northern California, oh, hell would know no fury compared to my wrath. Let me tell you that much. I bet her father is beside himself. And another thing, Karen, Tad Cummins, you know, under Tennessee law, if you bring back the victim or you even give information to authorities so they can find the kidnapped victim, your sentence is greatly, greatly reduced under the law. That is not up to the judge's discretion. That's something within the Tennessee law.

Well, that ship has sailed, Tad Cummins. That ship has sailed. He's looking down the wrong end of the barrel on this one, Karen Stark. Well, there's absolutely no proof that he was even concentrating that just the opposite man he was he was actually trying to stay there get a job and intended to stay in this situation and we have no idea what it was like for her but I could tell you that at that age at 15 your development in your brain has not been completed not nearly nearly. And her frontal lobe, the decision-making part, the executive decision-making part is not there. And so

anyone who would say that she's a trap, I'm thinking about what you said, it makes, it's so horrible and so unfair because he's in a position of authority. He's older and she's actually, as you said, brainwashed. Maybe his frontal lobe has a problem too. His problem is that he's a sexual molester. That's his problem. Well, that's, yes. Yeah, that's his first problem. He's got another legal issue in California. He's charged with aggravated kidnapping because they believe that he took two handguns with him. If he brought those out here to California and they still are in his possession, those handguns will get him a pretty serious weapons charge. You know, I appreciate you worrying about his handguns. I'm more worried about a possible statutory rape charge on the girl to hay with his handguns.

But you're right. As you often are, Alan Duke, you're right about that. But he is coming home to Tennessee, whether he fights extradition or not. Extradition is really just a rubber stamping. He is coming home to Tennessee to face the music. He danced to the music. Now it's time to pay the piper. If he's a pedophile, any kind of jail term for this man is going to be hell.

Statutory rape. He could face those charges here in California as well. In other words, this guy no longer has just a Columbia, Tennessee legal problem. He's got a California problem. Well, I can tell you this much. I think the first thing that's going to happen is the Tennessee governor is going to file, is going to sign an extradition document. And that's pro forma, okay? They're going to ship him home. I don't know how they're going to get her home. I guess her dad will fly to California or they will fly her to him.

And this has got to be handled very delicately. You know, I'm just a trial lawyer, Karen Stark. How do you approach Elizabeth? Who should approach her? What should they do to reintegrate her back into her family? How do you do that? She has to be with a psychologist, Nancy, somebody like me, and she needs to be treated with tremendous respect, kid gloves, without any kind of accusation. And so they need to get close to her to enable her to talk about what the experience was like. And more than anything,

she needs to be told that she did nothing wrong, that she could not have made this decision in a way that an adult could make it. And that needs to be reinforced over and over again because the self-blame in a situation like this is horrendous. Tad Cummins will very soon be on his way back to Tennessee, as will Elizabeth Thomas. And our prayers continue on for not only Elizabeth's family, but for the family of Tad Cummins, because I think they were blindsided with this. Now, Karen, I agree with you.

I think there were probably telltale signs all along. But, you know, when you love somebody, you tend to ignore their faults and don't want to believe them. And I imagine that's what his wife did all this time. So I do believe in her mind. I wouldn't be surprised. I wouldn't be surprised, Nancy. So in her mind, this was a big surprise

and she didn't want to believe it. Even though you or I might have seen the signs. But I guarantee you, she did not want to see any of that. So this is just a horrible, horrible blow to her, for Elizabeth, for Elizabeth's family, for the Cummins family. But all I can say is the big headline today, Elizabeth Thomas has been found safe, and she is coming home. Now, what happens with the family and how she is treated and how this is handled is going to make all the difference in this girl's life. I can tell you what's going to happen to Tad Cummins. He's going to jail where he belongs, and I hope he stays there. That's what I think about that, Karen Stark.

Yes, but she needs to be integrated back into her family and society and, you know, have a way that she can reenter without shame and embarrassment. Really? What was he going to do? Dealing with the trauma of what happened. What was he going to do, Karen? Homeschool her some more in his time off from the saloon? I mean, really, living in a commune. Oh, I mean, you know, just when I think I've heard it all, then comes along Tad Cummins to teach, show me how wrong I am.

I guess I'm kind of happy, though, because she's alive. And that's what we've all been praying for. She's alive and not alive living with him anymore. But she'll be home, and people can help her now. Okay. And they will. You know, if you think about Elizabeth Smart, right? Yep, you're right.

Wasn't that her name? Yes, that's right. She went back to live a normal life. She sure did. And she now has a family and I think a couple normal life. She sure did. And she now has a family and I think a couple of children. God bless her. You know, Karen Stark, it is so great talking to you. And I can't tell you how much I love your articles on CrimeOnline.com.

I just love them. You know, I just, I do. Thank you. Thank you for being with us. Alan Duke, as always, the Duke with all the information. And Nancy, I've got some new information. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokesman Josh Devine is holding a news conference this afternoon to tell us more details. All of the officials, federal, state, and local, are gathered.

Let's listen to what they say. The caller indicated they have taken up residence in a cabin in a remote area in Cecilville, California within the last week and a half. In turn, we contacted the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office in California and learned that they had received the very same information from the very same individual. We obviously wanted to jump on this information quickly and requested assistance from that law enforcement agency. They quickly began their efforts to immediately address the situation, but there were challenges they had to overcome. The area where the pair was reported to be is a very remote, isolated area with no or limited cell phone service. In spite of it all, deputies found the Nissan Rogue that's been at the center of this nearly six-week search early this morning

and were able to confirm through the VIN number on the vehicle that this was, in fact, the vehicle that's been the subject of this ongoing Amber Alert. Authorities in Siskiyou County kept this car under surveillance for several hours, and as daylight broke this morning, they were able to take Tad Cummins into custody and safely recover Elizabeth without incident. With more, here's Director Mark Winn. Thank you, Josh, and good afternoon. As you've seen from the pictures we've shared with you over the past six weeks,

Elizabeth Thomas is a beautiful 15-year-old girl. She's loved by her friends, her family, and the community of Columbia. This afternoon, we couldn't be happier to tell you she will soon be on her way back home to Tennessee. This morning authorities in Siskiyou County followed up on a tip, called into TBI headquarters late last night and found Elizabeth and arrested Tad Cummings. She will soon be on her way back home. Tad is in custody of law enforcement facing a set of charges that could keep him from behind bars for many years. To the public, I can't say how thankful we are for all your tips, your concern, and your

support having made the difference in this six week search. As we have said from the start, it only takes one tip, and this is yet another example of the value of the public helping us to rescue a kidnapping victim because of the remote nature of the area where the pair were found agents from the T B I F B FBI, along with investigators from the Murray County Sheriff's Office are currently flying on TBI aircraft to get there as quickly as possible to meet with local authorities and make the final arrangements to bring Elizabeth home. She will be flying back home on TBI aircraft. We are thankful to all our partner agencies in this search, including the FBI, Mary County Sheriff's Department, and the District Attorney General for the 22nd Judicial District, Brent Cooper. Thank you, Director. I just want to say that as a prosecutor, one of the greatest parts of my job is to assist law enforcement in doing their job.

And now for well over a month, I've had the pleasure and the honor of helping our local, state, and federal investigators as they tried to find Elizabeth Thomas. And it's been a long time coming, but today their hard work paid off. And, again, it's been an honor and a pleasure to help them as much as I could. But also as a prosecutor, it's difficult to stand on the sidelines and watch the officers do their work because prosecutors can't, we can't go to work until the officers and the investigators have found that person and thankfully in this case returned everyone safely. So now it's time for the prosecution to get to work. Law enforcement still has work to do and I know they will continue to work to build our cases for prosecution.

But it's now I'm grateful to say that now I can get busy as a prosecutor doing my job and hopefully bringing justice in this case. The state, as you all know, has an aggravated kidnapping charge and a misdemeanor sexual contact with a minor charge. I've been in collaboration with the U.S. Attorney's Office about the possibility of federal charges being brought and how best to address that situation along with the state charges. I met recently with the interim U.S. attorney here, and they have been more than cooperative, and I believe at this time I'll turn it over to him and let him share a little bit about the potential charges. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Jack Smith. I'm the acting United States attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.

I wanted to start by just complimenting our law enforcement partners here on the amazing job they did in this case. It was only yesterday that General Cooper and myself got together with FBI and TBI to go over the state of the investigation. And I left that meeting thinking there was literally nothing that these folks could do that hadn't already been being done. And I'm just so happy to see that this case has come to a good resolution. I can also tell you today that earlier today my office filed federal charges against the defendant in this case. He is charged with transportation of a minor across state lines for the purpose of having criminal sexual intercourse.

He will face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years on those charges and possibly quite longer. And as General Cooper said, he and I will work together on this investigation to make sure that justice is done. Thank you very much. Thank you. I'm Chief Deputy Ray Jeter, Murray County Sheriff's Department. It's a good day, and I'd like to lead with that, but I'm going to be very brief. First of all, I would just like to thank everyone for their help in this peaceful resolution to this case. Sheriff Bucky Rowland and the Murray County Sheriff's Department partnered with TBI, with the FBI, very early in this case,

and it has been a group effort ever since. To that end, Sheriff Rowland and I would like to thank the TBI. We would like to thank the FBI. We also would like to thank all the local agencies across this country for their help. We fielded nearly 1,500 tips in this process, and in that process we partnered with every agency along the way, and we thank you for that. We also would like to thank our own people. Our own people put in the dedication and the countless hours they put in to see this resolution, and we thank you at the Sheriff's Department. We also would like to thank the media.

We'd like to thank you for putting this and putting our message out and kept this going. We appreciate that. We also would like to thank the public. Ultimately, it took a tip from the public to see this resolution, and to the public I say I thank you for your help. We will continue to work with TBI. We will continue to work with the FBI, and we will continue to work with these agencies as we continue our investigation. Thank you. Afternoon, everyone. I'm Matt Espenshade with the Federal Bureau of Investigation here in Nashville. Again, I'd just like to echo those thanks to countless numbers of officers across the country

who helped us to run down over nearly 1,500 leads to the officers here from the agencies that are standing in front of you who put in countless hours. And they ask nothing of that just that the justice is done and in this case I feel we're on the tip of that. We are now out of the search stage. We are going to pursue justice in this case and along that time I hope that we can heal as a community, as the victims and I just like to thank everyone in this room because you kept this at the forefront of the news. Great job by TBI for leading up this cause, Murray County Sheriff's Office. We're glad to play a part of it as the FBI. And now we're on to the prosecution stage. So thank you very much to everyone. Just want to also let you know that representing TBI is our Deputy Director Jason Locke.

At this point, we will open it up for any questions. As I've indicated, this is still an active and ongoing investigation and a fluid situation in terms of the recovery of Elizabeth Thomas and the arrest of Tad Cummins. So we might be limited in terms of what we can offer, but we'll certainly try to do our very best. This is a question for General Cooper. You've been very close to this all the way through. Can you say anything about Elizabeth Thomas's condition? At this time, all we know is that she's apparently healthy and unharmed. It will be, of course, knowing that, our main concern is how is she emotionally and mentally.

And we're going to see to it that not only do we look at her as a potential witness and a victim in this case, but also as someone that if she needs help, whatever help we can offer, we will make sure that's provided for her. What is the help that might be provided after something like this? Well, there are agencies right in our district that their sole purpose is to treat child victims of abuse, whether it's emotional abuse, physical abuse, or sexual abuse. And they can refer that child to the appropriate entities, whether it be counselors or therapists and things like that, to get the help they need so that they can move on past this stage in their life. And immediately as soon as we can, as soon as we get her back, and of course we don't want to disrupt her life any more than we have to, and we want her to reacquaint herself with her family and her friends

and lead as normal a life as possible. But as soon as she's ready for any help we can offer, it will be there for her. When do you think that she will land here in Nashville, and where might she come in BNA, or is it going to be a different runway? I'll let the director answer that. As I said, we've got agents en route on TBI aircraft right now. We're not going to disclose exactly where we will be bringing her back. I think she's been through enough,

and as quickly as we can get her back here to a safe environment, she will be better. So we won't disclose where we'll be bringing her back, but we are en route right now to go get her. What can you say about the commune? We heard initially that they were found at or near a commune. What can you say about that? We really can't say anything right now. Like I said, agents are en route.

We will be going to the location, obviously, to collect any type of evidence that we need to collect and to scour that crime scene. But they're not there yet. They're just en route. Yes. But they're not there yet. They're just en route. So, yes. And is there any evidence that she was assisting in this? We don't want to get into the specifics of the investigation. But at the end of the day, she's 15 years old. She's 15 years old.

She's a young girl that's with a grown man that's 50 years old. So he needs to be held accountable for kidnapping this girl. And how did they survive? We don't know yet. We'll try to find all of that out once we get out there. Director, it sounds like the officers who are in the scene, they staked out that vehicle. Is that how he was caught? They came back to the vehicle and had to do the arrest?

No. We're not going to go into the specifics of how they were caught, but that vehicle was under surveillance. We felt confident that they were there. Director, can you say it's a commune, the place where they were found, this cabin with that area that people were around it? Was it cooperating? You know, it's been depicted as a commune, but obviously some good citizen,

whether a part of that area, was a part of that area, saw the vehicle, reported it to us here at TBI headquarters. We, in turn, call local authorities. So whatever you want to call it, cabin, commune, some good, honest citizen wanting to do the right thing did the right thing and that's what we've been counting on you know we saw them in the cabin presumably well saw the vehicle you know and reported it we were able local law enforcement was able to confirm it was the vehicle but you got to understand we mobilized a nation during this six weeks. We mobilized a nation. And when you do that, something good most likely is going to happen because you can't

hide from that many millions of people that are looking for you. So I'm most proud of what you've done as the media, what the citizens have done in this country to help us and mobilize and have BIA's in ears. And that's how we're here today. You said a TBI aircraft will be flying Elizabeth back. Yes. Is that standard, or is this something special? That's something that General Cooper and I discussed earlier today,

and we feel like in this case that is the best way to handle this situation and what's best for Elizabeth. Where is Elizabeth Thomas? I'm sorry? I'm not sure, General. To the best of my knowledge, they're in Columbia, at or near their residence, and they're just awaiting eagerly for Elizabeth to come home. Has she been able to contact her family? Probably not yet, but it will be coming shortly.

You know, this is a very remote area, so it's probably going to take a couple hours for them to get to a location where they can even sit down and really discuss things. So that will be coming, and we'll make sure she's very well taken care of. Director, what was found in that cabin? Was there any handguns, firearms? Can you talk about that? No, we can't. We're not going to talk about that.

When do you expect him back here? I guess, Jack, you make his pick. The usual course in these cases is he'll be brought to a U.S. magistrate in that district, and the government will seek to have him removed back to Tennessee. That's usually something that could take several weeks. Would that be Sacramento? That is the district, right. I'm not sure if there's a field office or a field court there,

but that is the district that the removal will come out of. What charges could he be facing? You listed one about transportation of the minor across state lines. What other charges could you be facing? That's the only federal charge at this time. Perhaps one more question. If none, then once again, we all want to thank you for the job that you've helped us do in this six-week period. We couldn't be standing here without you.

We're just glad it's come to a great resolution that Elizabeth is safe and we'll be bringing her home soon. Thank you. If you guys want to exit, I appreciate that. Again, we will soon post a formal release on tbinewsroom.com that will have some additional details. I do want to make you aware that some of you were asking questions about the commune issue. So let me offer you a little bit of clarification on that.

That originated because we had sent our draft release to authorities in California to take a peek at. And it's my understanding that that had inadvertently been sent to early reporters who had requested information, so please do not use that as accurate information. You'll note that our release that we issue shortly refers to it a cabin in a rural area, and so that's our understanding at this point. We have backed off on language centered on commune, and we would appreciate your subsequent reporting to do the same sure yes and i understand that's why i wanted to take a moment to clarify that for you yes our release you'll note refers to it as a cabin in a rural area so we won't be referring it to to it necessarily as a commune at this point but

as as you heard the director allude to we're still trying to gain the circumstance and let me offer a bit of context on that. It's our understanding that the sheriff's office in that particular county is every bit of two hours away from where they were found. So this is a very large county. It's my understanding it's approximately nine or ten times the size of Murray County, just to give you a little bit of context, in northern California. Very rural. They had snow on the ground. So authorities had some difficulty even getting to that location early on today. Any other housekeeping questions I can answer for you?

Please. One of them, they weren't actually found in the cabin. It was the car outside the cabin, and they waited? We don't know. Again, we're trying to fully understand the circumstances from the authorities that were on the ground, but they were able to confirm to us that they had both of these individuals. So we don't know if they were inside the cabin or in the car in the driveway. We're working to get those details right now.

Or had been staying. Precisely. Yes, the information that we had received from the tipster indicated that they had taken up residence in that home about a week and a half ago, as we had indicated in my earlier statement. So they were staying in that particular location is the preliminary information that we have. But as to what the encounter looked like between local law enforcement today, that's still very much fluid in terms of us trying to get a full grasp of the circumstances there. Does that make sense? Great. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. All right.

Well, thank you again. And let me echo what the director said as the public information officer. You guys have been invaluable. I think the director really hit the nail on the head. He talked from the beginning that it only takes one tip. You are the entity that helps us get to the public. So thank you on behalf of our public Information Office for your partnership on this story. This is a success story for the Amber Alert system

here in Tennessee, and we couldn't have done it without you. As you know, tbi.media at tn.gov is the way to reach us if you have any further questions. I will run upstairs and post that news release so you'll have that as soon as possible. Great, thank you. This is an iHeart Podcast.