Elizabeth Thomas-Tad Cummins Update: Teen's Father Urges Daughter Not to Listen to 'Liar' Former Teacher
Five weeks into their disappearance, the search for 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas and her 50-year-old former teacher Tad Cummins continues.
In an effort to get them to come back, the young girl's father, Anthony Thomas, sent her a message saying that it is Cummins she should stay away from.
"I want to tell her, Elizabeth, that man may be telling you that nobody's looking for you, or he may even be telling you that nobody wants you home," the Thomas patriarch said via WKRN.
"Don't listen to that. Everything he said to all the kids, not just you, has been a lie. He's nothing but a liar. We all want you home. We all need you home," he went on to say.
Thomas and Cummins disappeared last March 13. Two days later, they were spotted in a surveillance video in a Walmart store in Oklahoma sporting different hair colors.
Prior to the disappearance, Thomas was dropped off by a friend in a restaurant in Columbia, which was around the same area where Cummins was seen in a surveillance video getting gas.
Anthony also had something to say to the person who kidnapped his daughter. "I would like to just urge Tad Cummins, I know you're keeping up with all this and you're filtering," he said.
"You're not letting her see how much people out here love her. You're depriving her of that. It would make better sense for you to turn yourself in to law enforcement. If you turn yourself in, there are laws that will guarantee your general safety," he continued.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) continues its search for the two and also asks the public to provide tips and information about them.
So far, the authorities have received 1,400 tips from people in almost every state. Only 300 of those are being investigated further while the rest were dismissed.
Cummins is known to have been travelling in a silver Nissan Rogue with Tennessee tag 976-ZPT.
