Elizabeth Thomas Once Hid From Teacher Tad Cummins, Family Says

CULLEOKA, TN — An attorney for the family of Elizabeth Thomas, the 15-year-old Culleoka student who disappeared along with her 50-year-old former teacher Tad Cummins, says the teenager once hid from her teacher.

One of Thomas family lawyers told WKRN that, at some point before the March 13 disappearance, Cummins came into Elizabeth's work place. The teen hid in a bathroom and urged a co-worker to tell the teacher that she wasn't there.

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The claims, made by Elizabeth's father, come after Maury County Sheriff's Office investigators and the county's district attorney said they discovered that Thomas and Cummins used the "draft" folders of Cummins email account to communicate.

“They would write the message and let it save as a draft. The other person would log in, read the message, and then delete it and then write another message that was saved as a draft,” DA Brent Cooper said, according to WAAY. “If you read them you would immediately recognize you are reading messages between two people who have a romantic interest in each other.”

Though the DA declined to share the exact content of those messages, one of the investigators shared a portion of one written by Cummins.

“’I saw you standing next to your backpack this morning,’ and makes a reference to a body part of hers and how nice that looked,” said Marcus Alright, one of the investigators.

Thomas is a 15-year-old white female, with hazel eyes, stands 5 feet tall and weighs 120 pounds. She was last seen March 13 wearing a flannel shirt and black leggings after her friend dropped her off at the Columbia Shoney's at 8 a.m.

She is believed to be in the company of Cummins, who may be armed with two handguns. He is a white male, who stands 6 feet tall, weighs approximately 200 pounds, and has brown hair and eyes.

He faces kidnapping charges and is also charged with sexual contact with a minor after he allegedly kissed Thomas at school earlier this year.

The TBI had received nearly 1,000 tips, with 116 still open.

Images via TBI