Crime & Safety
Brentwood Academy Grad Nabs Kidnapping Suspect Tad Cummins
Griffin Barry, a Brentwood native, called in the tip that led to the arrest of kidnapping suspect Tad Cummins in Northern California.
BRENTWOOD, TN — Ex-teacher and kidnapping suspect Tad Cummins eluded police for nearly six weeks after allegedly abducting former student Elizabeth Thomas. The 50-year-old took the 15-year-old more than 2,500 miles from Maury County to the isolated town of Cecilville, Calif. And once there, he was apprehended with the help of a man who grew up less than 40 miles from where it all began.
Griffin Barry, a Brentwood native and graduate of Brentwood Academy, works as a caretaker on a stretch of property in secluded Siskiyou County, Calif. and it was his tip that ended the cross-country saga.
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Barry said that Cummins came to the gas station on the property and concocted a story about how he and Thomas — Cummins told Barry they were married — lost their home in Colorado in a fire and were out of money and looking for the nearby Black Bear Commune. Barry filled up their gas tank, gave them directions and $40, according to WKRN, and said if the commune life didn't work out, to come back.
Once at the commune, residents sensed something fishy, according to Peter LaughingWolf.
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“I feel a little funny because there were all kinds of indications that there was something a little funny going on. Never occurred to me that she was 15 year old, they said she was 22, I thought…yeah,” LaughingWolf said.
Eventually, the commune told Cummins they would not be a good fit, which LaughingWolf said angered Cummins. Cummins found his way back to Barry, who told him he could work clearing a creek of rocks, according to WSMV. Barry put Cummins and Thomas up in a cabin and gave them some food, all the while buying the story that Cummins was 38 and Thomas 24.
The pair stayed there for a day or so, but eventually someone showed Barry the AMBER alert photos of Cummins and Thomas.
“Someone showed me a picture. I was like, ‘That’s the guy,’” he said, according to WSMV. “So we call 911 and we call the TBI line.”
Image via TBI
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