TBI: Kidnapping Suspect Tad Cummins Not Spotted In Shelby County

COLLIERVILLE, TN — The TBI said Tad Cummins, the former Maury County teacher believed to have abducted his former student, 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas, was not spotted in Collierville Thursday.

The sighting was reported at a Shell gas station at 398 New Byhalia Road in Collierville, outside of Memphis, and a man seen in surveillance footage was confirmed as Cummins the Shelby County Sheriff's Office.

A WMC news crew at a Krystal in Memphis said they found a white van connected to the earlier sighting, but after investigation, it was found to be unrelated to Cummins or Thomas.

WMC also reported that a source said Cummins and Thomas were seen boarding a city bus in downtown Memphis, though that report, too, was found to be wanting.

Thomas was last seen March 13 when a friend dropped her off at a Shoney's in Columbia. She is believed to have been abducted by Cummins, 50, who was formerly her teacher at Culleoka Unit School.

(For more updates on Elizabeth Thomas' abduction, click here to sign up for the Nashville Patch's daily newsletter and free, real-time news alerts, or find your local Middle Tennessee Patch here.)

Image via TBI