Found Safe TN - Mary Catherine Elizabeth Thomas, 15, Maury County, 13 March 2017 #1

[xmsmadex]

in a nutshell:

Cummins and Thomas were caught kissing on January 23, School informed on January 24.
Thomas Family and Cummins were informed on January 31, investigation concluded, no findings.
Thomas was removed from the classroom in February and warned not to return. Thomas kept showing up in Cummins' class and was given an in-school suspension.
Cummins remained in the classroom until February 6 when he was suspended for insubordination.
There was a continuing investigation by the Maury County Sheriff's Office.
Thomas and Cummins go missing on March 13
Cummins is dismissed (fired) on March 14 as a result of the amber alert.

I cant believe the school apprehended Thomas and not Cummins???? How could anyone blame a 15 year old girl instead of the 50 year old TEACHER! It is beyind my comprehension that the school didnt immediately get rid of Cummins. He must have lied claiming she gad come on to him and was obsessed, otherwise none of that makes sense.

 

[bestill]

I cant believe the school apprehended Thomas and not Cummins???? How could anyone blame a 15 year old girl instead of the 50 year old TEACHER! It is beyind my comprehension that the school didnt immediately get rid of Cummins. He must have lied claiming she gad come on to him and was obsessed, otherwise none of that makes sense.

Comments in some of the news reports indicate that Cummins' wife worked for the school district. I think the school district is deep doo over this, they totally mishandled it.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Comments in some of the news reports indicate that Cummins' wife worked for the school district. I think the school district is deep doo over this, they totally mishandled it.

I agree.

 

[smiley]

Its ironic there isn't even a provision in the law for kidnapping yet they issue an AA. Hard to blame the girl from running away.

The reporter said on his live FB feed, that child under age 13 would be felony kidnapping but there is no provision for child age 13 to 18 for that

 

[JerseyGirl]

The reporter said on his live FB feed, that child under age 13 would be felony kidnapping but there is no provision for child age 13 to 18 for that

yes:

Many have wondered why he's not charged with felony kidnapping? The District Attorney said it appears the 15-year-old went with Cummins willingly.

"It's kidnapping if the child is 13 or under, but no provision for a child 13-18," said General Cooper.

Cooper planned to discuss changing that with state lawmakers

http://www.newschannel5.com/news/search-for-missing-columbia-teen-in-amber-alert-escalates

 

[Tealgrove]

This is extremely sad.

 

[dyannaON]

I wonder if he knows how to operate a boat and has access to one. I don't think they are cruising on a ship but what if he is trying recreate something similar with Carnival and Dr Seuss
I think those are huge clues on the IG. Moo


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[Tragic]

we have seen many times how family members or friends of criminals stay quiet from the refusal to accept such behavior and/or hide their crimes out of complete embarrassment of how others will perceive it.

sadly. w/o a doubt, she probably isn't his first student he "seduced" inappropriately through his years of teaching high school or wherever. these creeps just get better and more practice through the years with always an influx of incoming high school students.

i have seen it when i was in high school and than that questionable behavior (most of the time never reported) repeat years later. multiple teachers were fired in my four years. sadly, the worst are so good at what they do and never face consequences until it is so evident that the school or school board has to do something.

i still fight with low self esteem. always will. i know what it's like to have no options (or any better) as a juvenile. to have not one elder or adult family member actually give a damn my whole childhood and later, no matter how hard i tried. out of total disgust from seeing inappropriate actions from middle school on, it never appealed to me. it did not however prevent some male teachers to try to take advantage of the situation.

anyway, sorry if long but mary catherine seemed very active with social media. i cannot see her staying away from it forever.

 

[bestill]

TC is now facing a misdemeanor is what I read because she went willingly. I'm curious as to how LE knew they were together. Did they leave a note or tell someone?

 

[lisette]

Can someone link the news accounts that have the comments from locals?

 

[Gardenista]

Can someone link the news accounts that have the comments from locals?

Check the TN Bureau of Investigation FB page. I think that's where I saw a bunch of comments the other day.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/TBInvestigation/posts/?ref=page_internal

 

[Topcat]

Who filed the missing person report on her ?

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[mbison]

TC is now facing a misdemeanor is what I read because she went willingly. I'm curious as to how LE knew they were together. Did they leave a note or tell someone?

The misdemeanor relates to the incident at school. There is apparently no kidnapping charge when a 15-yr old leaves voluntarily.

 

[Kapua]

Stating the obvious but... they will resurface when they run out of money.

 

[bestill]

So basically he could have plead guilty and served his sentence and then once she's of age they could do whatever they want. But they decided to run away and are now in hiding. Just stupid on so many levels. He's not as intelligent as has been reported!

 

[tlcya]

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation remains extremely concerned for the well-being of ET, the victim in an ongoing AMBER Alerts in Tennessee and Alabama. Though the TBI cannot discuss specifics at this time, investigative efforts have revealed a troubling pattern of behavior by Tad Cummins, suggesting the 50-year-old may have been abusing his role as a teacher to groom this vulnerable young girl for some time in an effort to lure and potentially sexually exploit her.

https://tbinewsroom.com/2017/03/16/amber-alert-update-2-elizabeth-thomas/

 

[Hraefn]

I cant believe the school apprehended Thomas and not Cummins???? How could anyone blame a 15 year old girl instead of the 50 year old TEACHER! It is beyind my comprehension that the school didnt immediately get rid of Cummins. He must have lied claiming she gad come on to him and was obsessed, otherwise none of that makes sense.

Most of the articles linked previously that have interviewed people who knew Cummins stated that no one believed the kissing event actually happened and no one believed he would ever do anything like that. One even stated that Cummins was someone he would want his kids to go to if they needed help. It's possible Cummins could have used Elizabeth as his own defense, such as "she won't stop coming to my classroom; I didn't do it, she made it up; she's stalking me."

However, even if that's the case, the school authorities handled the situation wrong. An accusation like that warrants temporary removal pending investigation. He absolutely gets due process as a teacher, which would require notice and hearing. I also researched TN law and it seems he would be considered to have de facto tenure (look for "49-5-503. Types of tenure." in link below). But there are limits to due process, and TN law allows suspension during investigation. The director is the one empowered under the statute to suspend the teacher.

49-5-511. Dismissal or suspension of teachers — Causes for dismissal — Position
reduction — Written notice — Preferred list for employment — Convictions —
License revocation. —
(a) (1) No teacher shall be dismissed or suspended except as provided in this part.
(2) The causes for which a teacher may be dismissed are as follows: incompetence,
inefficiency, neglect of duty, unprofessional conduct and insubordination as defined in §
49-5-501.
(3) A director of schools may suspend a teacher at any time that may seem necessary,
pending investigation or final disposition of a case before the board or an appeal. If
vindicated or reinstated, the teacher shall be paid the full salary for the period during
which the teacher was suspended.

BBM

Statutes found here: http://cem.mtsu.edu/sites/default/files/k_12/video_handouts/tennesseetenurelaw.pdf

 

[DatelineFan]

I am so disturbed that it's not technically kidnapping unless the CHILD is 13 or under. Developmentally, a 14+ year old is NOT capable of making rational decisions in a situation like this! Even adults are sometimes roped into manipulative situations/relationships, that end up putting them in danger. This law needs to be changed immediately, as far as I'm concerned!

 

[DatelineFan]

I think it depends on what they are doing.

If they're sitting on a beach drinking fruity drinks, she might be ok with her situation for now because every day is a weekend day.

I think she's going to start to miss and worry about her siblings. In my experience, children of abuse often form what's called a "trauma bond". This is actually stronger than a typical sibling relationship. The kids are bonded by their trauma, and seek comfort in being together and looking out for each other. I wonder where she falls in the birth order.

 

[Rachel1]

I agree with the comment about running out of money. They won't be able to hide forever with limited funds and he's smart enough to know that all credit card transactions would be tracked back to his current location.
Lets just hope it ends before that though. This girl needs to be found ASAP