Found Safe TN - MCET, 15, Abducted by Teacher, in Maury County, 13 March 2017 #16 *ARREST*

[JerseyGirl]

“They let us go two-by-two to speak to her and stand at a distance at first because she’d been through a lot,” the father said, adding, “I had to keep looking to make sure it was her.”

“It was more important to have her back. I was so overwhelmed. Later on, when I hugged her, I just went into tears. She put her hand over my shoulder and patted my back and said, ‘It’s okay,’” he recalled.

Thomas said she has lost a lot of weight. He also noted that she’s a bit more “edgy”. “She used to be more outgoing, much more exuberant, and now she can’t really take a lot of stimulus right now,” he explained.

The father said he’s been able to see her several times since then, saying she’s relaxing little by little but “you can still tell she’s very sensitive to too much going on."

“It’s going to be that way for a while probably from what she’s been through,” he said, noting that she’ll be getting counseling.

He said they’re going to give her space and try to keep things very calm for her, make sure she has what she needs to adjust to life back home.

Thomas also said they haven’t spoken about her experiences while she was gone, saying, “We haven’t gotten to that yet.”

http://wkrn.com/2017/04/24/father-of-elizabeth-thomas-opens-up-about-daughters-rescue-return-home/

 

[MelInTN]

"Family members who have spent time with Elizabeth Thomas after her return to Tennessee say she told them*the 48 hours before her rescue were the most traumatic."

http://wkrn.com/2017/04/24/family-w...t-48-hours-before-rescue-were-most-traumatic/

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[WillenFan21]

Your link didn't work (looks like they mispelled "were" as "wee" in the link and then fixed it:

http://wkrn.com/2017/04/24/family-w...t-48-hours-before-rescue-were-most-traumatic/

Will fix this right now!

 

[Ontario Mom]

I'm definitely not understanding this. I'm also confused as to how and why they ended up way up in the remote mountains in California if the plan was to go to Mexico. It almost sounds as though the plan got screwed up around the time they hit Decatur, and he just came up with a new plan on the fly.

That is, if the boat story is even true. I suspect it may not be, but have have been just an idea in his head before he saw the Mexican alert online. Obviously the whole plan was a train wreck from the word go. 38 days in, and he's broke, living in a glorified storage shed without running water or heat, and trying to get a job at the local saloon. In several MSM articles, ET's family members say she's lost a lot of weight, so that makes me wonder just how long they were broke, and how long it had been since she had a decent meal? Ugh, what a complete creep this guy is.

 

[MelInTN]

I'd imagine the last 48 hours to be the most traumatic..... They were 'stationed' in a cabin with no one close by. Much different environment that hotels, car rides, and even the commune, where there were at least other people nearby, which may have given a sense of security. But in the cabin it was just them.....imo

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[Ontario Mom]

"Family members who have spent time with Elizabeth Thomas after her return to Tennessee say she told them*the 48 hours before her rescue were the most traumatic."

http://wkrn.com/2017/04/24/family-w...t-48-hours-before-rescue-were-most-traumatic/

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Well, the last 48 hours were in the "cabin". No heat, no indoor plumbing or running water, very little food... it certainly couldn't have been an enjoyable experience to a teenage girl not used to living like that.

 

[stormymama]

That is, if the boat story is even true. I suspect it may not be, but have have been just an idea in his head before he saw the Mexican alert online. Obviously the whole plan was a train wreck from the word go. 38 days in, and he's broke, living in a glorified storage shed without running water or heat, and trying to get a job at the local saloon. In several MSM articles, ET's family members say she's lost a lot of weight, so that makes me wonder just how long they were broke, and how long it had been since she had a decent meal? Ugh, what a complete creep this guy is.

I wonder if TC lost any weight... Probably not

 

[jessarox]

That is, if the boat story is even true. I suspect it may not be, but have have been just an idea in his head before he saw the Mexican alert online. Obviously the whole plan was a train wreck from the word go. 38 days in, and he's broke, living in a glorified storage shed without running water or heat, and trying to get a job at the local saloon. In several MSM articles, ET's family members say she's lost a lot of weight, so that makes me wonder just how long they were broke, and how long it had been since she had a decent meal? Ugh, what a complete creep this guy is.

BBM

The weight loss concerned me a lot. The info in the Amber Alert said she's 5'5" and 120 pounds. That's on the low end of BMI to begin with, if she lost "a lot" of weight, she could be very underweight right now. On the other hand, with an already thin person, ANY weight loss is going to look like a lot. I'm hoping she wasn't starving all the time on top of everything else.

 

[Mom24]

http://wkrn.com/2017/04/24/documents-reveal-tad-cummins-planned-to-go-to-mexico-with-teen/

Cummins’ court-appointed attorney, Benajmin Galloway, released the following statement after the judge’s decision was handed down:

“It is important to note that these allegations do not involve force, threats or coercion of any sort. As authorities in Tennessee acknowledge, the alleged victim left of her own free will. This was not an abduction or kidnapping as has been suggested. Mr. Cummins has no history of violence and no criminal history whatsoever. He surrendered without incident and has been cooperative with investigators. He looks forward to returning to Tennessee as soon as possible to answer the charges against him."

Sure. He dragged her through 9 states, disguising himself, removing the plates off his car, took her phone from her, kept her in a cabin in a remote area without electricity, running water or indoor plumbing, during the school year interrupting her education and without allowing her to even call her family to tell them she was okay. But he didn't use force, threats or coercion? Right. That's why she hid from him when he attempted to see her at work. That's why he threatened to make her sit in the hall if she wasn't doing what he told her to. That's why he paid her in cash when she did as she was told. That's why he shared a school email account with her so that he could make sure there was no trail, that's why he didn't allow her to talk to the caretaker at the cabin. If she was there of her own free will, why not let her have her phone? And he's not been cooperative because he didn't plead guilty to the crimes he committed and in conversation with his sister he told a complete fabrication of the entire thing. He also didn't cooperate with school authorities when they told him to stay away from ET. In fact he was so uncooperative he was fired and then he abducted the child.

 

[Mom24]

Bold text is from this article: http://wkrn.com/2017/04/24/family-w...t-48-hours-before-rescue-were-most-traumatic/



I'm so glad they are letting Elizabeth's visits be supervised and that they are letting her choose who she wants to see. I was so worried about this because how her home life wasn't that great.

also did anyone see this part? I wonder what on earth happened to her in the 48 hours before?

I'm thinking it probably was a combination of the living conditions in the cabin, the lack of money and TC was angry about being told to leave the commune. They found 2 cans of beer. So here you have a rather large man who's drinking, with poor impulse control and angry and you're in a very remote area with no where to run to. It's not like there was any close neighbors she could run to for help and it would take police a long time to get there, and he's got guns.

 

[lynxofsd]

I travel a lot to SoCal and even lived in San Clemente for a few months a couple of years ago. I never saw a checkpoint like this. Just miles and miles of bumper to bumper traffic going either north or south.

The Border Patrol checkpoints south of San Clemente and Temecula are fully operational and are staffed 24 hours a day. They don't, however, continuously screen vehicles one-by-one during a 24 hour period. When vehicles aren't being slowed down for an agent to observe a vehicle and the occupants more closely (and then allowing most to pass freely), cars travel through the checkpoints at freeway speeds. When they do screen vehicles, they have their own algorithm (unknown by me) as to what vehicles will be stopped for further inspection, including questioning of the occupants.

It is possible that TC and ET could have been apprehended there (but they weren't). A perpetrator who committed multiple murders in SD was, in fact, directly linked to the murders as a result of being stopped at the San Clemente checkpoint. They didn't detain him--but they did keep his guns:

"At the change of plea hearing for Mercado, Erickson credited Border Patrol officers who pulled over and inspected Mercado’s vehicle less than a month after the homicides as providing the critical evidence that led to Mercado’s arrest.

On Jan. 18, 2014, a day after Gianni’s car and body were discovered in the city of Riverside, which prosecutors believe Mercado planted, agents at the Border Patrol Checkpoint on the I-5 near San Clemente pulled Mercado over for a routine stop. While searching Mercado’s vehicle at that checkpoint stop, Border Patrol agents found an AR-15 assault rifle, a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun and a .22 caliber handgun with a modified silencer.

Agents eventually released Mercado from that stop, unaware of his connection to the murders, but held Mercado’s weapons for further investigation. It was that move by Border Patrol Agents that Erickson credits as a major turning point in the investigation, as the DNA on those firearms was uploaded to California’s DNA database system CODIS and was linked to DNA that was discovered at the Mission Valley and Riverside crime scenes.

Three days after the DNA match was determined, Mercado was arrested on June 21, 2014 for the murders of Gianni and Salvatore Belvedere and Ilona Flint."

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...alley-Murders-Evidence-in-Docs-411429095.html

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...iego-24-Dec-2013-3&highlight=Gianni+belvedere

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I think the passage about "procuring a small watercraft" in the motion to detain [page 4] is a bit blurry as to TC's actions or timeline. I can't tell from reading that passage when or where the watercraft was "procured", although the suggestion is that this occurred in California (but probably not close to the border).

Theoretically, a kayak or small boat could be maneuvered around the border fence in the ocean between SD and Tijuana, but that would be a risky move in an area that is monitored very closely. Traveling further into Mexico without a car (and limited belongings) would have been a real problem as well.

Traveling into Mexico from San Diego by car (through San Ysidro's port of entry) might have been a reasonable option. TC/ET might not have been detected at the border because of the sheer number of vehicles that pass through there every day. Immigration authorities in Mexico are not nearly as vigilant in screening vehicles traveling from the US into Mexico compared to crossing in the opposite direction. Even if they had made it out of the US, though, TC and ET would have had a very difficult journey from that point on (lack of money, language barrier, being victimized by criminals, risk of apprehension).

My suspicion is that all of these risks were considered, and any plan to travel out of the US was then abandoned.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Something I found odd but worth mentioning.

Last week it was said that Tad "reportedly had a cup of coffee in his hand and walked out" of the cabin when he was arrested.
http://www.kmov.com/story/35207766/...icers-recount-taking-tad-cummins-into-custody

Over the weekend, her sister said ET is "very happy" and pleased to eat food, drink coffee and shower.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/24/us/tennessee-teacher/

I wonder if TC withheld food and coffee and only provided for himself (thinking again to the statement where it mentioned that ET lost a lot of weight).

 

[JLSChook]

Finally caught up! Thanks to everyone for the new info, links, articles, etc...

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

Kidnapped teen withdrawn, jittery, family says
'She looked like she was very worn out,' dad says

Posted: 12:59 AM, April 25, 2017
Updated: 3:27 AM, April 25, 2017

(CNN) - Elizabeth Thomas, the Tennessee teenager kidnapped by her teacher, was withdrawn and thinner after she was rescued, family members said Monday.

"She didn't look like herself at all. She looked like she was very worn out, very thin. And very jittery," her father Anthony Thomas said on "Primetime Justice with Ashleigh Banfield" on HLN. "She's somebody who's actually more sure of herself, usually all smiles and she's been sort of the life of the party." ...

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/national/kidnapped-teen-withdrawn-jittery-family-says

 

[4SAM]

He could have withheld food as a form of control

 

[Gardenista]

Something I found odd but worth mentioning.

Last week it was said that Tad "reportedly had a cup of coffee in his hand and walked out" of the cabin when he was arrested.
http://www.kmov.com/story/35207766/...icers-recount-taking-tad-cummins-into-custody

Over the weekend, her sister said ET is "very happy" and pleased to eat food, drink coffee and shower.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/24/us/tennessee-teacher/

I wonder if TC withheld food and coffee and only provided for himself (thinking again to the statement where it mentioned that ET lost a lot of weight).

Yes and in his mugshot, he looked to still be fat.

 

[Vedder]

After reading the above article and others....IF he made these remarks....he reminds me of BTK.....in how he thinks....giving LE 'congrafulations'....so into himself....rot.

Yes! Like Rader's "Oscar award acceptance speech" in court.

 

[bestill]

I don't think he was withholding food, I think he was in a panic about the next step. I think the commune was the last hope he had, hence his anger about having to leave. He probably appeared to be in "control" of the situation and once they had to leave the commune he couldn't keep that up. No money, cold, hungry with no running water or electricity and no next step. Have we heard how much gas was in the Rogue when they found them?

 

[blue22]

I don't think he was withholding food, I think he was in a panic about the next step. I think the commune was the last hope he had, hence his anger about having to leave. He probably appeared to be in "control" of the situation and once they had to leave the commune he couldn't keep that up. No money, cold, hungry with no running water or electricity and no next step. Have we heard how much gas was in the Rogue when they found them?

I don't believe so, but I'd love to know. I wouldn't be surprised if they had no gas left. I think he was stuck and completely out of options. (JMO.) Thank goodness she was found when she was.

 

[TexMex]

I don't think he was withholding food, I think he was in a panic about the next step. I think the commune was the last hope he had, hence his anger about having to leave. He probably appeared to be in "control" of the situation and once they had to leave the commune he couldn't keep that up. No money, cold, hungry with no running water or electricity and no next step. Have we heard how much gas was in the Rogue when they found them?

I think the guy who gave him $40 also put $15 in the gas tank.