Found Safe TN - Mary Catherine Elizabeth Thomas, 15, Maury County, 13 March 2017 #6

[Vedder]

Yes, but the article has said the detectives are having a difficult time because they encrypted everything. It comes up as jumbled mess.

That is because it's password protected. Think of your account on here. I can see your profile, your posts - but I cannot see your private message inbox, because I do not have your password.

 

[Deleted member 155000]

My impressions are still similar to my first impressions:

TC has some serious weaknesses that may blind him and cause him to slip up, but he planned for this more than most. He taught criminal Forensics, read survival books, and researched whether his vehicle could be traced.

He also has more resources than most abductors. We know he has at least $4,500. The fact he was calculated enough to take a loan out to get cash suggests he would be able to think of other things to sell or borrow equity on in order to stockpile money.

He researched teenage marriage and her IG caption was changed to wife. They both seemed to post about a fantasy of running off together. Because of this, as long as she is committed to his plan, I don't think he will harm her. I think he thinks he is the hero rescuing her and intends to help her start a new life, which is how he rationalizes all he has sacrificed.

My personal opinion is that he was "all in." When you abduct a teenager and flee the state, you have demonstrated you are on an "all or nothing" track. You're willing to lose everything and risk it all at that point. Because of this, I think he headed for either a remote U.S. location (like an AirBnB cottage in the Northwest U.S.) or Mexico where they are going to lay low a couple months. I think he may have had a jump on the Amber Alert and crossed several state lines before the first regional stories went out.

I think he had a plan to trade vehicles. He may have started with the Rogue with a switched out license plate, but I suspect he bought a used car cash somewhere along the way or even had one in storage waiting for him. His Nissan may be parked in a storage unit or garage now.

I believe they altered their appearance dramatically. That means he is clean shaven, maybe has blond tips with a gelled hairstyle. She has short dark hair or even some vibrant color--like red or blue. They are both wearing sunglasses everywhere I bet and possibly hats. They could even wear wigs when driving so it's unclear which gender they are.

I think there's a good chance they may be camping out of a different vehicle in a remote U.S. area where they are off the grid more or less and out of the public eye. But I think they have burner phones or occasionally go into town and connect to wifi, probably at night, to update themselves on the police activity/search.

I think they may have several contingency plans. They may be staying at a motel that doesn't ask questions but have camping gear and tents for if the heat catches up to them.

I think they exchanged all those "mission completed" sorts of IG posts because they were plotting what they viewed as a "technical operation." I do think that means they could have acquired fake IDs (not hard to get cheap non-official ones) or that they managed to lift or get copies of other people's IDs. Did Tad manage to steal an ID from a friend or family member around his age? Did she get a hold of her sister's birth certificate and manage to get one of their IDs with a different last name? Could they have gotten enough forms of ID to get passports? I am not saying it is likely, but I think I could come by those items if my life depended on it.

Did they research how to get out of the country across a border without IDs? Again, risky, but he's already drowning in risk so there's no reason to think that would stop them. Did they try to enter Mexico, Cuba, Central America, or Canada? Did they just go *just* over the border to Mexico and rent an Air BnB room in that immediate vicinity where they are holed away out of public view? Are they going to lay low there until they can move further south?

Also, I don't think they go into public places together. But if they do, I think they are posing as father and daughter.

I think Tad is a Lone Ranger who sees himself as a misunderstood hero. I don't think he trusts anyone to let them in on his plan.

Please feel free to post where you agree and disagree or counter ideas.
It's been 2 weeks. What are we missing? What new info could we find that would be helpful?



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[Mercedes]

No, he told her he was a millionaire, so she may think they are going to stay in hotels with indoor pools.

Then he should have been able to buy her a bathing suit, imo.

 

[Heavenlystars]

Not exactly. It has a disappearing message feature. See my attached screenshot of my instagram account.

Geez I uploaded this from my phone so if it's huge I'm sorry!!! I don't know why it did that.

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The article says that detectives are having a difficult time because they encrypted everything and the words are a bunch of jumbled letters?

 

[Gray]

It's possibly also because you can send "disappearing photos and videos" through Instagram, which I guarantee you they used because they were smart enough to use the "draft" idea in email where it's written, never sent, and then easily deleted. Super devious, in my opinion. He KNEW what he was doing is wrong and he tried as hard as he could to make it untrackable in regards to technology. He thinks he is so smart... but he clearly isn't smart enough since they found out about the draft emails.

And if he is reading this, you're a jerk, Tad Cummins. You will be found and you won't get away with this.

 

[4SAM]

With his weight flunctuating, he could change his appearance and be running errands ot stores/gas stations and not being seen, she would be left back at hiding site. Also, has it been confirmed that the plates on the Rogue have not been switched with the jeep back home?

 

[Vedder]

The article says that detectives are having a difficult time because they encrypted everything and the words are a bunch of jumbled letters?

The article is misleading. Look at the article closely - "Thomas' Instagram account is public, but her messages are password protected making obtaining them difficult for law enforcement."

The "jumbled" quote is from WAAY's tech expert, not LE, talking about encryption apps (apparently these apps will encrypt info on other apps, such as IG) - but we don't know if TC actually used encryption apps. All LE spoke of was password protection.
"At the local level, impossible for anyone to be able to get into these encrypted apps, said Jamey Tucker, WAAY 31's tech expert, "even if you get that information by the time you get it, it's all jumbled up and you can't make any sense of it."

http://m.waaytv.com/appnews/encrypt...cle_c0039142-129f-11e7-ab63-9fac39e6d413.html

 

[SunflowerPower]

Does anyone know what year the Nissan Rogue is and how many miles it had?

 

[michael.gartley]

Possible addition of a single new FOLLOWING on her Instagram account since March 17th.

Recall, "followers" are the number of people who are following that account. "Following" is the number of people the account is following.

http://archive.is/ERoug
Archived version time-stamped March 17, 2017 15:23 UTC is following 285 other accounts
Today, current IG account is following 286 other accounts.

Can anyone figure out the single new account that "appears" to have been added by someone with access to her account between 17th and 27th?

Or maybe I am mis-understanding something, and 285 vs 286 is nothing to note.. I dunno :-(

 

[Heavenlystars]

The article is misleading. Look at the article closely - "Thomas' Instagram account is public, but her messages are password protected making obtaining them difficult for law enforcement."

The "jumbled" quote is from WAAY's tech expert, not LE, talking about encryption apps (apparently these apps will encrypt info on other apps, such as IG) - but we don't know if TC actually used encryption apps. All LE spoke of was password protection.
"At the local level, impossible for anyone to be able to get into these encrypted apps, said Jamey Tucker, WAAY 31's tech expert, "even if you get that information by the time you get it, it's all jumbled up and you can't make any sense of it."

http://m.waaytv.com/appnews/encrypt...cle_c0039142-129f-11e7-ab63-9fac39e6d413.html

Okay, but the are able to obtain passwords on fb, why?

 

[KKearns]

The article says that detectives are having a difficult time because they encrypted everything and the words are a bunch of jumbled letters?

That is exactly encryption.

 

[lalamaria]

I think Costa Rica is a strong possibility-for what it's worth I've emailed the missing poster to several small lodges there hoping they keep eye out-it's very cheap to stay-buy food etc there and she recently learned Spanish-it's worth a shot sharing her pix there

 

[Whiteorchids]

Cummins could possibly be only hit up with misdemeanor

https://www.google.com/amp/whnt.com...-suspected-kidnapper-of-elizabeth-thomas/amp/

 

[Vedder]

Okay, but the are able to obtain passwords on fb, why?

Subpoena possibly?

 

[pegs]

The fact that he was looking for work in a semi-nearby area (Decatur, AL) is a big indicator that he is going to stay in the states and attempt to plant roots again. I think they are hunkered down somewhere in the southern states, possibly a college town. I think the Rogue is long since hidden and they are driving something else, moving about cautiously but right under our noses. And if they are having intimate relations, she is going to fall in love with him and stand by his side.

Agree with all, except I think as time goes on she will be less enamored with him if that is what she really feels, (and I doubt that). Honestly, I think she is afraid of him and is acting out of fear and possibly even the protection of her family. I wouldn't put it out of the question for him to have threatened her with the safety of her family or threats of what he will do to himself and her. He lied about the CIA/FBI so this is a real possibility IMO. I think as time goes on she will start to see through his manipulation and that will either be when she can escape or he goes postal. Every day that goes by this situation gets more dangerous because that is a day closer to CT coming unhinged.

 

[Heavenlystars]

Subpoena possibly?

They can't do that with ig?

 

[KKearns]

Cummins could possibly be only hit up with misdemeanor

https://www.google.com/amp/whnt.com...-suspected-kidnapper-of-elizabeth-thomas/amp/

I'm thinking crossing state lines might have changed that and moved it to a federal issue. The FBI is involved.

 

[Vedder]

They can't do that with ig?

I'm sure they can, but maybe it's taking longer. Perhaps one of her siblings knew her FB password.

 

[KKearns]

They can't do that with ig?

Since it is owned by Facebook, I'm thinking a court order would include all Facebook owned social media.

 

[Mom24]

It's possibly also because you can send "disappearing photos and videos" through Instagram, which I guarantee you they used because they were smart enough to use the "draft" idea in email where it's written, never sent, and then easily deleted. Super devious, in my opinion. He KNEW what he was doing is wrong and he tried as hard as he could to make it untrackable in regards to technology. He thinks he is so smart... but he clearly isn't smart enough since they found out about the draft emails.

And if he is reading this, you're a jerk, Tad Cummins. You will be found and you won't get away with this.

And proof he's done this before. People get better with practice, and it appears he's had a lot of practice.