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‘I’m glad this is over’ – Tenn. teacher arrested for abducting student admits weariness tocops

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He is accused of abducting Elizabeth Thomas, 15 on April 13 in Tenn
for abducting student told cops ‘I’m glad this is over’
They runaways were more than 2,000 miles away from home in Culleoka, Tenn when they were turned in by an informer
50-year-old Cummings was arrested, the 15-year-old victim was recovered safe
Cummins and Thomas 4.pngElizabeth Thomas seen [right] with Cummins was on a “kind of an emotional roller coaster as you can imagine,”  after they pair were found. “She was laughing, she was crying,” her rescuers said. 

The 50-year-old Tennessee teacher arrested for running away with his 15-year-old student reportedly said he was happy the weeks-long manhunt had finally ended.

Tad Cummins told cops “I’m glad this is over,” CNN reported, as a SWAT team collared him on Thursday in Cecilville, Calif. — 2,400 miles from his home in Culleoka, Tenn.
Cummins and former student Elizabeth Thomas had been on the run since March 13, and authorities scoured for clues as to where they were headed. It’s still unclear if Thomas willingly ran away with her ex-teacher.

Cummins and Thomas3Tad Cummins [left], grabbed his teen student, Elizabeth Brown, and absconded from Culleoka, Tenn on April 13, the day he was supposed to be answering for his iappropriate conduct with the schoolgirl

The pair vanished just before the Cumminswas to appear before a panel of the school board to answer for the report that a student had caught the teacher and student kissingin a classroom.
Surveillance video showed the pair at a Walmart in Oklahoma City on March 15. But after that, no one could predict where the fugitive pair would next pop up.
Cops finally got word of their whereabouts when someone encountered Cummins in Siskiyou County, more than 2,000 miles from Culleoka, and called the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation tip line. A Cecilville groundskeeper notified TBI that the pair had been staying at an unfinished cabin since earlier this week.

Cummins and Elizabeth stayed in one of these cabins in Cecilville, California, this week, the property's caretaker said..jpgCummins and Elizabeth were staying in one of these cabins in Cecilville, Calif when they were caught, Thursday
Cummins Nissan Rogue.pngThe informer also spotted the silver Nissan Rogue the couple had been driving in their getaway
The cabin was about two hours from the nearest police station. Siskiyou County deputies searched the area and found a silver Nissan Rogue parked outside the cabin, TBI spokesman Josh DeVine said.
They confirmed through the VIN number that it belonged to Cummins.
The TBI earlier had said the two were found in a commune, but later backed off that description. The cabin is close to a commune called Black Bear Ranch but it’s not part of the commune, said the cabin’s owner, Monk O’Hare. He was not on the property when the pair was there.

The caretaker, Griffin Barry, said Cummins and Elizabeth — going by John and Joanna — claimed they needed a place to stay after losing their Colorado home in a fire.
Barry, 29, allegedly put gas in their car, gave them $40 and let them stay in the cabin.

New look, freshly dyed up Tad Cummings1Fugitive Tenn. teacher Tad Cummins, who abducted a 15-year-old student, was arrested Thursday after five weeks on the run

“The girl wasn’t really looking at me or anything and he was always dominating the conversation,” Barry told “Good Morning America” Friday. “ That kind of clues people in.”
The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office found rocks with the names of locations the pair had visited in Cummins’ Nissan Rogue, the newspaper reported.
He finally alerted the police that the couple was staying at the cabin after recognizing them from Amber alert fliers.
A SWAT team arrested Cummins Thursday as he exited the cabin to help Barry.

Elizabeth Thomas 12.png15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas seen [right] leaving home with her clothes on the day she vanished, was found with Cummins at a remote Calif., cabin with her erstwhile teacher and abductor, Tad Cummins, Wednesday

A sheriff’s official at the scene told “Good Morning America” that Elizabeth’s state of mind varied at the scene.
“She was laughing, she was crying,” he said. “She was kind of an emotional roller coaster as you can imagine.”
Cummins is due in court Friday, and faces state and federal charges.
Elizabeth will be brought back to her home in Culleoka, Tenn. to be reunited with her family.
Her father, Anthony Thomas, told “Good Morning America” he believes his daughter was brainwashed.

Sheriff and groundskeeper who caught Cummins.pngSiskiyou County Sheriff Jon Lopey [center] with the informer, groundskeeper Griffin Barry, to his right talks about tracking and arresting Cummins without incident

Thomas added his daughter would need therapy, and her family planned to be patient with her.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigations spokesman Josh DeVine told NBC News’ “Today” Friday morning that Elizabeth appears to be in a healthy physical state.
Officials were examining her overall status, however, before she was brought home.
“We’re going to be talking with her,” he said. “We want to know exactly what the set of events looked like.”

Jill Cummins4Tad’s estranged wife, Jill Cummins: ‘He’s totally betrayed me’
Cummins’ estranged wife, Jill Cummins, was “very emotional” when she learned both were found safe, her attorney, Michael Cox, said.
“She is excited that they were found and nobody was hurt,” Cox said. “She has not spoken to Tad.”
Jill Cummins had filed for divorce, saying she felt betrayed by her husband. She had no idea why her husband went to northern California.
“This is not somewhere they had frequently visited,” her attorney said. “I’m not aware that they had ever been there.”

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  1. Student victim, Elizabeth Thomas, confronts former teacher Tad Cummins, 52, as he is sentenced to 20 years for going on the run with her when she was 15 and ‘having sex every day as they fled from state to state’ – KonnieMoments

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