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Tad Cummins caught & Elizabeth Thomas heads home! · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

0:05
Speaker 1: And as daylight broke this morning, they were able to
0:08
Speaker 1: take Tad Cummins into custody and safely recovered Elizabeth without incident.
0:12
Speaker 1: Elizabeth Thomas was brand new to the Cologa School in
0:16
Speaker 1: Murray County. She started as a freshman this year, entering
0:19
Speaker 1: the public school system for the very first time. She's fifteen.
0:24
Speaker 1: He's fifty. This is Crime Stories with Nancy Grace to
0:29
Speaker 1: be also the Cummins was a teacher. A student reported
0:31
Speaker 1: seeing Cummins kissing Elizabeth in his classroom in late January.
0:35
Speaker 1: Police arrested Elizabeth's mom, Kimberly Thomas, last year. They charged
0:39
Speaker 1: her with five counts of child abuse and neglect. Hummins
0:43
Speaker 1: told two students he's a father figure to Elizabeth. He's
0:46
Speaker 1: told my daughter from me this afternoon. We couldn't be
0:49
Speaker 1: happier to tell you. She will soon be on her
0:52
Speaker 1: way back. Holliday to Timnesseu. Tad Cummins is arrested. Repeat.
1:01
Speaker 1: Tad Cummings charged with the kidnap of his student, Elizabeth
1:06
Speaker 1: Thomas arrested. Joining me right now, special guest the victims
1:12
Speaker 1: family lawyer Jason Whatley. Jason and the last moments and
1:18
Speaker 1: arrest has gone down on Tad Cummings. What do you know?
1:23
Speaker 1: We know that they're in the northernmost county in California,
1:27
Speaker 1: the largest county along that border. I can even pronounce
1:29
Speaker 1: the name, Cecilville, California, is the closest town we know.
1:34
Speaker 1: It was about two hours away from the sheriff's apartment there.
1:37
Speaker 1: There had been a tip called in last night that
1:39
Speaker 1: law enforcement was able to get to that, and it
1:43
Speaker 1: literally took law enforcement two hours to get out there
1:46
Speaker 1: due to snow that is literally still on the ground
1:48
Speaker 1: out there. Apparently, uh is so remote there wasn't sell service.
1:52
Speaker 1: These details have been trickling, man, because it's having to
1:55
Speaker 1: be radioed into dispatch. It's just amazing. We're just absolutely
1:59
Speaker 1: beside ourselves. All I can say is praise the Lord
2:03
Speaker 1: because I understand that Elizabeth is safe. But we understand
2:08
Speaker 1: that she's physically safe. Right now, um, you know, beyond that,
2:11
Speaker 1: we don't know any details. We're literally in the process
2:14
Speaker 1: of working out what happens next in terms of Anthony
2:17
Speaker 1: going to California. What do we do? You know, what
2:20
Speaker 1: do we do with her? Step one, two and three.
2:22
Speaker 1: We've got some things lined up, but I mean, just
2:24
Speaker 1: this is also overwhelming at this moment. Uh, and the
2:27
Speaker 1: and the details are still trickling. Then is it isn't
2:30
Speaker 1: like we have a flood of information yet. Um, it's uh,
2:33
Speaker 1: it's just a moment by moment. How did the father respond?
2:38
Speaker 1: Poor guy? Look, Anthony is is is beside himself. He
2:45
Speaker 1: really he's at a loss for words right now. His
2:47
Speaker 1: focus is on just getting to her. That's his focus.
2:52
Speaker 1: You know. I. I know that you're racing, but I
2:55
Speaker 1: just want you to know. When I heard that she
2:58
Speaker 1: was found, say, I just couldn't believe it. I've been
3:02
Speaker 1: so afraid all along this would end badly. And to
3:06
Speaker 1: think he has her out there and this snow and
3:10
Speaker 1: these conditions, doing anything to get away from authorities. I'm
3:15
Speaker 1: just you know, if this is really a miracle, you
3:20
Speaker 1: know that, right, And it's gonna be an uphill battle
3:22
Speaker 1: from here. She's probably brainwashed. Yeah, well, let's just pray
3:27
Speaker 1: for the best. Let's pray that that she can quickly
3:31
Speaker 1: recover from this. And so we're gonna we're gonna do
3:34
Speaker 1: everything in our power. This community is going to rally together.
3:37
Speaker 1: We're gonna get her through this. Uh, and we're gonna
3:40
Speaker 1: see her through the other side. So so Jason, before
3:43
Speaker 1: you go, I have one last question. My last question
3:46
Speaker 1: is this. Do you know how they managed to find them?
3:50
Speaker 1: It was a tip called in by someone who had
3:52
Speaker 1: seen their car um at this particular commune. It's a
3:56
Speaker 1: commune this, that's what they're calling it. Um and uh.
4:00
Speaker 1: The tip was called in last night and through whatever
4:05
Speaker 1: channels they had over there with local law enforcement, they
4:07
Speaker 1: were able to confirm the car and they found them
4:10
Speaker 1: next to that car, which is amazing to me. The
4:13
Speaker 1: Nissan rogue that we all assumed was long gone was
4:16
Speaker 1: still there, still running. Okay, Jason Whiteley, run run and no.
4:22
Speaker 1: Our prayers are with you and the family. Thank you, Nancy,
4:27
Speaker 1: and now joining me as special guest Dr Karen Stark, psychologist, Karen,
4:33
Speaker 1: I am overwhelmed. I have been beside myself about this girl,
4:40
Speaker 1: Elizabeth Thomas, taken by her teacher, of all people, Tad Cummins.
4:45
Speaker 1: And what really burned me up all along, Karen, is
4:48
Speaker 1: people going online. I know it had to be men,
4:51
Speaker 1: no offense aland really it's not. Men individually are wonderful,
4:56
Speaker 1: but as a group there well, I I won't say
5:01
Speaker 1: um anyway, they would write online. They would write comments
5:06
Speaker 1: that why are we looking for this girl? She went willingly?
5:09
Speaker 1: A fifteen year old girl who has been homeschooled her
5:12
Speaker 1: whole life, who has been allegedly beaten and abused in
5:17
Speaker 1: many ways by her own mother, with nine siblings and
5:21
Speaker 1: a father that works out of town. She enters school
5:24
Speaker 1: for the first time in public school, and this teacher
5:28
Speaker 1: abducts her. She used to hide from him, Karen. She
5:31
Speaker 1: hid from him. She did not want to go with him,
5:35
Speaker 1: and if she did go willingly, she was brainwashed. I'm
5:37
Speaker 1: just telling you, And people would write him, why do
5:40
Speaker 1: you care she went on her own? This is romantic.
5:44
Speaker 1: I guess if date rape is romantic, then this is romantic.
5:47
Speaker 1: But I guess there was a time where people just
5:49
Speaker 1: didn't understand that developmentally, you're not able to make that
5:53
Speaker 1: kind of decision for yourself when you're a fifteen year
5:56
Speaker 1: old girl. And if you look at it, Nancy, I mean, Karen, Karen,
6:01
Speaker 1: you can't even buy cigarettes at and there's there's a
6:05
Speaker 1: reason for that. You can't make a moral decision, and
6:08
Speaker 1: you can't make one with being able to weigh the
6:12
Speaker 1: facts about what's happening and It's a perfect storm in
6:15
Speaker 1: terms of who she is. She just went through tremendous trauma.
6:19
Speaker 1: She's already been exposed sexually, and when that happens with
6:24
Speaker 1: her mother in the in the incidents that I had
6:28
Speaker 1: read about where you know, her mother made her take
6:31
Speaker 1: off her clothes and think children blamed themselves. So she's
6:36
Speaker 1: already not understanding what happened to her and gets exposed
6:41
Speaker 1: to this teacher without really being able to be in
6:45
Speaker 1: the bigger world, in a wider world where she understood
6:48
Speaker 1: people and understood relationships. She was so vulnerable and you know, Karen,
6:54
Speaker 1: She's gonna carry this around with her the rest of
6:57
Speaker 1: her life. But the good knees right now, everybody. Elizabeth
7:00
Speaker 1: Thomas has been found with the former Middle Tennessee teacher
7:05
Speaker 1: Tad Cummins. They were found in northern California. Elizabeth Thomas
7:11
Speaker 1: Thomas with Tad Cummins is safe, according to the TB.
7:16
Speaker 1: I now we have just learned from her father's lawyer,
7:20
Speaker 1: Jason Watley, that they were found at a commune in
7:25
Speaker 1: northern California. Of course, snow on the ground, still in
7:31
Speaker 1: that same Nissan that he took off in. And I
7:36
Speaker 1: was researching earlier and found where Karen, the wife, did
7:41
Speaker 1: not believe the kissing incident for many many days after
7:46
Speaker 1: it was reported. And really I don't blame the wife.
7:49
Speaker 1: I wouldn't believe it either. I think it was a
7:51
Speaker 1: bunch of hooey. But and then to find out so
7:55
Speaker 1: horribly that your husband has betrayed you in such a
7:58
Speaker 1: way must have been awful. Although I wonder, Nancy, it's
8:01
Speaker 1: hard to believe that this just came out of nowhere.
8:04
Speaker 1: And when people want to stay their marriage, there's a
8:07
Speaker 1: lot that they're in denial about. And I'm not saying
8:10
Speaker 1: that with anything intentional, but on some level, there is
8:15
Speaker 1: a possibility that she's she's realized something about him before this,
8:20
Speaker 1: after thirty one years, it would be a surprise if
8:23
Speaker 1: nothing hinted that he was interested in the young girls.
8:27
Speaker 1: If well, you know what, You got a point, Karen,
8:30
Speaker 1: because it came out and we interviewed the then young
8:34
Speaker 1: girl that he was singing love songs to. I just
8:37
Speaker 1: want to gag even saying that a high school teacher
8:41
Speaker 1: singing love songs to a little girl, it's sick. And
8:45
Speaker 1: then what we understand, Karen is after this whole thing
8:50
Speaker 1: crack edwine open. Other faculty members at the school were
8:54
Speaker 1: basically calling Elizabeth the tramp, like it's her fault. They
8:58
Speaker 1: just they just don't understand Dance that she's not able
9:02
Speaker 1: to make that decision, even if she consciously said yes,
9:06
Speaker 1: they're not understanding developmentally, there's a reason why she's considered
9:10
Speaker 1: a minor because she can't make those kind of choices,
9:14
Speaker 1: not the way you would or I would. And it's
9:18
Speaker 1: so easy to blame the victim in this case. You know,
9:22
Speaker 1: it is it is, and that's what so many people
9:25
Speaker 1: are doing. He had really gone a long way with her,
9:28
Speaker 1: Alan do you joining Karen Stark and I They had
9:31
Speaker 1: made it all the way to Susky Yow County. It's
9:34
Speaker 1: a remote area in the Shasta Trinity National Forest, and
9:38
Speaker 1: it's only about a hundred and twenty miles south of
9:41
Speaker 1: the California Oregon state line. Where do you think he
9:44
Speaker 1: was heading. I think he got to where he was heading, Nancy.
9:47
Speaker 1: It's a commune, it's a it's a place that you
9:50
Speaker 1: go to hide away. I mean, this is a very
9:53
Speaker 1: rural area. This is where people are known to go
9:56
Speaker 1: and hide and it was really in one of our
9:59
Speaker 1: theories about what he might do, but he found a commune.
10:02
Speaker 1: I understand that he had taken the license plate, the
10:04
Speaker 1: Tennessee license plate off of his his rogue, and but
10:10
Speaker 1: it was still recognized. Somebody thought it was suspicious that
10:12
Speaker 1: it didn't have a license plate. Also another detail, I
10:15
Speaker 1: understand that yesterday he went into a saloon, a bar
10:19
Speaker 1: near this place and asked for a job. And that
10:23
Speaker 1: is one of the things that raised suspicion and led
10:26
Speaker 1: to the tip to law enforcement. Yeah, Karen, can you
10:29
Speaker 1: imagine the life having her living with him on a
10:33
Speaker 1: commune while he worked in a bar, hiding out under
10:37
Speaker 1: a false name. I mean, this is a little girl.
10:41
Speaker 1: She's fifteen years old, you know, Karen, you know my
10:44
Speaker 1: twins very very well. That's just six years from now.
10:47
Speaker 1: That's not even six years. That's that five and a
10:49
Speaker 1: half years from now for Lucy with her teacher living
10:53
Speaker 1: in a commune and the teacher working at a bar
10:56
Speaker 1: in northern California. Oh, hell, would know no fury compared
11:01
Speaker 1: to my wrath, let me tell you that much. I
11:04
Speaker 1: bet her father is beside himself. And another thing, Karen
11:10
Speaker 1: Tad Cummins, you know, under Tennessee law, if you bring
11:14
Speaker 1: back the victim, or you even give information to authorities
11:18
Speaker 1: so they can find the kidnapped victim, your sentence is greatly,
11:22
Speaker 1: greatly reduced under the law that it's not up to
11:24
Speaker 1: the judge's discretion. That's something within the Tennessee law. Well,
11:28
Speaker 1: that ship has sailed, Tad commons, that ship has sailed.
11:32
Speaker 1: He's looking down the wrong end of the barrel on
11:35
Speaker 1: this one, Karen, absolutely no proof that he was even
11:39
Speaker 1: contemplating that. Just the opposite man he was. He was
11:43
Speaker 1: actually trying to stay there, get a job, and intended
11:48
Speaker 1: to stay in this situation. And we have no idea
11:51
Speaker 1: what it was like for her, but I could tell
11:53
Speaker 1: you that at that age, at fifteen, your development in
11:58
Speaker 1: your brain has not been completed, not nearly, and her
12:01
Speaker 1: frontal lobe, the decision making part, the executive decision making part,
12:06
Speaker 1: is not there. And so anyone who would say that
12:10
Speaker 1: she's a tramp, I'm thinking about what you said. It
12:13
Speaker 1: makes it's so horrible and so unfair because he's in
12:17
Speaker 1: a position of authorities, he's older, and she's actually, as
12:22
Speaker 1: you said, brainwashed. Maybe his frontal lobe has a problem too.
12:26
Speaker 1: Your problem with that is that he's a sexual molested.
12:29
Speaker 1: That's his problem. Well, that's yes, yeah, that's his first problem.
12:33
Speaker 1: He's got another legal issue in California. He's charged with
12:37
Speaker 1: aggravated kidnapping because they believe that he took two handguns
12:42
Speaker 1: with him. If he brought those out here to California
12:45
Speaker 1: and they still are in his possession, those handguns will
12:49
Speaker 1: get him a pretty serious weapons charge. You know, I
12:51
Speaker 1: appreciate you worrying about his handguns. I'm more worried about
12:55
Speaker 1: a possible statutory rate charge on the girl worl to
13:00
Speaker 1: hey with his handguns. But you're right, as you often
13:04
Speaker 1: are allan do you. You're right about that. But he
13:07
Speaker 1: is coming home to Tennessee, whether he fights extradition or not.
13:12
Speaker 1: Extradition is really just a rubber stamping. He is coming
13:16
Speaker 1: home to Tennessee to face the music. He dance to
13:19
Speaker 1: the music. Now it's time to pay the piper. But pedophile,
13:23
Speaker 1: any kind of jail term for this man is going
13:26
Speaker 1: to be helped statutory rape. He could face those charges
13:29
Speaker 1: here in California as well. In other words, this guy
13:31
Speaker 1: no longer has just a Columbia Tennessee legal problem. He's
13:35
Speaker 1: got a California problem. Well, I can tell you this much.
13:38
Speaker 1: I think the first thing that's going to happen is
13:40
Speaker 1: the Tennessee Governor is going to file is going to
13:44
Speaker 1: sign an extradition document and that's pro forma. Okay, they're
13:51
Speaker 1: gonna ship him home. I don't know how they're going
13:54
Speaker 1: to get her home. I guess her dad will fly
13:57
Speaker 1: to California or they will fly her to him. And
14:01
Speaker 1: this has got to be handled very delicately. You know,
14:04
Speaker 1: I'm just a trial lawyer, Karen start. How do you
14:07
Speaker 1: approach Elizabeth? Who should approach or what should they do
14:12
Speaker 1: to reintegrate her back into her family? How do you
14:15
Speaker 1: do that? She has to be with a psychologist Nancy
14:18
Speaker 1: symbody like me, and she needs to be treated with
14:22
Speaker 1: tremendous respect, kid gloves without any kind of actuization, and
14:28
Speaker 1: so they need to get close to her to enable
14:33
Speaker 1: her to talk about what the experience was like. And
14:35
Speaker 1: more than anything, she needs to be told that she
14:40
Speaker 1: did nothing wrong, that she could not have made this
14:44
Speaker 1: decision in a in a way that an adult could
14:47
Speaker 1: make it, and that needs to be reinforced over and
14:50
Speaker 1: over again, because the self blame in a situation like
14:53
Speaker 1: this is horrendous. Ted Cummins will very same be on
14:57
Speaker 1: his way back to Tennessee as well Elizabeth Thomas, and
15:02
Speaker 1: our prayers continue on for not only Elizabeth's family, but
15:07
Speaker 1: for the family of Tad Cummins, because I think they
15:10
Speaker 1: were blindsided with this. Now, Karen, I agree with you.
15:14
Speaker 1: I think there were probably telltale signs all along. But
15:17
Speaker 1: you know, when you love somebody, you tend to ignore
15:21
Speaker 1: their faults and I don't want to believe them, and
15:26
Speaker 1: I imagine that's what his wife did all this time.
15:29
Speaker 1: So I do believe in her mind would surprised. I
15:33
Speaker 1: wouldn't be surprised Nancy, So in her mind, this was
15:37
Speaker 1: a big surprise and she didn't want to believe it,
15:40
Speaker 1: even though you or I might have seen the signs,
15:43
Speaker 1: but I guarantee you she did not want to see
15:46
Speaker 1: any of that. So this is just a horrible, horrible
15:49
Speaker 1: blow to her, for Elizabeth, for Elizabeth's family, for the
15:54
Speaker 1: Cummins family. But all I can say is the big
15:57
Speaker 1: headline today, Elizabeth Thomas has been found safe and she
16:03
Speaker 1: is coming home. Now, what happens with the family and
16:07
Speaker 1: how she is treated and how this is handled is
16:11
Speaker 1: going to make all the difference in this girl's life.
16:13
Speaker 1: I can tell you what's gonna happen to tag Commons.
16:15
Speaker 1: He's going to jail where he belongs, and I hope
16:17
Speaker 1: he stays there. That's what I think about that. Karen Stark, Yes,
16:22
Speaker 1: but she needs to be integrated back into her family
16:26
Speaker 1: and society and you know, have a way that she
16:30
Speaker 1: can re enter without Shane. And really, what was he
16:35
Speaker 1: gonna do with the trauma of what happened? What was
16:38
Speaker 1: he gonna do? Karen? Home school er some more in
16:40
Speaker 1: his time off from the saloon? I mean, really living
16:43
Speaker 1: in a commune all. I mean, you know, just when
16:47
Speaker 1: I think I've heard it all, then comes along Tad
16:50
Speaker 1: comes to teach, told me, show me, show me how
16:52
Speaker 1: wrong I am. I guess I'm kind of happy though,
16:56
Speaker 1: because she's alive, and that's what we've all been for.
17:01
Speaker 1: She's alive and and and not alive living with him anymore.
17:05
Speaker 1: That she'll be home and people can help her. Now,
17:08
Speaker 1: okay they will, you know if you think about Elizabeth
17:11
Speaker 1: Smart right, Ye, you're right, Yes, that's right. So you
17:16
Speaker 1: know he went back to live a normal life. She
17:19
Speaker 1: sure did, and she now has a family, and I
17:22
Speaker 1: think a couple of children. God bless her. You know,
17:26
Speaker 1: Karen Starr, it is so great talking to you. And
17:29
Speaker 1: I can't tell you how much I love your articles
17:34
Speaker 1: on Crime online dot Com. I just love them, you know,
17:37
Speaker 1: I just I do. Thank you for being with us.
17:41
Speaker 1: Alan Dieke as always the deep with all the information,
17:45
Speaker 1: and Nancy, I've got some new information. Tennessee Bureau of
17:48
Speaker 1: Investigation spokesman Josh Divine is holding a news conference this
17:52
Speaker 1: afternoon to tell us more details. All of the officials, federal, state,
17:56
Speaker 1: and local are gathered less listen to what they say.
18:00
Speaker 1: The caller indicated they have taken up residence in a
18:03
Speaker 1: cabin in a remote area in Cecilville, California, within the
18:08
Speaker 1: last week and a half. In turn, we contacted the
18:12
Speaker 1: Sisquou County Sheriff's office in California and learned that they
18:15
Speaker 1: had received the very same information from the very same individual.
18:20
Speaker 1: We obviously wanted to jump on this information quickly and
18:24
Speaker 1: requested assistance from that law enforcement agency. They quickly began
18:28
Speaker 1: their efforts to immediately address the situation, but there were
18:32
Speaker 1: challenges they had to overcome. The area where the pair
18:36
Speaker 1: was reported to be is a very remote, isolated area
18:40
Speaker 1: with no or limited cell phone service. In spite of
18:44
Speaker 1: it all, deputies found the Nissan Rogue that's been at
18:48
Speaker 1: the center of this nearly six weeks search early this
18:50
Speaker 1: morning and were able to confirm through the VIN number
18:53
Speaker 1: on the vehicle that this was, in fact the vehicle
18:56
Speaker 1: that's been the subject of this ongoing amber alert. A
18:59
Speaker 1: thor parties in Sisku County kept this car under surveillance
19:03
Speaker 1: for several hours, and as daylight broke this morning, they
19:06
Speaker 1: were able to take Tad Cummins into custody and safely
19:09
Speaker 1: recover Elizabeth without incident. With more Here's director Mark Wynn,
19:16
Speaker 1: Thank you, Josh, and good afternoon. As you've seen from
19:21
Speaker 1: the pictures we've shared with you over the past six weeks,
19:24
Speaker 1: Elizabeth Thomas is a beautiful fifteen year old girl. She's
19:29
Speaker 1: loved by her friends, her family, and the community of Columbia.
19:35
Speaker 1: This afternoon, we couldn't be happier to tell you she
19:38
Speaker 1: will soon be on her way back home to Tennessee.
19:43
Speaker 1: This morning, authorities in Sisko County followed up on a
19:46
Speaker 1: tip called into tb I headquarters late last night and
19:50
Speaker 1: found Elizabeth and arrested Tad Cummings. She will soon be
19:56
Speaker 1: on her way back home. Tad is in custody of
20:00
Speaker 1: law enforcement, facing a set of charges that could keep
20:03
Speaker 1: him from behind bars for many years. To the public,
20:10
Speaker 1: I can't say how thankful we are for all your tips,
20:14
Speaker 1: your concern, and your support having made the difference in
20:18
Speaker 1: this six week search. As we have said from the start,
20:24
Speaker 1: it only takes one tip, and this is yet another
20:28
Speaker 1: example of the value of the public helping us to
20:32
Speaker 1: rescue a kidnapping victim. Because of the remote nature of
20:37
Speaker 1: the area where the pair were found, agents from the
20:40
Speaker 1: TB I FBI, along with investigators from the Murray County
20:44
Speaker 1: Sheriff's Office, are currently flying on TB I aircraft to
20:49
Speaker 1: get there as quickly as possible to meet with local
20:52
Speaker 1: authorities and make the final arrangements to bring Elizabeth home.
20:57
Speaker 1: She will be flying back home on TB aircraft. We
21:01
Speaker 1: are thankful to all our partner agencies in this search,
21:05
Speaker 1: including the FBI, Mary County Sheriff's Department, and the District
21:10
Speaker 1: Attorney General for the twenty second Judicial District, Brent Coop.
21:16
Speaker 1: Thank you, Director um. I just want to say that
21:20
Speaker 1: as a prosecutor, one of the one of the greatest
21:22
Speaker 1: parts of my job is to is to assist law
21:25
Speaker 1: enforcement and doing their job. And UH, now for well
21:29
Speaker 1: over a month, I've had the pleasure and the honor
21:32
Speaker 1: of helping our local, state and federal UH investigators as
21:37
Speaker 1: they tried to find Elizabeth Thomas. And UH it's been
21:42
Speaker 1: a long time coming. But today UH, they're hard work
21:45
Speaker 1: paid off. And UH again it's been a it's been
21:49
Speaker 1: an honor and a pleasure to help them as much
21:51
Speaker 1: as I could. But also as a prosecutor, it's it's
21:54
Speaker 1: difficult to stand on the sidelines. UH. And once the
21:59
Speaker 1: officers do their work, because the prosecutors can't. We can't
22:02
Speaker 1: go to work until the officers and the investigators have
22:06
Speaker 1: found that person and and thankfully in this case, returned
22:10
Speaker 1: everyone safely. UH. So now it's time for the prosecution
22:14
Speaker 1: to get to work. UH. Law enforcement still has work
22:18
Speaker 1: to do, UH and I know they will. They will
22:21
Speaker 1: continue to work to build our cases UH for prosecution.
22:26
Speaker 1: And but it's now I'm grateful to say that now
22:29
Speaker 1: I can I can get busy as a prosecutor doing
22:32
Speaker 1: my job UH and hopefully bringing justice in this case.
22:36
Speaker 1: The state, as you all know, has an aggravated kidnapping
22:40
Speaker 1: charge UH and a misdemeanor sexual contact with a minor charge.
22:45
Speaker 1: I've been in collaboration with the U. S. Attorney's office
22:50
Speaker 1: about the possibility of federal charges being brought and how
22:54
Speaker 1: best to UH address that situation along with the state charges.
23:00
Speaker 1: I met recently UH with the interim U S Attorney
23:05
Speaker 1: here and they have been more than cooperative, and I
23:09
Speaker 1: believe at this time I'll turn it over to him
23:12
Speaker 1: and let him share a little bit about the potential charge.
23:16
Speaker 1: Thank you, Good afternoon everyone. My name is Jack Smith on,
23:21
Speaker 1: the acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.
23:25
Speaker 1: I wanted to start by just complimenting our law enforcement
23:29
Speaker 1: partners here on the amazing job they did in this case. UH.
23:32
Speaker 1: It was only yesterday UM that UH General Cooper and
23:36
Speaker 1: myself got together with FBI and tb I to go
23:39
Speaker 1: over the state of the investigation. And I left that
23:42
Speaker 1: meeting thinking there was literally nothing UH that these folks
23:45
Speaker 1: could do, all that they hadn't already been being done,
23:48
Speaker 1: and I'm just so happy to see that this case
23:52
Speaker 1: has come to a good resolution. I can also tell
23:55
Speaker 1: you today that earlier today my office filed federal charges
24:00
Speaker 1: against the defendant. In this case. He has charged with
24:03
Speaker 1: the transportation of a minor across state lines for the
24:07
Speaker 1: purpose of having criminal sexual intercourse. UH. He will face
24:10
Speaker 1: a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years on those charges
24:13
Speaker 1: and possibly quite longer. UH. And as General Cooper said, UH,
24:17
Speaker 1: he and I will work together on this investigation to
24:20
Speaker 1: make sure that justice has done. Thank you very much,
24:26
Speaker 1: Thank you. I'm Chief Deputy Ray Jeter, Murray County Sheriff's Department. UM.
24:30
Speaker 1: It's a good day and I'd like to lead with that,
24:33
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna be very brief. UM. First of all,
24:37
Speaker 1: I would just like to thank everyone for their help
24:40
Speaker 1: UH in this peaceful resolution to this case. UM. The sheriff,
24:44
Speaker 1: Sheriff Buckey Rowland in the Murray County Sheriff's Department partnered
24:47
Speaker 1: with t B, I with the FBI very early in
24:50
Speaker 1: this case, and it has been a very It has
24:53
Speaker 1: been a group effort ever since. To that end. Sheriff
24:56
Speaker 1: Rovan and I would like to thank the t B.
24:57
Speaker 1: I would like to thank the FB. UH. We also
25:00
Speaker 1: would like to thank all the local agencies across this
25:03
Speaker 1: country for their help. We fielded UH nearly tips in
25:07
Speaker 1: this process and UH. In that process, we partnered with
25:10
Speaker 1: every agency along the way, and we thank you for that.
25:14
Speaker 1: We'd also would like to thank our own people. Our
25:16
Speaker 1: own people put in the dedication and the countless hours
25:19
Speaker 1: they put in to see this resolution, and we thank
25:23
Speaker 1: you at the sheriff Department. We also would like to
25:25
Speaker 1: thank the media. We'd like to thank you you for
25:28
Speaker 1: putting this and putting our message out UH and kept
25:31
Speaker 1: this going. We appreciate that. We also would like to
25:33
Speaker 1: thank the public. Ultimately, it took a tip from the
25:37
Speaker 1: public to see this resolution, and to the public, I
25:40
Speaker 1: say I thank you for your help. UM. We will
25:44
Speaker 1: continue to work with t B, I will continue to
25:46
Speaker 1: work with the FBI, and we'll continue to work with
25:48
Speaker 1: these agencies as we continue our investigation. Thank you after
25:55
Speaker 1: and everyone. I'm Matt Espion Shade with the Federal Peer
25:57
Speaker 1: of Investigation here in Nashville. Again, I just like to
26:01
Speaker 1: echo those thanks to countless numbers of officers across the
26:05
Speaker 1: country who helped us to run down over nearly leads.
26:10
Speaker 1: To the officers here from the agencies are standing in
26:13
Speaker 1: front of you, who put in countless hours and they
26:16
Speaker 1: ask nothing of that just that the justice is done,
26:21
Speaker 1: and in this case, I feel we're on the tip
26:24
Speaker 1: of that. We are now out of the search stage.
26:27
Speaker 1: We are going to pursue justice in this case, and
26:31
Speaker 1: along that time, I hope that we can heal as
26:33
Speaker 1: a community as the victims. Uh. And I just like
26:37
Speaker 1: to thank everyone in this room because you kept this
26:39
Speaker 1: at the forefront of the news. Great job by t
26:43
Speaker 1: b I for leading up this cause. Murray County Sheriff's Office. UM,
26:47
Speaker 1: we're glad to play a part of it as the FBI,
26:50
Speaker 1: and now we're onto the prosecution stage. So thank you
26:53
Speaker 1: very much to everyone. Yeah, I just want to also
26:57
Speaker 1: let you know that, representing t b I as our
26:59
Speaker 1: deputy director Jason Locke, at this point, we will open
27:02
Speaker 1: it up for any questions. As I've indicated, this is
27:04
Speaker 1: still an active and ongoing investigation in a fluid situation
27:08
Speaker 1: in terms of the recovery of Elizabeth Thomas and the
27:10
Speaker 1: arrest of Tad Commons, so we might be limited in
27:12
Speaker 1: terms of what we can offer, but we'll certainly try
27:14
Speaker 1: to do our very best. General Cooper, UH, you've been
27:21
Speaker 1: very close to this all the way through. Say anything
27:24
Speaker 1: about Elizabeth Thomas um at this time, all we know
27:30
Speaker 1: is that she's apparently healthy and unharmed. Uh it will
27:34
Speaker 1: be uh of course our our knowing that our main
27:37
Speaker 1: concern is how is she emotionally and mentally and uh
27:42
Speaker 1: we're gonna see to it that not only uh do
27:45
Speaker 1: we look at her as a potential witness and a
27:48
Speaker 1: victim in this case, but also as someone that if
27:52
Speaker 1: she needs help, whatever whatever help we can offer, we
27:56
Speaker 1: will make sure that's provided for what might be provided
28:01
Speaker 1: after something like well, there there are agencies right in
28:06
Speaker 1: our district that their sole purposes to uh treat child
28:11
Speaker 1: victims of abuse, whether it's emotional abuse, physical abuse, or
28:15
Speaker 1: sexual abuse, and they can they can refer that child
28:20
Speaker 1: to the appropriate entities, whether it be counselors or therapists,
28:25
Speaker 1: uh and things like that to get the help they
28:28
Speaker 1: need so that they can move on past this stage
28:32
Speaker 1: in their life. And immediately as soon as we can,
28:35
Speaker 1: as soon as we get her back, and of course
28:38
Speaker 1: we want to. We we don't want to disrupt her
28:41
Speaker 1: life anymore than we have to, and uh we want
28:44
Speaker 1: her to uh reacquaint herself with her with her family
28:48
Speaker 1: and her friends and lead as a normal life as possible,
28:53
Speaker 1: But as as soon as she's ready, uh for any
28:57
Speaker 1: help we can offer, it'll be there for that. She
29:00
Speaker 1: will here diferent I left the director. Actually, as I said,
29:09
Speaker 1: we've got agents in route on TB I aircraft right now.
29:14
Speaker 1: We're not going to disclose exactly where we will be
29:16
Speaker 1: bringing her back. Um. You know, I think she's been
29:20
Speaker 1: through enough, um and as quickly as we can get
29:24
Speaker 1: her back here to a safe environment, she will be better.
29:29
Speaker 1: So we won't disclose where we were bringing her back,
29:32
Speaker 1: but we were, We are in route right now to
29:34
Speaker 1: go get her Commune. We really can't say anything right now.
29:44
Speaker 1: Like I said, agents are en route. We will be
29:46
Speaker 1: going to the location obviously to collect any type of
29:49
Speaker 1: evidence that we need to collect, um and to scour
29:53
Speaker 1: that that crime scene. Um and uh, but they're not
29:56
Speaker 1: there yet, they're just in route. So, yes, she was
30:02
Speaker 1: as or. We don't want to get into the specifics
30:10
Speaker 1: of the investigation. But at the end of the day,
30:12
Speaker 1: she's fifteen years old. She's fifteen years old, she's a
30:16
Speaker 1: she's a young girl that's with a grown man that's
30:20
Speaker 1: fifty years old. So he needs to be held accountable
30:24
Speaker 1: for kidnapping this girl, We we don't know yet. Well,
30:30
Speaker 1: we'll try to find all of that out once we
30:32
Speaker 1: get out there direct vehicle, how they were the vehicle.
30:43
Speaker 1: Know that that we're not going to go into the
30:45
Speaker 1: specifics of how they were caught, but that vehicle was
30:47
Speaker 1: under surveillance. We felt confident that they were there. You know,
31:00
Speaker 1: it's been depicted as a commune. But obviously some good citizen,
31:04
Speaker 1: whether a part of that area, was a part of
31:06
Speaker 1: that area, saw the vehicle reported it to us here
31:09
Speaker 1: at tb I headquarters. We in turn called local authorities.
31:13
Speaker 1: Uh so whatever you want to call it, cabin commune. Uh,
31:18
Speaker 1: some good, honest citizen wanting to do the right thing
31:22
Speaker 1: did the right thing. And that's what we've been counting on.
31:24
Speaker 1: You know, we well saw the vehicle, you know, and reported,
31:30
Speaker 1: We were able to local law enforcement, was able to
31:32
Speaker 1: confirm it was the vehicle. But you gotta understand, we
31:35
Speaker 1: mobilize the nation during this six weeks. We mobilized a nation,
31:41
Speaker 1: and when you do that, something good most likely is
31:45
Speaker 1: going to happen because you can't hide from that many
31:48
Speaker 1: millions of people that are looking for you. So I'm
31:51
Speaker 1: most proud of what you've done. As the media, what
31:53
Speaker 1: the citizens have done in this country to help us
31:56
Speaker 1: and mobilize and have b I E. S and ears,
32:00
Speaker 1: and that's how we're here today. Yes, that's something that
32:10
Speaker 1: that General Cooper and I discussed earlier today, and we
32:12
Speaker 1: feel like in this case that is the best way
32:15
Speaker 1: to handle this situation and what's best for Elizabeth. I'm sorry,
32:23
Speaker 1: I'm not sure generally, you know, up to the best
32:27
Speaker 1: of my knowledge, there in Colombia UH at or near
32:30
Speaker 1: their residence, and they're just awaiting eagerly for Elizabeth to
32:36
Speaker 1: come home. Probably not yet, but it will be coming shortly. Um.
32:47
Speaker 1: You know, law Enford, this is a very remote area,
32:50
Speaker 1: so it's probably gonna take a couple of hours for
32:52
Speaker 1: them to get to a location where they can even
32:54
Speaker 1: sit down and and and really discuss things. So that
32:58
Speaker 1: will be coming, and we'll make sure she's very well
33:00
Speaker 1: taken care of. Found Was there eight handguns by our arms?
33:06
Speaker 1: Can you talk about No, we can't. We're not gonna
33:08
Speaker 1: talk about that here. UM. I guess jack human. Uh.
33:15
Speaker 1: The usual course in these cases is he'll be brought
33:17
Speaker 1: to a US magistrate in that in that district, UH
33:21
Speaker 1: and we'll seek the government will seek to have being
33:23
Speaker 1: removed back to Tennessee. UH. That's usually something they could
33:27
Speaker 1: take several weeks. Sacrimental. That is the district, right, I'm
33:32
Speaker 1: not sure if there's a field office or field court there,
33:36
Speaker 1: but that is the district that the removal will come
33:38
Speaker 1: out of. Transportation. That's the only federal charge at this time.
33:49
Speaker 1: Perhaps one more question if none, then, once again, we
33:55
Speaker 1: all want to thank you for the job that you've
33:57
Speaker 1: helped us do in this sweeks period. We couldn't be
34:01
Speaker 1: standing here without you. We're just glad it's come to
34:04
Speaker 1: a great resolution that Elizabeth is safe and we'll be
34:09
Speaker 1: bringing her home soon. Thank you. You guys want to axit.
34:13
Speaker 1: I appreciate that. Again. We will soon post a formal
34:17
Speaker 1: release on t p I newsroom dot com that will
34:21
Speaker 1: have some additional details. I do want to make you
34:24
Speaker 1: aware that some of you were asking questions about the
34:28
Speaker 1: commune issue, so let me offer your a little bit
34:30
Speaker 1: of clarification on that. That originated because we had sent
34:33
Speaker 1: our draft release to authorities in California to take a
34:38
Speaker 1: peek at. And it's my understanding that that had inadvertently
34:41
Speaker 1: been sent to early reporters who had requested information, so
34:45
Speaker 1: please do not use that as accurate information. You'll note
34:49
Speaker 1: that our release that we issue shortly refers to it
34:52
Speaker 1: a cabin in a rural area, and so that's our
34:55
Speaker 1: understanding at this point. We have backed off on language
34:58
Speaker 1: centered on commune, and we would appreciate your subsequent reporting
35:01
Speaker 1: to do the same. Sure, yes, and I understand that's
35:04
Speaker 1: why I wanted to take a moment to clarify that
35:05
Speaker 1: for you. Yes, our release, you'll note refers to it
35:09
Speaker 1: as a cabin in a rural area, so we won't
35:12
Speaker 1: be referring it to to it necessarily as a commune
35:15
Speaker 1: at this point. But as as you heard the director
35:17
Speaker 1: allude to, we're still trying to gain the circumstance. And
35:20
Speaker 1: let me offer a bit of context on that. It's
35:22
Speaker 1: our understanding that the sheriff's office in that particular county
35:25
Speaker 1: is every bit of two hours away from where they
35:28
Speaker 1: were found in them so this is a very large county.
35:31
Speaker 1: It's my understanding it's approximately nine or ten times the
35:34
Speaker 1: size of Murray County. Just to give you a little
35:36
Speaker 1: bit of context, in northern California, very rural. They had
35:40
Speaker 1: snow on the ground, so authorities had some difficulty even
35:42
Speaker 1: getting to that location early on today. Any other housekeeping
35:46
Speaker 1: questions I can answer for you please. They were actually,
35:54
Speaker 1: we don't know. Again, we're trying to fully understand the
35:57
Speaker 1: circumstances from the authorities that were on the ground. But
36:00
Speaker 1: they were able to confirm to us that they had
36:03
Speaker 1: both of these individuals. So we don't know if they
36:05
Speaker 1: were inside the cabin or in the car in the driveway.
36:07
Speaker 1: We're working to get those details right now. Precisely. Yes,
36:11
Speaker 1: the information that we had received from the tipster indicated
36:14
Speaker 1: that they had taken up residents in that home about
36:16
Speaker 1: a week and a half ago, as we had indicated
36:18
Speaker 1: in in my earlier statement, So they were staying in
36:22
Speaker 1: that particular location. Is the preliminary information that we have.
36:25
Speaker 1: But as to what the encounter looked like between local
36:28
Speaker 1: law enforcement today, that's still very much fluid in terms
36:33
Speaker 1: of us trying to get a full grasp of the
36:34
Speaker 1: circumstances there. Does that make sense? Great fancy Grace Crime
36:41
Speaker 1: Stories signing off, goodbye friend. All right, well, thank you again,
37:04
Speaker 1: and let me echo what the director said, is the
37:07
Speaker 1: public information officer, you guys have been invaluable. I think
37:10
Speaker 1: the director really hit the nail on the head. You
37:12
Speaker 1: talked from the beginning that it only takes one tip.
37:14
Speaker 1: You are the entity that helps us get to the public.
37:17
Speaker 1: So thank you on behalf of our Public Information Office
37:20
Speaker 1: for your partnership on this story. This is a success
37:23
Speaker 1: story for the Amber Alert system here in Tennessee and
37:25
Speaker 1: we couldn't have done it without you. As you know,
37:28
Speaker 1: T b I, dot Media at t and dot gov
37:29
Speaker 1: is the way to reach us. If you have any
37:30
Speaker 1: further questions, I will run upstairs and post that news
37:33
Speaker 1: release so you'll have that as soon as possible. Great,
37:36
Speaker 1: thank you,