Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Teacher Tad Cummins’ other teen target & DA looks to Mexico

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Teacher Tad Cummins’ other teen target & DA looks to Mexico · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: The teacher who vanished into thin air with his fifteen
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: year old students, composed a creepy love song and sang
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: it in Cincide. This is Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: But Tad Cummins wasn't crooning to missing ninth grader Beth Thomas.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Get this, He's actually singing to another student he was
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: close to Destiny Parish now nineteen, says Cummins, became her
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: confidant when she was about the same age as Beth.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: We used to be really, really close. Um. I could
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: talk to him just about anything. Can you imagine you
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: put your child on the school bus or dropped them
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: off at school in the morning. Three pm, they're gone.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: And that's just half the story. The rest of the
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: story is that their school teacher took them. And you
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: don't hear another word. Your little girl gone missing with
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: a fifty year old school teacher and apparently they're so
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: called flirtation has been going on right under the noses
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: of all the teachers and faculty and administrators at the school.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: As the days passed by, outrage turns to desperation for
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: the family of Elizabeth Thomas. She has been kidnapped by
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: her teacher Tad Cummins and joining us today a young
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: lady Destiny Parish. But by the grace of God, which
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: she this is the young lady that this same perv
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: teacher sang love songs to Oh Dear Lord in Heaven
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: before I go to Destiny. I want to thank our
• 2:11
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• 2:15
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• 2:19
  Speaker 1: in Indianapolis June nine through June eleven. We're gonna find
• 2:25
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• 2:30
  Speaker 1: experts like Cheryl McCullum in the Cold Case Institute all
• 2:33
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• 2:37
  Speaker 1: Simpson Acquittal to whether you like that or not. He's
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: gonna be with us live. I'm gonna be there along
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: with Alan, and we'll be podcasting live. If you go
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: to crime con dot com use code Nancy to get off.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: I hope I see you there. I'm really looking forward
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: to it. Crime Con, thank you for sponsoring our podcast today.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: This is Crime Stories. I'm Nancy grey Ace and with
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: no further delay, I want to go straight out to
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: our special guest, Destiny, who was once a student at
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: the same high school where Elizabeth Thomas was a student
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: who was exposed to now kidnapper Tad come as Destiny.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: Thank you for being with us, Thank you for having me, Destiny.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: I I just I've got so many questions, but I'm
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: gonna try to take it at the a to Z
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: take it from the beginning. I'm dying to ask you
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: about that ridiculous or as my children say, ridunculous song
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: he sung you when you're like, you know what, fourteen
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: fifteen years old. But I'm gonna start at the beginning.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: When did you first meet the high school teacher? Tad Cummins? Um?
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: We met um at high school obviously. Um. It was
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: probably my sophomore or junior year of high school. Um,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: and old were you? I was about fourteen or fifteen?
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: And was said, at the same high school? What high
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: school is it? So you met him fourteen or fifteen?
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: Was he your direct teacher or you in his home
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: room or what? You know? He was my direct teacher.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: I had him for health sciences class. What is health
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: science is? Could somebody tell me that? Uh? He just
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: kind of taught us CPR, like the basics of you know,
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: taking temperatures and all that kind of basic stuff. Okay,
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: so he's your teacher, you're fourteen or fifteen years old.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: How did you develop a special friendship with him? Um?
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: It really started out, you know, just I would stay
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: after class something like that. Um. You know, I talked
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: to him during lunch, before school, after school, that kind
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: of thing about what Destiny, What did a fifty year
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: old man have to say to a fourteen year old girl.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: Well back in the day, Um, back when I was,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: you know, quite a bit younger. Um. I had been
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: going through a lot of different stuff as well, Um,
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: and had actually become really close. Is Tad talking to
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: him about some of this stuff? Um, just a sixth
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: person to talk to that I didn't really have to
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: worry about because I didn't see him. And he says
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: anything other than a you know, a teacher and a friend.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: That's interesting that you say that, Destiny. Everyone with me
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: is Destiny who was once tag Commins student. They're at
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: Cooka High School. Um, that that's really interesting, Destiny, because
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: that's the same way Elizabeth was. You know, she doesn't
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: have a mother. The mother is charged with abusing mistreating
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: all her children, including Elizabeth, she had been home schooled
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: her whole life. She just enters a school, a public school,
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: and was going through all sorts of stuff. With nine siblings,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: she's one out of ten, a father that travels all
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: the time. I'm sure she had a lot going on,
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: a lot of you know, upheaval in her life. So
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: she starts talking to tag commins. How does he really
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: you know, I mean, did he tell you the whole
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: thing about being a c I A operative that he
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: told Elizabeth? What stories did he tell? Um? Right? At first?
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: You know, he he really didn't have too much odd
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: stuff to say. Um, he had said something up being
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: a doctor and obviously now I know the respiratory therapist. Um,
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: But I he didn't really go too much in depth.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: Whenever we first discussed his you know, other occupations and
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: stuff like that, I just thought he was a doctor,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: which was weird because you know, like everybody else has said,
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: why would a doctor work at a high school. You know,
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: you could be making a lot more money being a
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: doctor of sorts thing you know, usually will on teacher salary,
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: for sure. That's interesting. So before he was a c
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: I A operative, to hear him tell it, he had
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: a career as a medical doctor. Okay, Um, and I
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: mean what I mean, a lot of children would think, wow,
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: you know, that's really nice to him to teach it
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: to high school in his spare time. Okay. Other than
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: the thing about that was that he did he you know,
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: he got out of the job that he had because
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: he could because he wanted to be a teacher. Okay,
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: you know I can just see that rolling right off
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: his tongue. Okay, So he told you he was the
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: medical doctor and he gave up all the money and
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: the prestige because he liked teaching at the high school. Okay,
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: what other tall tales did he spend? Can you think
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: of any um, other than you know that kind of thing? No,
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: not really. Um, he didn't talk too much himself. Um.
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: It was always you know, kind of a a me
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: talking or him asking about me, how I've been, how
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: things have been, that kind of thing. Did he ever
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: mention his wife? Um? He mentioned her you know here
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: and there, mostly you know, in classes or whatever, But
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: he didn't talk too much about her with me. I
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: don't hardly know anything about her, and I've I went
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: to church with her as well, and I you know,
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: would have lunch and stuff with him. But I really
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: don't know Jill. So when you guys at having all
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: these heart to heart conversations, his relationship with his wife
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: was not part of that. No. I mean, like I said,
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: you know, if I he invited me to church with them,
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: and you know, obviously she was there, but she didn't.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: She didn't never really talk. She you know, was kind
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: of a third wheel or a background character. I never
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: heard too much out of her ever when she was around.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: So let me understand this. It would be you and
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: Tad and her, and it was as if she was
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: the fifth will not you, the wife was the outsider. Yeah,
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: it was weird, like you know, you think she'd try
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: and talk to me to or you know something, but
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: it was just kind of a mutual silence. I don't know,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: it's weird. What would she say? I mean, say, say,
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: for instance, you guys would go to church together, where
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: would you sit in the car? Where would she say?
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: What would he? Would he talk to her or address
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: her at all? He would um a lot of times
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: at church. Um, the first time I went, you know,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: I went dressed with him, and then you know, my
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: family and stuff started going as well. When I sit
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: with Ben. Um, I you know, talked to Tad before
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: or after church or whatever. But I did sit with
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: my family at church, UM. But the only reason I
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: ever went was because Tad had invited me. What did
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: you notice about their relationship? I I didn't notice too much,
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: like I said, you know, I mean, they seem happy
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: like Facebook and all that, but I just never you
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: don't hear much about her. I never heard much about
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: you know, his kids even really, I didn't hear too
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: much about any of Like his life was, you know,
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: like I said, all him trying to figure out how
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: I was and all that kind of stuff. Did he
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: ever visit your home or where you worked? He did
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: not that that definitely was not an issue at the time.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: How did it come about that he sang a love
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: song to you? Um? I was um a piano player
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: back in the day. I don't play too much anymore,
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: and I've learned a new song and I was to
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: show it to him because you know, like I said,
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: he was a good friend and I was really impressed
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: with myself for learning it. So I took him. We
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: went to the music room, UM, which is you know,
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: right next to his class UM, and it was after school,
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: and um, he had sat down first and he you know,
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: started playing, and you know, I just kind of listened. Obviously,
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: I didn follow after he did. You know, we were
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: kind of done after that. But he started singing that,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: and like I had said, about halfway through the show,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: I started recording because I thought he was doing good.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: I didn't notice the lyrics at first, but I really,
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: you know, I can't sing and play the piano, you know,
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: I thought it was a pretty cool thing could be
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: able to do because I was definitely, you know, quite
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: a bit behind and skill set back. Then did he
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: say he made up the song? He wrote the song?
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: He didn't. Um, he never said anything about it. Um,
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: but I tried looking up lyrics and could never find
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: the same song online anywhere, and he similar lyrics anything
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: like that, So I assumed that he did. I could
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: swim for a thousand miles in the oceans inside your
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: eyes and never reached the side. Yeah, okay, you're the
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: kind of woman a man can love for the rest
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: of his life. And I don't know why. I feel
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: it's your eyes. Oh your eyes Is that ringing a
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: veiled destiny? Yeah? Yeah, for sure. So you're in the
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: music room and where are you sitting? And where is
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: he sitting? Uh? He started on the bench, you know,
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: on in front of the piano, and I just stood
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: behind him. I didn't, you know, sit next to him, because,
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: like I said, we were closed. But we did never
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: like no physical contact really, so I wasn't super comfortable
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: when I was really shy. After he sings the song
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: with those lyrics, what did he say, Um, not too much?
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: About halfway through? Um, some of the drama kids from
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: the drama club at school work right across the hall
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: and they had heard the piano and you know, somebody singing,
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: so they came in to check it out. And that
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: was the end of the audio clip, was people coming
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: in and you know, saying how surprised of or how
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: good he was, all that stuff. So he didn't we
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: weren't alone at that point. Yeah, there's nothing like ruining,
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: ruining a romantic moment with a underaged minor, then a
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: bunch of students coming into the class to just burst
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: that bubble. But you were listening to him singing. Do
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: you recall what you were thinking or feeling? Like I said,
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: I didn't think anything of it. I didn't really notice
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: the lyrics too much. Um, I was just kind of
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: very observed in at all. And it was after I
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: you know, got home and listened to it again and
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: played it for you know, a friend of mine that
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: I realized what was actually being said. And even then,
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: like I said, it didn't hit me because he wasn't
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: ever inappropriate. He was always I mean, yeah, there were
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: some things that sent up red flags now, but I
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: didn't ever think that any of this would ever happened
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: for sure when you say things send up red flags now,
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: like what well the song for sure? Um, the day
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: that we were all the students in his classroom during
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: lunch and he told them that, you know, the office
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: told him the students couldn't be in there anymore, so
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: he sent them all back to the cafeteria and let
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: me stay and told you know me that the office
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: hadn't said anything to him, He just didn't want all
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: the students in this class. You know. That's that's definitely
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: kind of a red flag kind of weird that he
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: sent every other student away, like ten or fifteen other
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: kids and not me. Okay, explained to me how that
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: went down. I don't know about that. What happened. Um, well,
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: I was, like I said, really shy back in high school. UM,
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: didn't really have too many people I talked to. So
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: during lunch I would just go into Tad's room and
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: sitting there because I didn't eat any ways. UM. That way,
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: I didn't have to sit alone at lunch or sit
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: there and you know, feel really awkward or anything. So
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: I would sit in his class and a couple of
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: other students with that going there play on their phones
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: because he didn't care, even though we had cell phone
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: rules at school. UM, you know, so they could sit
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: him there on their phones or on the computers, UM,
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: stuff like that. And that's what some of the kids
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: were doing. UM. But then Tad, you know, I made
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: a class announcement. He was like, hey, guys, you know
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: office called. You know, you guys have to go back
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: to lunch. Um. You know that you're not allowed to
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: be in here. You're supposed to be at lunch during
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: this time. UM. So he everybody else left and I
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: grabbed my back and went to leave, and he was
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: he told me, you know, this office hadn't said anything,
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: um that he just didn't want you know, all the
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: kids in his room and that I could stay. So
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: they cleared the room, kept you in there, and then
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: what what if anything? Did he say? Nothing? Really, I
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: don't remember too much else, just us kind of sitting
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: in chip chatting like we always did, just another another day.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: And none of the other students noticed. No, I guess not.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: I mean, you know, from what I remember, everybody did
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: quit even after that day going into his room. For
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: the most part, you know, I still did. But when
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: you say, in retrospect, looking back there were red flags,
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: what else do you recall? Um? Those are the two
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: definitely the main things, UM, because you know, like I said,
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: a lot of the other stuff, it didn't really seem
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: as if anything was wrong. I didn't, you know, notice
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: too much, UM, other than maybe the day that I
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: moved away from the school. What happened, UM. I was
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: a junior in high school. UM. I was about it
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: was late December, UM, right before sprint Christmas break. Sorry, UM,
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: I was moving to Wichita, UM over to Kansas. So
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: I had, you know, gotten unenrolled from school and transfers
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: and all of that in order, and it was my
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: last day. So I went in and saw him, UM
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: told him, you know that he already already knew I
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: was leaving, but told him and I was going in
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: telling goodbye and everything. You know, I've already done it
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: with my other friends and stuff. And it was the
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: end of the day. Um. Now went in and we
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: had talked for a minute and he gave me a
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: hug and he told me, no, don't ever let anybody
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: tell you you're not beautiful. And then he told me,
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: you know, because I'm not a student anymore of his,
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: that I could add him on Facebook. Um, and you know,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: we kept in touch through that through his cell phone.
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: And you know after I movie, like I said, i'd
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: come back, have you know, luch or whatever with his
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: wife for go to the school and see him. And
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: when you would go back, what was his demeanor, Um,
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: It was always the same. He really always seemed excited
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: to see me. Um. I called the school once and
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: they know, transferred me to his room and as soon
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: as he picked up the phone, you know, he you
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: could hear it, you know, destiny perish and he was
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: just really surprised and excited and you know, let me
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: know when I could come to school, that it wouldn't
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: be during one of his classes, so you know, we
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: could actually have time to talk, um, which is probably
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: you know, all weird too. But at the same time,
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: you know, I don't want to go during his class. Um,
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: so let me ask you this. Uh, you know that
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: it's just the grace of God that you're not in
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: Elizabeth Thomas as Shues right now? Is the way I
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: see it. When you first learned that she had been
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: taken by Tad Commins, what did you think, Um, Well,
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: I got the call from my mom at first, and
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: she would let me know when I was in total denial.
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: I thought, you know, maybe she was messing with me
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: or something, which you know, why would she and I
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: get that now. But I saw Tad is you know,
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: a really really great guy. I never saw that he
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: would do anything like this, so I did not believe it.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: And then I had seen the you know, the reports
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: on Facebook, and I had two or three other people
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: call me. Um, a friend that I haven't talked to
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: in you know, three years, called me and was like,
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: oh my gosh, it could have been you. Like that's
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: everybody knew he and I were really close. So it
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: was definitely a shock, and I definitely did not want
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: to believe it at first. But it's rough. When you
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: heard that he had told people he's a c I,
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: a operative, and a black belt and so many other
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: tall tales. What did you think, um, To be honest,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: I didn't really think too much about it, um, because
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: and not anything towards Elizabeth. Obviously she got told what
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: she got told. But there are it is a very
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: small school, and there are a lot of of rumors
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: and suspicions and jokes to get many We made jokes
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: about one of our other teachers being in CIA. I
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: mean it was That's how I took it. I thought
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: maybe somebody made it up as a joke, you know.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: Like I said, I didn't believe that he was who
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: he is, so I didn't believe that he would make
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: up all this crazy stuff about himself. But you know,
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: obviously he is lied about a lot of things. So
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: what else do you think he's lying about? I mean,
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: the entire person that he is. You know he's not,
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: do you not, Tad Commons? He's not. You know, this
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: guy that was my best friend in high school, he
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: lied about all of it. He lied about who he
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: was for who knows how long. Like you don't just
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: wake up one day and decide if you want to
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: be with a fifteen year old, especially after looking back
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: at all the stuff that happened with me years before.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: When you say best friends, did your parents everything it
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: was on your best friend was a grown man teaching
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: at high school, we didn't at the time. My mom
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: didn't live here. She lived, you know, a couple of
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: states away, and my parents were getting divorced, and my
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: mom was just happy, because I was going through a
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: really rough time with all of it, that I had
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: somebody to talk to. Um, because she had heard from
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: me what Tad was like, and obviously I didn't have
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: all that great of an intel on who he is,
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: so she thought, you know, pretty good of him as well. Um.
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: There were a few you know, of my friends or
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: you know, other family members or people I know that
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: thought it was weird. Um, And I just didn't listen
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: to him, you know, I didn't. I didn't never think
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: anything of it. What did they say, Well, they one
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: of the one of them didn't like the fact that
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: we you know, everybody calls him by his first name. Um.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: She was a school teacher as well, for an elementary
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: school around the area. I don't know which one, and
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: she you know, she doesn't even do that with her
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: elementary school kids, let them call her by her first name.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: So she saw that was really weird. And I'm just
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: thinking through what you're saying, and it strikes me that
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: your mom, your mom wasn't around, she was living in
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: a different state. And Elizabeth's mom was gone as well.
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: And it's interesting how he prays on young girls that
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: are going through an emotional time and neither one with
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: a mother. Do you think that there are other other
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: girls like yourself and like Elizabeth that he basically groomed
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: to be his quote best friend? Um, I think there
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: definitely could have been. I know that, you know, nobody
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: I personally know was as close to Ted as I was. Um.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: I had friends that still talked to him that still
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: you know, thought as much as I did of him,
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: But nobody, you know, talked to him as much. Nobody
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: had gone to church and all that stuff. But that's
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: not to say that he wasn't talking to somebody else,
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: you know, during the days that I weren't there or
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: the days of it, you know, stuff like that. There's
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: no saying he didn't have another you know, teacher's pet
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: or favorite and none of the other teachers thought it
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: was weird. No, it was a really small school and
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: everybody was already really tightened it and close anyway, So
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: you know, we got a new teacher and he was
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: the same. We didn't think too much of it. Knowing
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: him as well as you do. Where do you think
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: he is? What do you think his plan is? I definitely,
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: I really don't know. I really don't think he is
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: still in the US. Um. You know, they think maybe
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: he's hiding out in some you know, forests or somewhere.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: But I really think that he thought all of this
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: through to the point that he did, and he has
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: done some really some some not good things obviously, but
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: he's taking precautions to protect himself. I think that they're
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: probably gone. I'm not saying that in a bad way,
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: you know. I'm really wanting her to come home. That's
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: all I want out of any of this is for
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: her to be home with her family. But I know
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: that he has done a whole lot to cover his
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: tracks and keep them both safe. Like the draft emails
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: and stuff like that. He knew what he was doing.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: Wow with me. As Destiny Parrish, who endured a friendship
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: of sorts with the tag Commons, tag Commins now wanted,
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: and the kidnap of his student Elizabeth Thomas. Destiny, you're
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: a very lucky young lady, and I want to thank
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: you for being with us absolutely. Thank you so much
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: again for having me, and thank you also to crime
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: Con who's making our podcast possible today. Go to crime
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: con dot com to find out about this convergence of
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: crime busters and crime sleuths going down in June June nine,
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: and remember to use the code Nancy for off when
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: you're playing your trip. I hope I see you there,
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: Destiny again. I can't thank you enough for talking to us,
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: and it gives me a real insight and how into
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: how Elizabeth got sucked into Tad Cummins lies and all
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: the other teachers just apparently, uh didn't notice. Hi, everybody,
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: Nancy Grace here with crime stories and with me special guests.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: The elected district attorney joining us from Tennessee, Brent Cooper.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: Brent was just telling us about how at the beginning,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: when they first issued the Amber alert, he was thinking, Hey,
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: you know, I'm not sure about this. For all I know,
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: they're just off fishing. Boy, what did you do the
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: right thing and issuing that Amber alert even though you
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: knew Cummins and thought, man, he couldn't possibly have done this.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: You did your duty and you issued that alert having
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: no idea that we would be this far into it
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: and no sign of the kidnapped girl. Elizabeth Thomas Brent,
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: what's your theory on where they've gone? So obvious that, uh,
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: you know, this was well thought out, very well planned. Um,
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: and I think as as every day goes by, the
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: chances that they're actually in the in the States are
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: aren't lower. I just think that by now they would
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: have had to have uh come out for uh some supplies, food, something,
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: and somebody would have seen them, so uh at this point,
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: you know, the I guess the theory that I'm leaning
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: on is that because he planned this in such a
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: way that he had at least a twenty four hour
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: head start, I believe, you know, he could have gone.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: They made made it straight to the Mexican border, and
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: uh went into Mexico, which I believe you can do
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: without without a passport and really without any without any
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: any intervention by Mexican authorities, and uh, I think they
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: made their way into Mexico and probably uh, found a rural,
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: isolated location there and uh. And another reason I think
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: that is because you know, his finances were Lamin idiot
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: had dollars that we know of, and that would certainly
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: go a lot, a lot further in Mexico than it
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: would in the States. So UM, you know that's that's
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: one distinct possibility at this point. But you know I
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: would have I would have said from the beginning that
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: to three days cops, Uh, they will be they'll be
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: found with me the Allergted District Attorney Brent Cooper. You know,
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: I'm just wondering how they could have slipped across the
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: border with nobody noticing. And you believe he could be
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: posing as a missionary in Mexico. Why does that come
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: to mind? Well, actually from talking with with his family members. Um,
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: you know I knew he was in and his wife
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: went to church. But apparently he's uh, he's been very
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: devout Christian and uh that he studied the Bible extensively
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: and he may have even had some personal experience before
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: going on mission trips with his church. So UM, I
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: believe that that he was aware of that that culture,
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: so to speak. And uh, and I believe he could easily,
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: very easily blend in as a as a an American
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: missionary there, you know, uh to uh to help the
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: poor people of Mexico and um, you know that certain
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: round a role he could fit into. And uh and
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: uh in these in the small rural communities in in
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: Mexico and Central America, Uh, they don't have media coverage
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: like we do here. They don't have uh televisions in
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: every room, and they don't have the Internet in a
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: lot of cases. And uh it would be a lot
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: more easy for them to remain unnoticed there than than here. Wow.
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: Now you believe he's gone on mission trips to Mexico before?
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: What region? I don't know any specific region. But after
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: the meetings we had, I was I was of the
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: belief that he had gone on at least one trip before.
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: And and it's it's it's common in this area for
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: churches to send church members, you know, took places like
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: that on mission trips you know. Oh, yes, very common
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: in my Methodist church back home and making there, we
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: send out missionaries all the time. I mean I've been
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: on missionships myself. Um, particularly after Katrina, I went for
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: a long time to re help rebuild following Katrina. And
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: that was through my my Methodist church up in New York.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: So it's a very common for you know, churches here
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: to send out missionaries and the church puts the bill
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: and sends you and tries to help people. Um, in fact,
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: are another church I tend just sent out a whole
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: fleet of people to Uganda to work. And you know
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: it's but I could see what you're saying that he
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: uses that knowledge from a previous church mission trip, knows
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: his way around, that's where he will go naturally, wouldn't
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: you think definitely that's a possibility. And uh, that's why
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: you know I've I've asked for uh, you know, churches
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: in the area, especially his church to h You know,
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: when you when you go on those mission trips, when
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: you come back, you still you've made contacts there, and
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: you know, I would encourage them to reach out to
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: their contacts in that in that part of the world
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: where they've gone on missions before and uh and spread
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: the word, you know, email them the Amber alert flyer. Well,
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: what role with the FBI play in that, Brent? Wouldn't
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: the FBI be working on the Mexico issue they you know, right,
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: as of now, they they have passed the the Amber
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: alert has been spread to the authorities in Mexico. But
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: you know how much publicity it's gotten, if any, down there,
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: I don't know. Uh. And whether or not it's been
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: as widely talked about there as it has been here,
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: you know, I doubt it. But um, you know, we're
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: just anyway we can think of to get to get
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: the word out down there. We certainly want to. Well,
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: I'm just wondering if I mean, for instance, do you
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: know if the FBI was doing licensed grap tag tag
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: grabs along the interstates to see if they're tag showed up? Oh? Yeah,
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: we were. We were doing that, you know, starting day one. Um,
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: you know the we we sent out of course the
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: tag information and and and I know that all the
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: highway patrols that have those tag readers were you have
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: them programmed in uh so that you know, if they
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: got a hit on that number, it would it would
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: alert them as to what's going on. Wow, So your
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: best bet is that Tad Cummins is posing as a
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: missionary in Mexico. I'm really surprised Elizabeth has not tried
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: to reach any of her siblings or her dad, right,
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: And that's that's probably the most surprising part is that
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: you know, a fifteen year old girl hasn't reached out
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: to you know, a sister or brother, uh to our
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: knowledge and uh and just to let them know if
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: nothing else, just let him know she's okay. And that's
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: that's uh, you know, somewhat concerning also that that hasn't happen. Allen,
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: you want to jump in. Do you think, sir, that
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: they are that you are closing in on him? Are
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: you any closer than you were a couple of weeks ago?
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: Or what? Does this look like it's going into the
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: long haul? I think there's a certainly a kind of
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: a peak period, um that we've probably already passed, where
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: where this case has been talked about and and the
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: information is being shared. But I think every day that
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: that more people find out about them and see their
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: picture and see that tag number, I think, you know,
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: that's one way that things are closed. Again. The more
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: people that know about him, the the lesser the possibility
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: is that they're gonna go unnoticed. So but I do
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: think the every with every day that goes by, that interest,
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: you know, starts to drop a little bit, and especially
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: with with no new news to uh to revitalize the story,
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: you know, I mean, we're I'm surprised that it's still
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: getting their attention. It is, and I'm really glad and
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: grateful that it is, so that we can keep people
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: talking about it, and we can't keep it on people's minds,
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: so they'll they'll continue to look forward. Well, one of
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: the remarkable things about this story, and Nancy and I
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: have covered so many of these, is how much we're
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: finding out about how crazy this guy was and what
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: he was telling his his students. A few minutes ago,
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: one of his former students told us that he told
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: students in class that he was a medical doctor who
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: simply retired from his medical profession and because he wanted
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: to teach high school. Have you heard that? I hadn't
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: heard that particular story, but I heard numerous other ones.
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: You know, we're you know, he's certainly uh building this
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: uh this Spanish white white what other stories? What other stories?
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: He told that he was former FBI and his former CIA,
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: and that he had millions of dollars stashed away. And
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: I think he even told some kids that he had
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: properties in different countries and and mansions and things like that.
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: And it's just to me the stories Groves constantly apparently
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: or did while he was well he was teaching. Did
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: you hear that song that he sang to us fourteen
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: year old student a few years ago? Did you hear
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: that happy? I did hear part of that? Were you
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: impressed with this musical ability or what did you think
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: of that? Sir? That's not what impressed me. Alan, That's
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: not what impressed me about that. Hey, I gotta ask
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: you something, Brent. Question guys for those of you joining
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: us now on our podcast here at Crime Stories with me,
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: is he elected d A out of Tennessee on the
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: Elizabeth Thomas case? You know, he he just jarred my memory.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: On one of his other tall tales, he told that
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: he had like a safe house and I believe he
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: said Costa Rica where when things got too hot, oh, Honduras, Yes,
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: when things got too hot in the US. You know.
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: I know that's a big fat lie. I know that,
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: but it does give you a window into his thinking.
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: I should have thought of that before. If he's talking
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: about leaving the country for a venue like Honduras when
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: things got to quote hot in the US. That's exactly
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: what he's trying to do. That's his fantasy and that's
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: what he's living out. If that would certainly complicated matters,
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: if that's what his manners to do, Yeah, I don't
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: think he'd easily. I got a bad, failing brand. I'm
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: just afraid that if he's cornered and he has nothing
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: left to lose, lost his wife, his family, his job.
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: I know he's got two guns, and it just keeps
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: anything my head. If if it's not handled just the
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: right way, this could turn into a murder suicide in
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: a heartbeat. And that's what I don't want for this
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: little girl. I feel like she just never had a
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: chance with that mother and everything in her life, and
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: now this for Pete's sake. And you know it was
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: interesting Brent, the other little girl, the Destiny Parish girl
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: that he was singing that love song too. You know
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: her mother was out of the picture to her mother
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: was living in another state during a divorce, and she
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: was motherless. I mean, he really focuses it in on
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: children that are the most vulnerable. They really don't have
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: anybody helping them, and I just hate it, hate it, Okay,
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: Nancy Grace Crime Stories signing off again. Thank you crime
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: Con for sponsoring us today. Go to crime con dot
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: com to get your off code word Nancy to register
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: for this big convergence of crime busters and crime sleuths.
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: In g June, Nancy Grace Crime Stories signing off. Goodbye friend,