COLUMBIA, Tenn. (AP/CLARKSVILLENOW) – A news outlet has released video of a 15-year-old Tennessee girl who is missing with her high school teacher in hopes that someone will recognize her voice.
The video posted on Facebook by Wayne County Now shows Elizabeth Thomas teaching her older brother how to sew a Confederate flag.
Monday marks two weeks since Thomas and 50-year-old Tad Cummins have been missing.
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Maury County District Attorney Brent Cooper tells WAAY-TV that investigators have discovered the pair had a “romantic interest” and believe they communicated in secret by writing draft emails to each other. Cooper says one person would save the email as a draft on Cummins’ school account. Cooper says the other person would then read the message, delete it and write another note as a draft.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has received almost 1,000 tips but there have been no credible sightings of Cummins or Thomas.
Thomas is a 15-year-old white female, with hazel eyes, stands 5 feet tall and weighs 120 pounds. She was last seen wearing a flannel shirt and black leggings.
Cummins is a white male, who stands 6 feet tall, weighs approximately 200 pounds, and has brown hair and eyes. He’s believed to be armed with two handguns.
He faces kidnapping in the AMBER Alert case and is also charged with sexual contact with a minor after he allegedly kissed Thomas at school earlier this year.
Last week, the TBI added Cummins to the state’s ‘Top 10 Most Wanted’ list. There is a $1,000 reward for information leading to his capture. The TBI would urge the public to remain vigilant and report any information that may prove beneficial in the ongoing search to 1-800-TBI-FIND.
The Associated Press and WKRN News 2 contributed to this report.