Missing Teen Reportedly Told Relative to Call Cops

Brother suggests she was taken against her will
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 22, 2017 11:00 AM CDT
Missing Teacher Allegedly Googled 'Teen Marriage'
Tad Cummins and Elizabeth Thomas together at school.   (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation)

Tad Cummins researched "teen marriage" and how his Nissan Rogue might be tracked by authorities in the days before he allegedly kidnapped 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says, per the Tennessean. While his Internet search history "might potentially speak to his intentions," it also raises "major concerns," a rep tells CNN. Adding to the unease is a report suggesting Cummins—who authorities believe fled with two guns—took Elizabeth against her will. Her brother reportedly tells HLN that Elizabeth warned a sibling to call police if she wasn't home by 6pm on March 13, the day she and Cummins disappeared.

"She didn't think she was going to be gone that long, I guess, because she did expect to be home by dinner," James Thomas says; authorities say they are trying to authenticate the report. According to police, a friend dropped Elizabeth at a restaurant in Columbia, Tenn., on the morning of March 13. She was seen pumping gas in the area around that time but may have been 80 miles south in Decatur, Ala., by that afternoon, authorities add. Despite 650 leads as of Tuesday, there has not been a single verified sighting of Elizabeth since. Cummins, who authorities say took out a $4,500 loan in the days before the pair vanished, has not been sighted either. (More missing teen stories.)

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