Former teacher Tad Cummins, who kidnapped his student Elizabeth Thomas, has been found after a property caretaker recognized them as the subjects of an ongoing nationwide search.
Tad Cummins was a health science teacher at Culleoka Unit School in Maury County, Tennessee, where Elizabeth Thomas was his student. On March 13, Cummins allegedly kidnapped Thomas and had been gone since.
According to a court petition confirmed by PEOPLE, Cummins pressured Thomas to go out with him by threatening her with "repercussions at school" and by stalking her at different places.
On Jan. 23, Cummins was seen on school grounds kissing Thomas, which led to his suspension from his job. The incident caused Thomas to be bullied in school.
Cummins also used his suspension as a way to make Thomas guilty and compel her to come with him.
According to the petition obtained by ABC News, Cummins groomed Thomas for months by "nudging and molding her until her will to resist was conflicted and ultimately broken." There were instances when Cummins would pick Thomas at her home to go out for a meal and visit the student where she worked.
Thomas shared with her siblings and friends that "she was scared of Cummins." However, the young student also had a heightened perception of Cummins, seeing him as a former Special Forces soldier and a millionaire.
But on Thursday, April 20, Cummins and Thomas were found after a property caretaker recognized them from the nationwide search.
NBC News reports that Cummins came to Griffin Barry, a property caretaker in Cecilville, California, saying that they were a couple in need of help because they lost everything when their house burnt down.
Barry did not notice anything odd about Cummins and Thomas at first, so he decided to help the "couple" by giving Cummins a place to live in and a job. But when Barry realized that the two are the subjects of a nationwide search, he immediately called authorities and the two were apprehended the following day.
