Strange and heartwrenching story begins. Its the dimple of the universe. Reporter once known for its booming cantaloupe crop, its not cattle that keeps them alive. Tucked in the lush green of these rolling hills, youll find a post office, gas station and not much else. The schools always been the heartbeat of the community. Reporter culleoka unit school, a sprawling twostory complex, which will become the epicenter of a seismic scandal. Its known for its drill team and the musical theater troupe. Boogie Fever Reporter but its drama that quickly circles the new girl in class, 15yearold Elizabeth Thomas. Those kids are from a Small Community and any outsider becomes a target immediately. Reporter she had been home schooled her whole life. She was somewhat of a tomboy, she played really rough. She could switch to being really nice and sweet. Reporter Paige Griffith is a kind of surrogate mom to elizabeth. Her daughter erin is elizabeths best friend. Shed come over to my house and we would talk and watch tv, and eat junk food, and we just hung out together. Reporter thats erin and elizabeth playfighting in the back of a car. The pair loved to goof around. No, i wasnt she was always a social butterfly, been described to some people as being a diva. Reporter for the first time her sister sarah shows me elizabeths room. Now a kind of museum of an adolescent caught between two ages. Thats her xbox . On the one hand, the teen who bought herself an xbox with money from her afterschool job. She just stayed up playing games. She was obsessed with guns and stuff. Reporter on the other, a child. She made this. Reporter still enchanted by princesses and ponies. Was she pretty excited about this . She loved the bed covers that she just got. Reporter and still clinging to her security blanket. This is her baby blanket. She takes it to school with her. Reporter like everyday . Yes. She has it in her backpack and cuddles with it. Reporter she cuddles with it because the smiles in home movies like this mask her hidden reality. Instead of home schooling she was allegedly getting harsh lessons from the school of hard knocks. Growing up, my mom abused us. It was a whole lot of things she did. A few times to where she would beat our heads up against the dressers. Reporter elizabeths siblings say they all suffered for years, culminating with their mother Kimberly Thomas hitting one of them with a twobyfour. After watching all this abuse we couldnt stand it anymore. Reporter the kids alert Child Protective Services on their own. Authorities later remove their mother from the home. She is currently facing five counts of child abuse and neglect. She denies the charges, telling a local tv station im not guilty of those. Reporter how did you find out what was going on at home . Theres two sheriffs deputies in my yard, and two case workers. Reporter their father Anthony Thomas, often working around the clock as an exterminator to support his five young children, insists he didnt know how bad things had gotten at home. Its hard for you to talk about, isnt it . Yeah. Reporter you dont like to think about what was happening. I need to take a break. Reporter their mothers removal is a welcome relief. But almost immediately elizabeth is pushed into the teenage piranha pool known as high school. The ultimate outsider, she is bullied early and often. I mean, theres always cliques and she didnt fit in anywhere. Reporter what were they making fun of her about . They were calling her names. They were making fun of the way she dressed, her hair. No one would be her friend. So she was miserable. Reporter but elizabeth eventually found one person she thought she could trust. She had no one in that school to talk to except for this teacher. Reporter a popular and friendly science teacher, tad cummins. And that is how hot dogs are made. Reporter who would end up impacting her life more than anyone would have expected or wanted. She was in his class, health. And he began to help her make this transition from home school to public school. Reporter 50yearold tad cummins is quite the charmer, maury County District attorney brent cooper went to high school with him. Kind of funny, kind of a cutup, pretty outgoing guy. Reporter you knew him. You saw him around. He and jill, his wife, they were High School Sweethearts and married the year they graduated high school. Reporter and theyve been together ever since. 30plus years. Jill says cummins lived by the tenets of faith, family and fellowship. God is the center of our marriage and our life, and our faith is the most important thing to us, and i think it was to him too and it still is. Reporter cummins had even done mission work in the rainforests of panama. Now he volunteers at his Church Teaching sunday school, singing in the choir, chaperoning and preaching to teens. We did jail ministries and a boot camp ministry, me and him singing together to the people at the jail. Reporter what was it like growing up with him . He was your allamerican dad. The epitome of protector, hero, dad. Mmhmm. No matter what we were going through, he was the one you could call and he would fix it. Reporter tad cummins flourishes in the classroom. Watch this Youtube Video of him teaching how to perform cpr. You see the difference. Im actually taking weight off of it. Reporter did he enjoy teaching . He loved it. He said he never had a job he enjoyed more. He was the cool teacher. Like, everybody loved him. He was everyones friend, everyones mentor, helped so many people through so many things. Reporter and for elizabeth, hes an the encouraging adult role model. Everything that she need, he was there. He had bought a microwave and put it in his room so she could heat up food and eat her lunch in his room. Reporter his kindness even extended outside the classroom, taking elizabeth to church on sundays with his wife. Why did he decide to take her to church with you . Our preachers wife was going to be talking about abuse and how to get past it, get over it. We decided to invite beth because she had also a past. We were helping her, i thought. Reporter did you ever think anything of their interactions together . It was like a fatherdaughter relationship. Its the way i saw it too, in fact, i called her our third daughter sometimes. Reporter but elizabeth wasnt his First Special student. Next, the girl who made tad cummins croon. Youre the kind of woman a man could love for the rest of his Life Reporter he sang that song to you . Students would make jokes about us being in love. Reporter stay with us. 20 20 continues. Once again, eva pilgrim. Reporter churchgoing family man tad cummins seemed like a model citizen. But look closer and youll find some cracks in that happy facade. Tad was kind of a bully about things. Reporter Chandler Anderson worked with cummins back when cummins worked as a respiratory therapist at a local hospital. He would say things like, youre stupid. You shouldnt be in the e. R. Reporter in front of other people. Oh, yeah, in front of other people. I have seen tad be told no previously. And ive see the rage and anger he gets. Reporter he doesnt take no well. No, absolutely. Reporter anderson says cummins had a problem with authority. He didnt have enough of it. He says thats why cummins switched careers and took a big pay cut. If moneys not the central issue and feeding your ego is, thats what he chose. Thats why he became a teacher. Who tells a teacher no . Certainly not students. Reporter cummins hold on some students was particularly strong. Destany parrish, now 20, was in cummins class back in 2011. It was literally like a best friend that youd known your entire life, or like a Family Member that youd confide in. Reporter like elizabeth, destany struggled to fit in. He made you feel normal. And safe and protected and i didnt have anything to worry about. Reporter they shared a love of music. An aspiring singer songwriter, cummins once broke out in song for destany in the music room. She recorded the performance. Youre the kind of woman a man could love for the rest of his Life Reporter was the Health Teacher showing her his heart . I think he probably meant it the way, when he was singing it. Reporter he sang that song to you, on purpose, you think . I think. Im not sure, obviously. Reporter did the other students think Something Weird was going on between the two of you . Some of the students would make jokes about us being in love or whatever. I kind of blew it off, like, no, its just me and tad. Were friends. Reporter destany moved away before graduating and says nothing inappropriate ever happened between them. But a few years later, cummins found another student to shower with special attention, Elizabeth Thomas. She had no friends. I think thats one of the reasons tad cummings was able to move in on her so quick. Reporter Jason Whatley is the thomas familys attorney. Do you think he targeted her . No doubt. Reporter he sought her out . No doubt. He was specifically grooming this child for a very specific purpose, and that was a relationship. He chose a girl that was clearly having issues, because she went to him for, quote, unquote, counseling. She was the perfect victim. Reporter as part of the seduction, cummins portrayed himself an International Man of mystery. Apparently he told a lot of tales about his fictional background. Hes a cia operative. Hes an fbi agent. Hes a millionaire. Reporter Anthony Thomas says his daughter was impressed with cummins alleged exploits. And i said, youre telling me hes been in these fbi and the cia. Oh, yeah. Oh, tad has got a bunch of money. Actually a couple Million Dollars in the bank. Reporter still, thomas didnt object when cummins took elizabeth to church. Former fbi agent brad garrett is an abc news consultant. The idea that he would bring elizabeth to this church doesnt surprise me one bit because he needs a cover story. Look at this, im bringing you to church with my family. Isnt this a wonderful thing . Reporter despite outward appearances, Authorities Say cummins intentions become less of the spirit and more of the flesh. D. A. Brent cooper says investigators discovered a special system cummins devised to exchange secret messages with elizabeth using the same email account. What was kind of the nature of those messages . Things that only people that were in an intimate relationship would share. There was a message that says, i saw you standing by your backpack and just wanted to tell you, you have a really nice blank. Reporter it appears the two were much less inhibited on instagram. Cummins posts, youre all my heart ever talks about. It was love at first sight, at last sight. And elizabeth, i look forward to going to school just to see you. I love you. And she told her friend erin she had big news about a relationship. She said she really liked this guy, she really loved him, she really wanted to be around this guy all the time, 24 7. Reporter that carelessness made the situation highly combustible. And on january 23rd, it all blew up when a middle School Student reported seeing cummins and elizabeth kissing in his classroom. This was an honors student who saw them kissing. Reporter that 12yearold honors student later described the kiss to detectives as a romantic peck rather than fatherdaughter type. The school, and eventually local cops investigate. Elizabeth denies everything. I said, why is the sheriffs deputy calling me about an incident at school . She said, oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, some girl lied. Its nothing. Nothing happened. She told me that she had gotten in trouble at school because her teacher was calming her from a panic attack. And some girl walked in and saw it and told everybody that they were kissing. Reporter cummins continues the coverup. On february 1st, in an interview with detectives, he describes the relationship as that of a father figure at school. And denied ever kissing elizabeth. A few days later cummins is suspended. How did he explain it to you . That, he was, it was either someone telling a lie, or thought they saw something that they didnt, and that it absolutely did not happen. I had no reason not to believe him. 31 years of marriage, you know, with no problems, why would you not believe him . Reporter for many it was hard to believe. And the already bullied teen now marked with a Scarlet Letter of sorts. There were things being said that were extremely hurtful. Reporter elizabeths father told Whatley Elizabeth faced ridicule and had been called a whore. Meanwhile cummins, now in exile from the school, begins acting strangely at home. He always made the coffee the night before he would go to bed. He started telling me how to make the coffee. I was like, why are you telling me this . Why are you telling me how to make the coffee . And i was in tears because i thought he was afraid he was going to go to jail. Reporter he was planning to go somewhere. Apparently the teacher had convinced himself, and his favorite student, that there was only one way out. With each other. On the open road. He worked on her, he manipulated her, and he did this until finally, she was just a girl that would do whatever he wanted. Reporter up next, exclusive video as Elizabeth Thomas walks out of her front door and into the unknown. Im a journalist. I am a singer. A businesswoman. I am an artist. An educator. A sister. An advocate. A leader. A queen. I am a friend. I am. I am one of more than a Million People living with hiv in the u. S. We are not alone. And now, 20 20 continues. Reporter its monday morning in columbia, tennessee. The beginning of the work week for most. The beginning of a new life for tad cummins. A Beautiful Day to start, he posts on instagram. The 50yearold tells his wife he has a Job Interview and needs to borrow her nissan rogue, but the disgraced teacher is about to go rogue in more ways than one. He took your car. He did. He switched vehicles with me on the day that he left, because he was going out of town, not far, but far enough that where he didnt want to take the jeep so he took the rogue and he never came back. Reporter across town, that same morning, sister sarah says elizabeth was agitated. She kept on saying, you need to wake up, and im like, what . And she was like, if im not back by six, call the cops. Reporter elizabeth is not yet of the age of consent. Her state of mind and her true feelings about cummins are still a matter of dispute, but this much we know. In video obtained exclusively by 20 20, we see a friend pull up to the thomas house in the morning hours. A few minutes later, elizabeth emerges carrying what looks like an overnight bag and a backpack. It will be more than a month before her family sees her again. At 7 45 that friend drops elizabeth off at a shoneys restaurant. 8 32 a. M. , cummins silver nissan suv fills up at a shell station neighboring that shoneys. Six minutes later, it pulls out. Soon elizabeth is in the car with cummins and to date there is no evidence he physically coerced her. But would elizabeth willingly leave behind her family and that security blanket she holds so dear . She loved it. Reporter medication and makeup still sitting on her dresser at home. Its an abduction either way you look at it. You can either abduct by grabbing someone out of their house at night by force or you can abduct over time. Reporter that evening tads wife comes home from work to find an empty house and a note from her husband telling her he needed to clear his head, claiming hes headed to either Virginia Beach or d. C. He promises to return and makes an unusual request. Asking her not to contact police. I was just in total shock when i read it. I just didnt know what to think. Reporter did you realize all of a sudden that he had been lying about everything, or at that moment, then i, i knew that it was all a lie. Reporter when elizabeth fails to return by 6 00, sarah senses something is wrong. I started feeling really guilty. I felt like it was my responsibility to take care of my sister, and i didnt take care of my sister. Reporter after hours of driving around searching, Anthony Thomas calls the sheriff and immediately points the finger at cummins. I said, you guys need to hunt down tad cummins and see if hes in town. See where he is. Reporter easier said than done. When cummins breaks his promise to return home, jill breaks her silence. She tells cops he took two handguns and 4,500 from a loan he got a week earlier. Jill also say her husband refilled a prescription for cialis before leaving town. Shortly after that, an arrest warrant is issued and tad cummins is officially a wanted man. But tad cummins got what he wanted. Hes got the girl and some separation. Hes been gone for nearly a day before cops figure out whats going on. An amber alert issued for Mary KatherineElizabeth Thomas. Reporter the only possible lead, a cell phone ping from elizabeths phone around 3 30 monday in decatur, alabama. And a disturbing update. Her instagram profile changed adding wife. I was a little bit sick when i saw that. Reporter amber alerts go out in tennessee and alabama. On day five, wife jill holds a press conference to try to reason with her husband. Your family wants their poppy back. Please do the right thing and turn yourself in to the police and bring beth home. Reporter cummins might not have watched his wifes televised plea, but millions cant stop watching. The small town teachers case goes national. The Tennessee Bureau of investigation works to retrace cummins steps in the days before he vanished, releasing this security video from a local tennessee walmart. Cummins casually strolls the aisles, making repeated visits to one. The hair color aisle. We have a little bit of knowledge about where they were at the beginning of their journey and then its really been kind of a cold trail. Reporter meanwhile