Tad Cummins’ Letter To Wife Before Absconding With Elizabeth Thomas Enters Evidence, Contents Of Note Revealed

Contents of the letter by former Tennessee teacher Tad Cummins to his wife just before absconding with his teen student Elizabeth Thomas, were released during a court hearing Friday. The letter was taken as evidence during the hearing.

Cummins, 50, and 15-year-old Elizabeth were on the run for more than a month after disappearing March 13. Law enforcement officials in Tennessee launched a manhunt for the former teacher, who they believed kidnapped the teen. The two were found April 20 in northern California’s Siskiyou County. Cummins was arrested and taken to Tennessee for sex crime related charges. He made his second appearance in a federal court Friday, where new details about the case emerged.

Prior to his disappearance, Cummins wrote a letter to his now-estranged wife Jill Cummins. At the time authorities said the letter was meant to mislead probe. However, Friday the contents of the letter were revealed. In the note, Cummins expressed frustration over Maury County’s Culleoka Unit School’s investigation over his inappropriate relationship with Elizabeth. He taught health science and the teen was his student.

“Jill, I am so sorry! I am on my way to Virginia Beach or maybe D.C. just to think and clear my mind of all this crap,” the letter read. “I am not running away. I’ll be back. Don’t call the police, they’ll think I ran cause I’m guilty and I’m not!

During the hearing, federal Judge Barbara Holmes ruled Cummins to remain in jail before his trial starts. She cited the letter calling him a flight risk and a danger to the community.

FBI agent Utley Noble, in his testimony, said Cummins had sex with Elizabeth on most nights when they were on the run. Their first sexual relationship began on the first night following their disappearance, according to Noble.

“Here, the evidence of danger is substantial,” she said.

Cummins is likely to face additional charges of statutory rape and prosecutors are planning to obtain recordings between him and Jill, who filed for divorce from him a few days after he went missing.

Benjamin Galloway, Cummins' public defender in California previously said his client had “no history of violence and no criminal history whatsoever,” and that he did not force or threaten Elizabeth. However, Elizabeth’s family attorney Jason Whatley said the indication of the teen willingly going with Cummins was “amazingly absurd.”

“This is classic grooming and manipulation,” Whatley reportedly said. “And I predict this case will be studied years in the future about how authority figures like Tad Cummins can mess up young children who believe their lies and are manipulated into doing things they would never do.”

Cummins is also facing charges on taking a minor across state lines with intent to engage in sexual activity. The penalties include a minimum 10 years of jail and fines of about $250,000, the Tennessean reported quoting Holmes.