What’s Next For Elizabeth Thomas? Student Allegedly Kidnapped By Ex-Teacher Tad Cummins Reunited With Family

Elizabeth Thomas, the Tennessee teen who was allegedly kidnapped by ex-teacher Tad Cummins, has been reunited with family and needs to re-acclimate to the community, the girl’s friend said, according to a local news outlet. Elizabeth was found Wednesday in northern California after being missing for over a month.

"I ask that people give the Thomas family their space. They are going through an absolute roller coaster of emotions at the moment," Caleb Banks, 15-year-old Elizabeth’s friend told CBS-affiliate WHNT 19. "This family has been going through this for almost a month and a half and with something like that you have to mindful of their feelings."

Elizabeth and 50-year-old Cummins disappeared March 13. The teen was Cummins' student at Maury County’s Culleoka Unit School, where the latter taught health science. Following the alleged kidnapping, Cummins was fired from his job. The two had been on the run for over a month and had TBI confirmed the pair’s reported sighting in Oklahoma City’s Wal-Mart store on March 15. The pair was captured in surveillance footage in the retail store. However, the footage only came to light two weeks later.

On April 19, law enforcement authorities located Cummins and Elizabeth in northern California’s remote Siskiyou County, where the student-teacher duo spent one night in a remote cabin in Cecilville in northwest of Redding. After being found, Elizabeth was reunited with her family.

"They [the Thomas family] were essentially going into seclusion once they had her back because they did want to be out of the spotlight and to just enjoy being with her," District Attorney General Brent Cooper said, according to WHNT 19.

Cummins was charged with knowingly transporting a minor in interstate commerce with the intention to engage in sexual activity. He is set to appear in court in Sacramento, Monday. His wife Jill and daughters Erica and Ashlee issued a statement Friday saying they have no comment or opinion on the fate of the ex-teacher.

"Jill, Erica, and Ashlee are glad this chapter of the ordeal is over. … [They] have the utmost respect for District Attorney Brent Cooper and Acting US Attorney John L. Smith and they trust the judicial system to administer justice upon Tad Cummins. Jill, Erica, and Ashlee offer neither comment nor opinion about what should or should not happen to Tad Cummins and leave that up to the capable individuals involved in the judicial system," the family said in the statement.