Elizabeth Thomas News Update: Teen Gave First Interview Since Kidnapping Incident
Elizabeth Thomas, the center of an alleged kidnapping that raised an Amber Alert across the country in the hunt for her 51-year-old former teacher Tad Cummins, recently gave her first interview.
It has been more than six months since the country was on the lookout for the former teacher and the 15-year-old. The two were eventually found on April 20 in California, ending a month-long manhunt for the alleged kidnapper. Cummins is now behind bars for aggravated kidnapping and other crimes.
The whole ordeal was something that will mark the teen for life, as Thomas herself was the first to admit. When asked about leaving town, she said she will have to work on dealing with it herself.
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"I don't regret it, nor do I say it was the right thing to do. It was an experience I'll have to live with the rest of my life. It's good and bad. It's there. No matter what we do, we'll have to deal with it," she explained, as quoted by the Daily Herald.
The interview, which was done on Sunday, Sep. 24 in a fast food restaurant in Columbia, deliberately skirted around matters connected to the trial. It was something requested by her attorney Jason Whatley. The interviewer, James Bennett, claimed he met Thomas by chance.
Thomas was eager to answer other questions, though, hoping to set the record straight on a few things that have been bothering her. "I have a lot on my mind. There's been a lot of rumors about me I'd like to clear up," she explained.
The teen shared that it's been more than two months, 78 days to be exact, since she started therapy in Jackson. She was flown into Tennessee on April 21. She has been living with her brother, who tutors her now that she's homeschooling in the meantime for her last two years of high school.
Outside of studying at home, she also babysits kids and does random bits of work around town. Her favorite subjects are Economics and Science, and she hopes to be a medical examiner someday.
