The wife of Tad Cummins, the suspect of a recent AMBER ALERT out of Maury County, pleaded for him to come back to Tennessee and release the 15-year-old with him during press conference.
District Attorney Brent Cooper has issued an additional arrest warrant for a charge of aggravated kidnapping. Elizabeth Thomas went missing from Columbia Monday and is believed to be with 50-year-old Tad Cummins.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued an Endangered Child Alert, but police believed her to be in imminent danger and upgraded it to an AMBER ALERT.
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On Friday, Cummins' wife, Jill Cummins, made a brief statement during a press conference. She addressed the media and the community, but she also addressed Tad, begging him to come home.
"I had no idea my husband was involved in anything that would have led to something like this...I want her home just as much as the rest of you," Jill said as her family pastor stood beside her.
She went on to speak to Tad saying, "Tad this is not you. This is not who you are. We can help you get through this...Your family wants their Poppy back. Please do the right thing and turn yourself into police and bring Beth home."
Cummins was added to the TBI's Top 10 Most Wanted list. Warrants for his arrest have been issued on charges of sexual contact with a minor and aggravated kidnapping.
TBI's Josh Devine explained that they have received a "shockingly low number of tips" in the alert, leading them to believe the pair is either out of the view of the public or are outside of the original net of search.
"This is a dire situation for this young girl," Devine said.
District Attorney Cooper said the teen has not tried to contact any of her family since Monday when she went missing.
Thomas is one of ten children, and her mother is facing five counts of child abuse. Investigators believe she was carefully groomed and then brainwashed by Cummins into abandoning her family to be with him.
Cummins is a former teacher at Culleoka Unit School where Thomas goes to school.
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Cummins' social media accounts display romantic messages police said were made for her to see.
TBI officials released more photos of Cummins in hopes that they would help someone recognize him. The pictures were take from surveillance video from a local Walmart before the AMBER ALERT was issued.
Officials asked anyone with information on where she could be to call the Maury County Sheriff's Office at 931-375-8654 or the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.
