Every teacher needs to be charged and fired for teasing her.

I'm glad the wife isn't protecting him.

I remember being under 16 and having big crushes on older teachers. I remember once i was sat next to one alone, being helped with something and he rested his head on my shoulder for a few seconds in a "cute" way. I remember being so happy that my crush indicated he liked me. We never ended up alone again. Now, as an adult I realise how completely inappropriate he was. Teenagers will have crushes. The adults should not act on them. Period.

These comments are worrying. At such an age a girl doesn't know herself and is rather malleable. It was his responsibility as a 50 year old man to not enter into this.

He said he would kill himself and hurt her family if she didn’t go. She told her sister to call police if she wasn’t home by 6. In what world is that willingly going with someone????

why people that don't want to be found keep going into a Wal-Mart?

For all you people saying it was her choice?? Let me educate you. When your under age that shit don't matter.

I remember having crushes on my teachers as a teen but if one of them had made a move I would have been devasted. Kids have crushes teachers ignore them pedophiles act.

It doesn't matter if she willingly went with him. In the eyes of the law, she is legally a minor. Legally she is not mentally capable of making these decisions. He was the adult in this situation and thus is at fault. If she was 18 and ran away with him then there wouldn't be this big of a manhunt for them because she'd be considered an adult.

So glad she was found alive and is back with her family.

His list & his preparations were disgusting with his medication for erectile dysfunction & ky jelly. She looks very young for 15. I feel horrible for her. I hope people will try to understand how pedophiles/hebophiles groom their victims into getting them to trust them. Unfortunately they pick vulnerable children or teens. Maybe a child has 2 loving parents doing the best they can but say they are going through a divorce, and the child unfortunately trusts the wrong person. These predators use whatever they can to get into the world of the child. He even used his family to cover for him making his wife think he was "mentoring" her. And I also feel very sorry for his wife. She is trying to cope with the fact that this man she had trusted with her own teenager daughters, the father of her kids is a predator. You could tell she is struggling admitting slowly that he should not have taken her. She probably has some guilt of her own for not seeing things more clearly, plus, it has to be devastating for a small town southern woman that is raised to let the man be the head of the household that her marriage was a lie, that she no longer has a husband, that her kids have lost their father & more than likely he will be in prison for a long time. I hope people will be kind to her & her children because they are victims too. And they have no blame for what he has done. They are going to need people to support them so they can rebuild their life. I know he has 2 daughters so I feel terrible for them. They pled for him to come home saying that they would still love him. I know they did that for his victim too. To take a minor across state lines is a serious offense. They are trying to hit sex traffickers with hard charges like kidnapping that have heavy prison sentences to make then hesitant to do that. This girl is going to need a lot of support. She did not go willingly. I am so glad she was found. The fact that she told her sister to call someone if she was not home tells me he probably used an excuse or threatened to commit suicide etc. to get her to meet him. He gives me the creeps. And he has done great irreparable harm to his own daughters & wife.

she went from one bad situation to worse sicko -hope he gets punished

Even if she chose to go with him, she was not old enough to make that choice especially sense she went across the country with him, and considering he is not her authority figure, there was not any parent communication about this, he took her to a place without telling anybody, this is considered kidnapping. She was being manipulated by him. If that runaway had been any longer, the outcome of this situation could've been way different. He should be put in jail and charged and Elizabeth should be put home back with her family. That is that.

You know what’s more emotionally and mentally scarring, than running away with your 50 year old teacher? Having your face and name plastered on national TV and having everyone you know, know that you ran away with your teacher, and now have to deal with THAT. That’s why I always disliked these shows. Even if people are okay with their names and faces being shown, a lot of people regret it afterwards, and in the cases of an embarrassing runaway with ugly old white dude, they victims should be anonymous 🙄

I hope she gets a lot of help and finally finds true one day when she's ready.

When I ran away from a bad situation at home to another state as a teen on my own, I was groomed and manipulated by a 48 year old man. I was all alone in a state where I knew no one. I was so convinced he loved me and that I loved him. He tried to cut me off slowly from any friends or family I had left so that I was more and more reliant on him. He would say they were judgmental and wrong and that what we had was special. He was so mentally and verbally abusive. I eventually got away from him and that relationship with the help of people who cared about me. My sister found out about our relationship and that we were going to take a roadtrip together and stopped it a few days before. He was so angry and made me feel terrible for canceling. Looking back I see why my sister sensed danger, but at the time I was so furious with her because I saw nothing wrong at all. Even now though only two or so years later I find myself still struggling with the emotions of that whole thing and wondering if he really did love me or if I'm still just kidding myself and protecting my own mind and heart from the truth. It's so complicated and I feel so stupid and foolish for having it happen at all that I never want to talk to anyone about it cos I still feel like it was my fault as well. I think about him every day still and his words are implanted on my mind. Some days I hate him with all my gut and then other days I wonder if I was wrong to ever leave and that maybe he was right all along and what we had was special. Just admitting that I even still have those thoughts feels so disgusting and wrong. It's so complicated. I feel for the girl in this story. I've been there.

can she please speak out

Wow, he completely ruined his family to live out some fantasy. First as their provider he runs away from his job, next he leaves his family to be with a 15 year old and to follow it up he takes out a loan that’s going to put his family under. That’s insult to injury to put them in debt before he leaves.

Nancy Grace ruins everything.

Many prayers have been answered. So thankful she's been found!

Imagine being his daughter or wife, every thought or memory of him as your father or husband touching you affectionately would make you physically sick and your skin crawl. Thank god the young girl was returned unharmed

I think she needs to get some treatment before returning home. For some young teen to run off with a guy in his 50s. Then that's a teen That's going to need treatment before returning home. She not right in the head! She might run away again or do something stupid. Get that child into some treatment center and fix her head up before returning her home

This just makes you feel all weird and creepy inside...

Good, that they've found her, I hope she is okay. Here in Germany a then 13 year old girl (Maria Henselmann) left her home with a man who was 53. They've been seen in Poland, where he left his car and his dog, but she never contacted her mother or sisters, and is missing ever since. That was in May 2013. Update: Maria came home in September 2018, the man, Bernhard Haase, got a 6 year prison sentence. They had met online when she was 12, he groomed her for months, until she agreed to meet him. He pressured her into having sex repeatedly, and when she thought that she was pregnant he suggested leaving the country with her. She was afraid of her mom being angry, so she ran away with him.

This is so sad. I hope that girl can heal from the abuse and one day have a happy healthy life.

I just can't grasp being 40 and having the slightest thought of a freakin teen🤦‍♀️

They were in St. Louis about 2 weeks ago! We saw them at a Schnucks and called 911. By the time the police got there, they fled!

He ruined every aspect of his life over a silly teenager. SMH...

It's just pure sickness. Just look at thos Cleveland girls kidnapped for 10 years!

Elizabeth Thomas needs to talk to Elizabeth Smart

Let's not forget she was also severely abused by her mother. Making her already emotionally vulnerable. Not to mention she is a CHILD. Grooming is a thing. I hope none of you have children.

I feel bad for the wife. They were high school sweethearts married for 30 something years only to be dumped to the side like this...hope she gets through it, she’s better without him now

Uh that's not a cabin it's a shed.

Im 11 and watch these allllll the time with my mom and let me tell you,..... they are very educational and I’ve learned so much from them 🦢

Age is just a number, just like a jail cell is just another room to rent.

Please people children are children for a reason

After the issue of Trust being broken by her mother, and then the grooming her at school. This child is broken, needs pro-active people around her to show her what’s right and wrong. This cretinous man took advantage of his community, as well as his families trust to abuse this child. He should be locked up for life.

He's gonna have a lot of boyfriends in prison.

I think her trauma will erupt over time

Fire that man from being a teacher.

This is really really sad :(

If she had done this 3 years later, no one would have given a sh*t

every inch of every school property should have cameras. this is enough abuse by now. there is no excuse for us not protecting our children.

I bet I bet as soon as she is 18 she will go looking for him

the fact that he bought Cialis, lube, and chocolate makes me sick

This teacher just gets creepier and creepier

imagine being with someone for 30 years and them not being the type of person you thought they were at all

I love how the girls family’s attorney says that she has a loving family. BS. Her mom was abusive. That’s why she was an easy target. Shame on her parents and the teacher

It's not kidnapping in the sense of "he forced her to come with him", but rather "she is not old enough to consent to leave her life to go with this man that's 3 times her age". Kinda like statutory rape when the underage individual says they consented.

And we’d like to thank Pee Wee’s big adventure for coming out for this interview 2:54

I live in Hermitage Tennessee and today's the day that she comes back

This is scary ...

@5:44 the "can i talk to your manager" haircut...

Anyone notice Nancy Graces eye has been taking a vacation West ?

My skin crawled when she mentioned Cialis and KY Jelly. Yuck!!! I hope this guy gets 40+ years in prison without parole just to make sure he never gets out.

Why would a teacher 👩‍🏫 kidnap a student 👩‍🎓 without her consent

They're everywhere... Even at schools!WTF!

Everyone's saying she wasn't kidnapped but he is an ADULT he should know better. A 15 year old, Really? She's a minor he knows that's wrong, he is a teacher of goodness sake. And She obviously needs physiological help, he took advantage of her.

This was absolutely insane from start to finish. He is the adult. He should have acted like one and put a stop to it before it even had anywhere to go. He definitely should have been arrested and charged with taking a minor across state lines. I tried to look for their Instagram pages so I could take a look at them but couldn’t find them.

What do we know at 15 years old? Nothing! Sick Ass. He probably did this before. Is not the first time.

They said this minors full ass name like 38 times lmao

Teachers were doing the name calling and teasing? They should all be fired bc clearly they have no business teaching kids . Elizabeth had a rough home life and Cummings clearly knew that that’s what predators do prey on the weak and vulnerable. The fact that anybody had the nerve to blame the kid and not the grown adult who groomed her over time. It’s in no way her fault and he took advantage. It really disturbs me anyone blames the kid. Sick stuff.

In 2016/2017 a teacher has been screaming at me, and his name is Mr. Gates.

He shouldn't be arrested for kidnapping, she willingly went,no one made her go,was she tied,handcuffed ?

God bless that child :'(:'( Unbelievable honestly

Do not name your daughters Elizabeth

They made this a lifetime movie it’s crazy

She's from my town and she spoke out she has a lot of siblings and her dad left and her mom abuses them. So sad

Great and successful job to law-enforcement and, for getting the nation involved.

Wow! Nancy Grace looks like an old hag.....

Oh this is horrific

The fact tht ppl r blaming the child is disgusting.

Just out of curiosity, I think a century or 2 ago people get married at 15.

she wasn't kidnapped she ran with him maybe it was her choice

man she went through alot glad they find her

Shes lucky to be alive..most missing people dont come back alive

Tennessee?....that explains everything!!

I'm shocked that everyone is saying 15 years is old enough and that she is not a victim. Shame on everyone in this comment section, are you guys kidding? She is still a child! She was easily manipulated by a creep telling her everything she wanted to hear. I look back on decisions I made when I was 18 and feel embarrassed I can't even imagine how she will feel in a few years

I don’t want anyone to run away

How is this poor girl now? I feel for her that she thought people were thinking she was anything less than a victim of this predator. My heart goes out to her and I pray she’s found good support structures for a healthy recovery from this manipulation. May people worthy of her trust surround her with care and appropriate resources.

I don't really understand, at my 11 years old a man tried to molest me and pushed me to go with him; but for some reason I knew that was wrong. So I don't get how a 15 years old don't know what she is doing. She is not a child, a minor probably, but not a child anymore. Sadly there are people with low self esteem that can be brainwashed so easily. I am glad she is home again with her family !!!!

I can't get over the fact he bought ladies razors, chocolate and J-Y jelly. I'm throwing up!!! Hope he enjoyed his little trip. He'd better switch the razors to the kind for men where he's going. Did anyone else see this news conference where this "15 year old little girl" sat on her DADDY'S lap during the televised news conference? Something's not right. Was she in special ed?

Wow, "she's so lucky"

He has daughters not much older than the girl he abducted... sickening.

Nancy Grace is so annoying. She always has to state her opinion as though it's a fact.

He must have gotten those hickies in his mug shot by magic. She is such a victim.

I think she willingly went with him, not manipulated, not forced, but willingly. If she was going to him about her problems, he might've wanted to help her. All these fucking news people know nothing about this situation, they weren't there. This is why I hate adults. It's not like he killed anyone, & it doesn't look like she was harmed either.

Hey,, this made me realize a good Website to start for this type of thing!,,to help!,,,

A 15 year old girl cant decided weather or not she wants to go some where with someone but a 10 years old boy can decide he want to be a girl and everyone is fine with that #merica'

K y jelly and Cialis? Dam he is screwed!

This sick man ....They need to give him the death penalty.

It's weird that if she was only 2 years older this would be completely legal. Because in reality it's basically the same thing.

She could have easily said help me this guys holding me against my will COME ON YOUR IN WALMART BRUUUU

I bet they had to pull him off of her.

I love how onision still isnt in trouble for doing a very similar thing

Poor child.

that is messed up

The is a 50 YEAR OLD MAN. He has lived half his life, he has grown children and probably even grandchildren. Whoever thinks a sexual relationship between a 50 YEAR 'OLD MAN' and a 15 year old 'child' (boy or girl) is normal, is totally and completely sick.

You people keep saying she went willingly, but she told her sister to call the police if she didn't come back that day.

That shopping list is vomit inducing