Former Tennessee teacher Tad Cummins was arrested this morning near a remote commune in northern California and 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas, whom he was alleged to have kidnapped, was found unharmed nearly 2,500 miles from home after an intense five-week search. <br />At a press conference held Thursday afternoon, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) spokesperson Josh DeVine recounted how a tip from a resident led to Cummins' capture and Thomas' recovery. <br />According to the official, at around 11pm on Wednesday, TBI got a call from a man saying he may have encountered the wanted pair. <br />The man said that the two of them were believed to have taken up residence in a cabin in Cecilville, California - a very isolated and rural area near the Oregon border - within the last week and a half. <br />TBI then contacted the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office and learned that investigators there had received the same tip from the same person who contacted the Tennessee agency. <br /> <br /> <br />THE COUPLE'S FLIGHT FROM JUSTICE <br />January 23: Tad Cummins is spotted kissing Elizabeth Thomas, his student at Culleoka High School, by another student. He denies the claim, saying that they are friends; she is taken out of his classes <br />February 3: Cummins is reprimanded by the school principal after Elizabeth is found to have entered his classroom for around 30 minues <br />February 6: Cummins is suspended <br />c. March 9: Cummins takes out a $4,500 loan on his car. <br />March 10: Cummins makes the last in a series of impromptu appearances at Elizabeth's place of work <br />March 12: Cummins buys hair dye from Walmart in Columbia, TN <br />March 13, 7:45am: Thomas is dropped off at Shoney's in Columbia by a friend <br />March 13, 8am: Cummins is seen pumping gas in Columbia <br />March 13, noon: Cummins and Elizabeth are seen together in Decatur, AL, around 70 miles from Columbia. He is fired from his job this same day <br />March 15: Cummins and Thomas are seen buying food at a Walmart. They are sporting dyed hair. This is their last sighting for more than a month <br />March 30: Tad Cummins' wife of 31 years, Jill, files for divorce <br />April 19: The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is contacted by a man who says he has seen the pair in Cecilville, California. Police converge on a remote cabin, arrest Cummins and confirm that Elizabeth is safe
