Teacher flees with student

Photo: The Canadian Press

Teacher Tad Cummins took guns, money and his wife's car before kidnapping a 15-year-old female student and taking her on a 2,500-mile cross-country journey that ended Thursday, court records show.

He had just been suspended from teaching and police were zeroing in on him, questioning his relationship with the girl.

After taking out a loan for $4,500, the records say, the teacher took the money and two handguns and wrote a note to his wife saying he needed to go to Virginia Beach or the D.C. area to clear his head.

But instead of going to the beach, police say he picked up the student in Columbia, Tenn., in his wife's white Nissan Rogue on the morning of March 13, setting in motion a six-week police manhunt.

"It is believed based on the investigation to date, as set forth herein, that Cummins, age 50, and victim, age 15, are involved in a sexual relationship and travelled in interstate commerce to continue their relationship and to engage in unlawful sexual activity," the criminal complaint against Cummins says.

Cummins, the federal complaint says, is charged with taking a minor across states lines to have sex.