"20/20" features the first on-camera interview with Elizabeth Thomas, who was taken at age 15 by her Tennessee high school teacher Tad Cummins, resulting in panicked friends and family and a 38-day nationwide manhunt. In the interview, Elizabeth opens up to ABC News correspondent Eva Pilgrim, saying Tad had a gun in his car and threatened to harm her and her family unless she left town with him to start a new life. The full interview airs on "20/20," Friday, Sept. 21 (10:01-11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC.
"20/20" features interviews with those closest to Tad and Elizabeth who describe the relationship between the two and what they think led him to take her in March 2017. Pilgrim retraces their journey from Tennessee to a remote area in northern California, investigating how these two were able to remain hidden when authorities across the country were searching for them. This hour includes interviews with Jill Cummins, Tad's wife, who has filed for divorce; Ashlee Conner and Erica Osborne, Tad's daughters; Anthony Thomas, Elizabeth's father; Josh and Sarah Thomas, Elizabeth's siblings; Jason Whatley, Thomas family attorney; District Attorney Brent Cooper; and Griffin Barry, the man whose tip led to Tad's arrest.Videos