The wife of a former Middle Tennessee teacher accused of abducting 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas last month wants a divorce, court papers show.
Jill Cummins, who has publicly pleaded with her husband, Tad Cummins, to bring the Columbia, Tenn. girl home, filed the documents in Maury County Chancery Court Friday citing irreconcilable differences and inappropriate marital conduct.
The 49-year-old woman who was married to her husband for 31 years is seeking alimony and attorney fees, according to the four-page suit.
Court papers show the marriage was the first for both.
Her 50-year-old husband is wanted on an aggravated kidnapping charge.
In addition, she lists March 13 as the date they separated and claims she has had no contact with her husband since March 13 — the day an Amber Alert was issued in her husband's case by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on behalf of the Maury County Sheriff's Office.
According to the filing, Jill Cummins alleges her husband cannot be found at his Columbia home , and that "there is just cause to believe that the defendant has gone beyond the limits of this state."
Her attorney, Michael Cox, said the pair have two adult children so his client is not seeking child support.
"Jill wants to the extent possible, move forward with her life and she has to do the things she has to do to protect herself," Cox said Tuesday. "She understands the possible impact that this might have on either Tad or Elizabeth, she just didn't do this without proper reflection or consideration."
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Tad Cummins, a former Culleoka Unit School health science teacher, is accused of taking Thomas on March 13. The girl's disappearance came more than a month after a student reported seeing Cummins and Thomas kiss. A timeline and report on the school’s investigation released followed the actions that led to Cummins' suspension and eventual termination on the same day the two went missing.
Since they disappeared, there has only been one credible sighting of the pair at an Oklahoma City Walmart.
According to the TBI, agents have information that placed Thomas in Decatur, Ala. early on, but it was not an actual sighting, TBI spokeswoman Susan Niland said.
As of late Tuesday morning, Niland said the TBI had received 1,257 tips reported in the case, with 1037 of them closed and the rest open and being pursued.