NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says it’s in the final stages of adding Tad Cummins, the man who authorities believe kidnapped 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas, to their Top 10 Most Wanted list.

A $1,000 reward will be offered once he is added to the list.

Authorities said Elizabeth is in a “dire situation” as she has not been seen or heard from for the past four days. In fact, the TBI said they have had a shocking low number of tips in this case.

Because of the length of time, an additional warrant has been issued for Cummins on charges of aggravated kidnapping. If convicted, he faces 8 to 12 years behind bars.

They spoke to Cummins directly urging him to turn himself in.

Officials also urged the public to get involved, saying they simply needed more tips.

Elizabeth was last seen around 8 a.m. at the Shoney’s in Columbia, Tennessee. Her parents reported her missing that very same day, with an Amber Alert being issued the following day. She was later spotted in Decatur, Alabama around 3 p.m. Monday.

Elizabeth is a 15-year-old white female, with blonde hair, hazel eyes, stands 5’5” and weighs 120 pounds. She was last seen wearing a flannel shirt and black leggings.

Cummins is a white male, who stands 6’0”, weighs approximately 200 pounds, and has brown hair and eyes. He is believe to be armed with two handguns and driving a silver Nissan Rogue with Tennessee tag 976-ZPT.</s></s>In the space of a brilliant six-over spell against India yesterday, young Australian quick Pat Cummins showed why the selectors rushed him into the Test team.

On a benign surface which offered nothing to the fast bowlers, Cummins used his underrated cunning to work over India’s most in-form batsman KL Rahul, who was threatening to canter to a big ton.

Analysis of the 23-year-old fast bowler tends to focus heavily on his unsettling pace and bounce, often overlooking Cummins’ impressive cricketing brain.

The manner in which he kept the Indian batsmen guessing during that six-over burst was as clever as anything I’ve seen from a Test paceman in recent years.

Cummins swiftly summed up the conditions. He recognised that simply bowling flat out and looking to burst through the batsman’s defence was not likely to bear fruit on this sleepy surface.

So he made his sharpest deliveries more surprising and therefore threatening by varying his pace and ball release. Using tactics ripped from T20, the format in which Cummins has the most experience, he employed a befuddling array of variations.

In between searing deliveries in the 145-to-148kmh range, he sent down off cutters, leg cutters, cross seamers, dipping, floating changeups, and slower-ball bouncers.

Rahul was patently unsettled by Cummins’ approach. When Cummins started that spell Rahul was flying along on 52 from 71 balls, and the opening stand was getting away from Australia.

Rahul was stopped dead in his tracks by Cummins’ trickery, scoring only 3 from 17 balls against him in this spell before falling victim to the young quick. In the end it was variation which undid Rahul, with Cummins rolling his fingers across a short ball which reared up at the Indian strokemaker, kissed his glove and lobbed to keeper Matt Wade.

It was just reward for Cummins who was the pick of the Australian bowlers. The wicket of Rahul was incredibly important on a surface which looks likely to break up on days four and five but right now is brimming with runs.

It should have come as little surprise that Cummins bowled so well, for his expansive talent has never been in doubt.

The questions, always, centre around his durability. There were encouraging signs in the way he powered through that long spell. At no point did Cummins look tired or straining for extra pace. His final delivery of that spell scorched through at 145kmh.

Any discussion about Cummins is littered with ‘ifs’. His immensely intelligent and skilful display yesterday underlined that, if he can stay healthy, he will quickly become a quality Test bowler. Australia will desperately need him to bowl just as well again for the remainder of this Test as they face a stern challenge to force a positive result.

At 1-120 India are well placed to match or surpass Australia’s good first innings total of 451. The hosts will draw confidence from the fact that, in their recent home series against England, they twice secured innings victories despite England making solid first innings totals.

In the fifth Test of that series, England made 477 batting first only for the hosts to pile up 7-759 and turn the match on its head. They will plan to do just that again here in Ranchi.

There are, however, two clear differences between that situation and this one.

Firstly, Australia’s bowling attack has showed in this series that it is far more threatening than England’s proved to be in India. Secondly, India’s fifth Test batting heroics against England came in the deadest of dead rubbers against a side whose spirit was broken.

Here, by comparison, India need to make 500-plus under immense pressure – they know that a poor batting effort could hand the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia.</s>MAURY COUNTY, Tenn. -- Authorities continue their search for 15-year-old Mary Catherine Elizabeth Thomas. Investigators believe she is with 50-year-old Tad Cummins.

Investigators with the TBI say they are trying to understand some of Cummins' actions in the weeks leading up to the AMBER Alert. They say he secured a title loan for a personal vehicle several day before his disappearance netting $4,500 in cash.

Cummins’ has no criminal history as an adult in Tennessee, law enforcement officials told WHNT News 19.

On Twitter, he described himself as a Jesus freak, husband, father, and grandfather. He was an active coach for the health sciences club – which trains students to go into the medical field.

He has a martial arts background. His Twitter account is pretty basic, and he doesn't appear to be on Facebook.

An Instagram account bearing his name and photo suggests he took a different direction over the past two weeks, but WHNT News 19 hasn’t verified it’s Cummins' account.

The account shows over the past two weeks scores of love messages about a soul mate, island scenes and more, including the message,

 "Good morning all!! This is going to be an amazing day. Let's do this!"

That was posted Monday, the same day Thomas was last seen.

WHNT News 19 spoke with a neighbor of Cummins for a little more insight into who he is.

Haven Drive in Columbia, Tennessee is a quiet street, and according to those who live nearby, Tad Cummins is a quiet neighbor. Randall Scott said the whole situation doesn't match up with the man he knows from next door.

"[He's] very dedicated to his family, appeared to be very respectful, to everyone," said Scott.

Scott has lived next door to Cummins for a little over a year and said he has never had a negative interaction with him.

"He is a school teacher, he's very academically gifted, very intelligent guy," he said.

He said Cummins' role as a teacher is the very reason this whole thing has come as a shock.

"So it is a huge surprise that he would take any kind situation of this nature to this level," said Scott.

As a former Columbia police officer Scott is hoping Cummins does the right thing.

"I would ask him to turn himself in, and let the judicial system get in motion and resolve this in a very peaceful manner," he said.

Another neighbor, Maverick James, has a couple different connections to Cummins but was just as shocked.

"It was a surprise because he's such an honest man. You know we always thought he was a down to earth guy. He's always helped my elderly grandparents over here if they needed help," he explained.

James has a couple of connections to Cummins. For a short time he was also a student at Culleoka Unit School, where Cummins taught. No one saw this coming.

"Everyone loved him. He had a good sense of humor, and you know I've never heard one bad thing of him at Culleoka," he said.

James said he thinks this whole thing falls back on the school system a little bit.

"The school system should've called the girl's parents and took precaution, because you know no one knew of this situation occurring," he explained.

He said they should've contacted the local police department, because that's what they're there for.

"So I think something should've been taken care of way before it got to this, and blown out to this proportion," said James.

Authorities are acting now, and hoping it's not too late. Maury County school leaders confirm Cummins has been fired as a teacher at Culleoka Unit School.</s>Truck drivers eager to experience firsthand Cummins award-winning X15 Efficiency Series and X15 Performance Series engines will get their chance at the Mid-America Trucking Show (MATS).

Cummins will hold ride-and-drives at MATS on March 23, 24 and 25, with the latest 2017 X15 Efficiency Series and X15 Performance Series engines hauling fully loaded trailers on an interstate loop. Drivers will get a real-world feel for the smooth acceleration, tremendous pulling power and exceptional fuel efficiency that Cummins X15 engines deliver – with zero compromises. Reservations for specific driving times will be coordinated by Cummins representatives in Cummins Booth 30025 at the show.

One tractor-trailer will be equipped with the X15 Efficiency Series engine in a typical fuel- economy-minded spec. Drivers will experience how Cummins “look-ahead” ADEPT™ technology and the highest compression ratio in the industry make trucks easier to drive, with up to 1850 lb-ft of torque starting at just 1000 rpm.

The other tractor-trailer will have an X15 Performance Series engine under the hood. Rated at up to 605 hp and 2050 lb-ft of peak torque, with industry-leading 600 braking horsepower, this is a truck driver’s ultimate dream machine. The ride-and-drive route includes highway on- and off-ramps, where this engine’s full capabilities can be put to the test.

Mario Sanchez, Director – On Highway Marketing Communications, encouraged attendees to take advantage of this unique opportunity. “Whether you are looking to lower your fuel usage or you are an expediter concerned with having the power to maintain speed through the mountains, there’s a Cummins X15 that’s right for you,” he said. “While others at MATS talk about technology of the future, Cummins is putting it in your hands.”

Any driver with a valid commercial driver’s license (CDL) can sign up to drive an X15-powered vehicle, while non-CDL holders can sign up to ride along with a Cummins driver. Signups for the ride-and-drive will take place during MATS in Cummins Booth 30025, in the South Wing of the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center.

*Automotive World is not responsible for the content of this news release.</s>Pat Cummins has the middle finger of his right hand cut off by a centimetre

During the ongoing third Test between India and Australia, former Australian fast bowler and a commentator for the official broadcasters, Brett Lee revealed a secret about the man who was hailed as his heir, Pat Cummins.

Brett Lee pointed out that the 23-year-old pacer, who is playing a Test after 6 years, has the middle finger of his right hand cut off by a centimetre and went on to narrate how he lost it. When Cummins was in childhood, his sister slammed a door on his finger and the pacer had to lose the part that has the nail in his middle finger.

In case you didn’t know

Pat Cummins was one of the most important members of the ODI and T20I squad and the same cannot be said of the longer formats as he returned to the Australian Test team after six years. The New South Welshman made his Test debut against South Africa in 2011 and suffered various injuries that kept him out of the sport for the last few years.

The board wanted to preserve him for the all-important Ashes that will take place in Australia later this year but an injury to Mitchell Starc made them recall the pacer much before the Ashes. He got out for a duck in his return match and with the ball, he looked impressive and bounced out KL Rahul, who was looking good for a big one.

Extra cover: 20 things that have happened since Pat Cummins' last Test appearance

Even before making his debut, Cummins, in an exclusive with Cricket Australia, recalled that incident. He also added that missing a part of the middle finger doesn’t affect him and still, his sister ends up in tears for slamming the door.

"I lost the top of my finger when I was about three or four (years old). It got slammed in a door and I lost about a centimetre off the top of my finger. It doesn't really affect me because (the finger) is about the same length as the other one (index finger). I still get my sister in tears … (because) she slammed the door on it."

Extra cover: 10 things to know about Pat Cummins

Being a right-arm fast bowler, Cummins manages to generate a lot of pace and swing movement without the top of his middle finger. He deserves a lot of appreciation for coming a long way and representing his country at the top level.

As Brett Lee said, it has also given him a big advantage as both his middle finger and index finger are the exact same length, something that might aid the ball coming out with a nice seam position.</s>Sometime in January this year, Australian fast bowler James Pattinson was restlessly awaiting his best friend Pat Cummins at a Sydney cafe. Among other topics, they planned to discuss their remodelled actions. A patient transfer vehicle rushed in, and Cummins jumped out of it.

Pattinson was shocked, but Cummins explained: “CA has a stipulation that I take every precaution to stay fit. Reckon I should do all my comings and goings in one of these. I even have to lie on the stretcher,” he said. A few months ago, Cummins chimed in, they had him chauffeur-driven in a customised hearse. “I’d have to lie in a coffin wrapped in cotton wool and straw. Just to be on the safe side,” he said.

It can’t be for real, for sure. It was not. It was part of a rehearsed spoof-script by an Australian media-house in which they were simply acting. But it won’t be too surprising if Cricket Australia, in the future, sought such extreme measures to look after the perpetually injury-prone fast bowlers. Especially Cummins, whom they should preserve as if he were a piece of art.

His catalogue of injuries reads thus: a bone stress injury in his foot, stress fractures of the back, then back injuries and then, again, stress fractures of the back. Even Cummins has lost count of the number of times his body was subjected to the surgeon’s scalpel. These are enough reasons to ponder over quitting the game.

For six years since a supersonic blur of limbs and arms sped, compressed into a corkscrew action and snapped the attention of the world, Cummins hasn’t played another Test. In fact, he has featured in only three first-class games, two for Australia A and one for New South Wales.

Just to put his absence from the longer format into perspective, Ricky Ponting was still there when he took six-for-79 in a match-winning effort against South Africa on debut. Between then and now, Australia lost the Ashes, then reclaimed it and then lost it again. Between then and now, 27 more Australians have won the Baggy Green. Had he not missed a single match since then, he would have been a 62-Tests veteran and not a one-Test wonder.

Understandably, his world came crumbling down and those same people who had swooned about him as the next Aussie pace bowling sensation had consigned him to obscurity. But Cummins was no quitter. His passion to continue playing for Australia kept burning. He contacted Dennis Lillee in the middle of last year, as had Mitchell Johnson before his most intimidating years. There wouldn’t have been a better legend to resort for advice, for few other could have grasped the doubts of a severely injured fast bowler as Lillee, who himself had endured the dark years of self-doubts when struck down by a career-threatening vertebrae injury.

By that time, Cummins had remodelled his action at the academy, and after watching several footages of his new action, Lillee fathomed it wasn’t action that troubled him, but he was bowling with new action too soon. “He unfortunately got talked into trying to bowl too fast too soon,”Lillee said.

So, the rehab began with him underarm-bowling, and from there he gradually began to bowl gentle medium pace and then with outright pace. “He now realises that and he’s trying to hold together that remodelling and not get talked into bowling too fast until his body is ready and his motor-muscle memory changes to the new action,”Lillee observed.

More than the technical adjustments, it was the workload aspect that they talked in depth. “He understood that the main thing about fast bowlers is realising the body. And if he continues to bowl with this in mind, he can play another 10 years for Australia and can be the No 1 bowler in the world,” said Lillee.

But several other former cricketers were less convinced of Cummins being hastily fast-tracked into the Test circuit. For apart from a few T20Is and ODIs, he has bowled in just one Shield match, wherein he bowled 36 overs and picked up eight wickets. Former fast bowler and NSW bowling Geoff Lawson was one of those cynics: “They have already broken him last year by making him play too early. This is his third comeback from these stress fractures and they’ve picked him against the plan which was to let him play Shield Games.” The biggest concern would be what if breaks down in the middle of a match. Australia will be with one bowler less.

But the selectors obviously saw something distinct in him. It’s, as Steve Smith once said, the X-factor. Add aggression, bounce and pace to it, and he has several qualities that Jackson Bird can’t furnish. On a supposedly low-slow track in Ranchi, his pace could be lethal, the bounce precious and aggression indispensable. A few glimpses of it were seen on the dead practice wickets, where only he made the ball hop to the batsmen’s rib cages.

Cummins, if indeed he plays in Ranchi, would call this a second debut. If his second debut can be as a stunning as his debut, or even half as good that, Australia can begin to swoon on him again.

For all the latest Sports News, download Indian Express App now</s>Due to Tuesday’s storm, access to the Bulletin’s e-edition will be available for free until 5 p.m. Friday, March 17.

The link can be found in the bar on the upper left hand side of the Bulletin’s home page: http://wiltonbulletin.ct.newsmemory.com/</s>Amber Alerts have been issued in Tennessee and Alabama for a 15-year-old girl believed to be with a former teacher who police say is armed and dangerous.Elizabeth Thomas was last seen around 8:00 a.m. Monday at a Shoney's restaurant in Columbia, Tenn., after being dropped off by a friend, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Her parents reported her missing later in the day.Investigators believe Thomas is in the custody of 50-year-old Tad Cummins. On Wednesday morning, District Attorney General Brent Coopers confirmed that Cummins is charged in connection with an alleged sexual interaction with Thomas at the school where he taught and she was a student. The school district suspended Cummins when the allegations surfaced and terminated his employment Tuesday, police said.Thomas is described by police as being 5'5", 120 pounds with blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was last seen wearing a flannel shirt and black leggings. Police said Cummins has brown hair, brown eyes, is 6 feet tall and weighs approximately 200 pounds.Cummins is believed to be armed with two handguns and driving a silver Nissan Rogue with Tennessee tag 976-ZPT, police said.Investigators said they were able to place Thomas in Decatur, Ala., at around 3:00 p.m. Monday afternoon. Neither Thomas nor Cummins have any connection to the area, police said.Police said they were able to determine that Cummins secured a title loan for a personal vehicles several days before his disappearance, netting $4,500 in cash. Authorities are hoping to speak with anyone who may have had an interaction with either Cummins or Thomas prior to their disappearance.If you have information on Thomas or Cummins, call the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations at 1-800-TBI-FIND. If you spot the vehicle and can verify the license plate to be TN 976-ZPT, call 911.</s>20 things that have happened since Pat Cummins' last Test appearance

Ahead of the ongoing third test match against India, Australian pacer Mitchell Starc was ruled out of the last two Tests and Pat Cummins was called in as a replacement. Cummins, who is an integral part of Australia’s limited-over teams, is yet to make a name for himself in the longer formats.

Since winning the Man of the Match award in his debut in 2011, Cummins did not play a single Test before being a part of the Australian playing XI in the third Test in Ranchi. In fact, he has played only one first-class match in the last six years as he suffered various injuries that kept him out of action.

Extra cover: 10 things to know about Pat Cummins

Let us take a look at 20 things that happened since Cummins played his last Test.

#1 Australia had four different Prime Ministers (Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull).

#2 Big Bash League didn’t exist. The sixth edition of the BBL got concluded recently.

#3 IPL was the only franchise-based T20 tournament.

#4 Steve Smith was recalled into the Australian Test team and now, he is the captain of Australia in all three formats.

#5 Virat Kohli cemented his place in the Test Team and became India’s captain in all three formats.

#6 R Ashwin (a week before Cummins) and Ravindra Jadeja made their Test debuts and are currently the number 1 in ICC Test bowlers’ rankings.

#8 Rohit Sharma was dropped from the Indian ODI team, made a return as an opener, cemented his place and currently, he is one of the best ODI openers.

#9 The record for the fastest ODI 100 was broken twice. First, it was Corey Anderson, who broke Shahid Afridi’s world record and then AB de Villiers broke Anderson’s record.

#10 Sachin Tendulkar was the only batsman to score a double hundred in ODIs. Now, five batsmen have reached the milestone with Rohit Sharma doing it twice.

#11 David Warner made his Test debut, was dropped from the team, came back and was appointed the vice-captain of the Australian team.

#12 Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Michael Clarke, Kumar Sangakkara, Brendon McCullum etc. hung up their boots.

#13 England’s James Taylor made his debut for England and retired from the game due to heart problems.

#14 Gautam Gambhir was India’s batting mainstay in Tests before he was dropped from the team in 2012. He made a comeback in 2014, only to be dropped again after playing just 2 matches. He made a comeback again in 2016 before he was finally dropped for one last time.

#16 South Africa saw four different Test captains- Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis.

#17 Five teams (England, South Africa, Australia, Pakistan and India) held the number 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings.

#18 Rohit Sharma made his Test debut. He was dropped from the Test team four times after that and made a comeback five times.

#19 With the exception of Steve Smith and Nathan Lyon, all the other Australian players in the current playing XI (third Test against India in Ranchi) made their Test debut and played more matches than Cummins.

#20 Few things that are yet to change are Pakistan beating India in World Cups, South Africa winning an ICC event and Shahid Afridi announcing his retirement (& eventual comebacks).
An all-points bulletin is issued for Cummins.