LEMON: A highly regarded doctor with the CDC disappeared without a trace two weeks ago. And his desperate family is now pleading for health. Dr. Timothy Cunningham left work at the centers for disease control and prevention in Atlanta on February 12th and hasn't been heard from since. So I want to bring in now his parents, Tia and Terrell Cunningham. Thank you so much for joining us. You must be terrified. How are you guys holding up, Tia?
TIA CUNNINGHAM, MOTHER OF MISSING CDC RESEARCHER: Don, I'm really doing the best I can. It's very hard. I just take one day at a time. I thank god, once I get up and start my day. But it is very difficult without Timothy.
[23:50:00] LEMON: I can only imagine, Mrs. Cunningham. Mr. Cunningham, tell us now what police are saying. Do they have any leads about what may have happened?
TERRELL CUNNINGHAM, FATHER OF MISSING CDC RESEARCHER: As of now, we have no real leads. Of course, the police department has been very communicative with us, and all of what has been shared with us, we cannot actually share with the general public. But in terms of being able to tell you I'm positive that Tim will be returned soon, I am not able to do that. But I am prayerful and we are trusting god that our son will be returned safely. And it is only through prayers and support of others that we have actually been able to survive, because this is something that, that you are not trained for. You are not prepped for, and one can never imagine the difficulty that you would experience when you your loved child just disappears. And without any accountability or, idea where he is at. When, when he has such a history of being so responsible. And dependable that I think that is what puts us all at such disbelief we are at this state.
LEMON: Let me ask you, Mrs. Cunningham. I know that you had, you received a text from him early in the morning, but I am not sure about your last conversations with him. Did everything seem ok?
TIA CUNNINGHAM: My last, last communication with him verbally was Sunday, it was, the 11th, last Sunday. It was around like 12:30. I just came back from church. And Timmy called. So I picked, ran in the house to pick of the phone. And I asked him, he said, how are you doing? I am just calling you to check in. And I said, Tim, let me call you back. I have a lot of things in my hands. So, I had a bite to eat. I called him back. And at that time, Tim was, he was fine.
LEMON: Yes.
TIA CUNNINGHAM: Yes.
LEMON: Mr. Cunningham. An article in today's "Washington Post" you, said some of the exchanges with your son before his disappearance was concerning, because he was focus several personal and professional issues. Do you mind sharing what you meant, is that?
TERRELL CUNNINGHAM: I can give you some clarity, but I am not able to share. Again, an open case. What Tia has stated. Given the fact that she had a conversation with him at or about 12, noon, later that evening, at or about 7:00 there was a distinct difference in the tone, even voice tone, of the conversation and the text communication that occurred from Timothy to us at, about 7:00. Well to follow on at 7:00 a.m. that morning, Tim did, speak to Tiara, Tiara his younger sister. And I spoke to Tiara as a follow-up, how is Tim doing? It is more or less to see if in fact the same person that I thought we had communicated with earlier, if there was greater clarity. At that point, we still had reasons to be concerned. So, that led to the, to the, intense attempts to communicate to Tim throughout the day on Monday. And it persisted into Tuesday. At which time, we were all making several calls, leaving voice mails, as well as the, sending, text messages. To no avail. We did not have a return.
LEMON: Yes.
LEMON: Well, let me just say. You know speaking of that, there is a rumor circulating on the internet your son was a whistle blower and warned about the flu shot not being responsible for this year's, flu shot being responsible for the deadly flu season. That is not correct you. You wanted to correct the record on that. Tell the viewers according to you, has nothing to do with it. And I also understand Mr. And Mrs. Cunningham, crime stoppers, Atlanta crime stoppers offering $10,000 reward for information leading to her arrest on indictment in Tim's case.
TERRELL CUNNINGHAM: That is true. We have had a tremendous outpour with the -- with the site. And, so the purpose of that, those funds, were to lead into the recovery, the return, rewards, so. We have taken a portion of those funds, and put it towards the -- the $10,000 reward with crime stoppers. The timeline is just not, not normal that a 35-year-old black man, a true professional, disappears.
[23:55:00] There is no, currently, there is no evidence or signs of foul play. Now, we can speak to that, because we were the individuals who entered Tim's home at about 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday. So, all of that information, describing what we found, has been given to the Atlanta police department.
LEMON: There was nothing out of place according to, I read numerous stories, nothing out of place, wallet, keys, and his dog. All there in the apartment. Which makes it even odder. We thank you so much and we hope this helps and we are trying to get the word out for you. Let us know if you can update us. Thank you so much.
TERRELL CUNNINGHAM: Thank you.
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1802/26/cnnt.02.html
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