Found Safe TN - Mary Catherine Elizabeth Thomas, 15, Maury County, 13 March 2017 #7

[Friedgreentomatoes]

I just don't understand why they haven't issued AA's nationwide.

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The AA may not be nationwide but the info is getting out there. I shared the info with a friend in New Mexico had in fact heard of the kidnapping.

I just hate it because one of largest media markets in the area (Nashville) was releasing information about a judge being arrested on corruption charges by the fbi at the time of this conference so that is lots of people that didn't hear the latest instructions on what to do if they spot TC or ET.

 

[cady]

One thing to remember is that she asked the girl to take her home. She couldn't get a ride home so now she is stranded in Columbia. She may have asked TC to take her home. At that point he was her only ride home. She may have deliberately left the backpack as a safety measure, but when they went back to retrieve it, she wasn't able to escape....either under duress, or thinking that he was going to take her home. We do not know. But that scenario is plausible. She may not have felt trapped until she realized that he was not about to take her home. JMO

 

[KKearns]

Ok, i'll put myself in the hotseat for this one.... because i feel like it may be the only way to find ET. People who 'support' TC will not post on here for getting jumped on by everyone... so we won't get their point of view or reasoning. So i'm going to play devils advocate here and play both sides of the fence. I FULLY believe that since this case is basically stalled, it needs to be looked at from different angles. So we have some bright minds on here.... lets do it. No snarkiness or nastiness needed. Lets look at us as a THINKTANK where all ideas thrown out, as wild as they may be, can be talked about civilly .

So lets start at the beginning: TC's intention: TC has been grooming ET (or possibly others) for his pleasure/attention/sex..... to what end?
Do you think he went into this knowing he'd have to run? or did he get too cocky and get caught that forced his hand?
Is he the type that could have kept it 'secret' forever and just had a secret life going on for years... and planned on staying married and continuing his side perversions?

My guess this is the first contact with a child he has made or the cops would know about it by now.

Also I'm willing to say he might not have had bad intent but maybe seeing someone that had a hard time and he let himself cross boundaries and it was a mess before he knew it.

There is a teacher at my sister's school that has always been one all the kids like and I believe he has let boundaries be crossed with the kids, but hasn't done anything. I talked to the principal about it and I wasn't the first. Someone had recently come to them and they had talked to him and that behavior changed. He is young and really relates to the kids and I honestly don't think he was being inappropriate, just not keeping some boundaries, even if to keep himself protected from a false claim.

I could see TC being that way and not being some pedophile that has fought urges his entire life.

I'm open to that, but there is a point where someone has to say "I'm the adult, this is crossing boundaries and I need to get someone to step in here."

 

[KKearns]

I feel like they have read this board and, then, had a press conference. We have known, probably since the 2nd day, that they had ET's height wrong. Now, they are also picking up on the previously posted Central America data. I'm sorry, but I still have a low opinion of TN TBI after poor Holly Bobo.

There was another case I wasn't happy with TBI also. What was it?

Oh yeah, Adam Mayes.

 

[Shelby1]

Thank you to those that kept me in the loop about the latest press conference.

Finally got caught up from around 5pm yesterday. Ya'll talked a lot

On the last thread, people were speculating as to why Tad took the Nissan instead of the Jeep. My opinion is that he did it for the better gas milage. Also, maybe his Jeep is a stick shift and he was thinking that MCE might help drive at times? I know from MCE's sister that she doesn't have a permit yet, but that wouldn't have stopped me from driving.....

Another thing I want to say is that in studying Tad's IG he gained a lot of weight in quite a short amount of time --unless those Wal-Mart cameras add about 25 lbs. lol. I think that he did this on purpose and he's now losing a lot of weight in a short amount of time. He wouldn't have to buy new clothes...he would simply take the clothes that fit him before. So, what I'm trying to say is we should be on the look-out for skinnier Tad.

To MCE's sister: Thank you so much for taking time to answer questions here. I KNOW it isn't easy at all to read what a bunch of strangers think about what's going on.

 

[OtisC]

It seems the PC was called for a few reasons. To inform the locals that this isn't a romantic leaving, in other words she most likely did not go willingly and she's not safe with him. They also called it to let people know that along with calling the tip line, they should also call local LE. Lastly, it was to put another plea out to TC to let her go.

I kind of agree with you.

There is a concern with the relative low number of tips and no confirmed sightings.

LE's thought might be that people are seeing this as just a romance with a huge age gap and not a real concern.

She could have left willingly and thought this was a romance. He may be justifying his actions by believing this is a romance. However, it is not really a romance but rather an illusion of a romance.

Bottom line, I think LE in concerned with citizen complacency with this case.

The above is my opinion only.

 

[KKearns]

I am not sure how overt people were of their observations of any potential cues of inappropriate behavior. If any were heard, the natural response, based on Tad's image, would be to question the validity of such comments.

Until recently, it seems practically everyone that knew him had a reasonably high respect for him.

I would not think close friends are in a dilemma at this point. It is possible they can support the man they thought they knew but not support his actions.

I have supported friends that have made terrible decisions (not this bad) while making it clear that I do not support their actions. When I say support, I am not saying enable or ignore their actions. It is simply, I will try to walk through a recovery with you because I know who you once were.


The above is my opinion only.

Some article about the report of the kiss, etc, were pretty damning of the teachers and administrators.

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[Mountain_Kat]

I suspect many adults are not wanting to admit that they could share part of the responsibly of ET not being protected. Maybe they noticed something but chose to look the other way, or they justified things they saw because Tad would never do anything like that...he loved his wife, etc.

Well, in truth, this COULD be completely out of character for him. Doesn't change the facts, though. He's STILL an adult, in a position of trust, who made off with a child who he had more than innocent "feelings" for. He had a sexual interest in a child, encouraged a relationship between the two of them, and then fled with her...that's a crime. And that would still be true if he were Saint Tad of Columbia.

 

[OtisC]

Oh no, what we were talking about was beyond "going willingly". I think most people understand that a child can decide to go willingly but they are a victim and the adult is wrong.

One of the big problems though, TN has that crazy law that says a child as young as 13 I believe, can decide to leave with and adult if they don't want to live at home anymore. That is just nuts.

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Are you saying that a 13 year old can run away with an adult legally in TN?

The above is my opinion only.

 

[All4CompleteJustice]

Just marking my spot

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[KKearns]

Well, in truth, this COULD be completely out of character for him. Doesn't change the facts, though. He's STILL an adult, in a position of trust, who made off with a child who he had more than innocent "feelings" for. He had a sexual interest in a child, encouraged a relationship between the two of them, and then fled with her...that's a crime. And that would still be true if he were Saint Tad of Columbia.

Well we discussed some of this last night, like with a father killing a mother and the children never believing the father did it.

If my dad was in this situation, it would take some serious stuff for me to not believe there was something all of us didn't know and my dad wasn't doing something bad. I can see some people close to the situation thinking that, it is easier outside of it to see where this person is sick and he must have hidden that well from everyone.

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[KKearns]

Are you saying that a 13 year old can run away with an adult legally in TN?

The above is my opinion only.

That's what has been said. I believe the age was 13 but it is at least 15.

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[policyoftruth501]

I still firmly believe that the school's hesitation to take any real action against TC until a day after the kidnapping planted a seed of doubt in the minds of many people who think they know him. That combined with the fact that the only person initially reprimanded when the kiss was reported was ET could easily make this look like a lovelorn teenager to many of these people instead of a predator grooming his prey. The school carries a lot of the blame in all of this - not just in their failure to act, but also in establishing how those close to the case, but who also don't have full knowledge of the details will look at who's to blame.


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[KKearns]

I kind of agree with you.

There is a concern with the relative low number of tips and no confirmed sightings.

LE's thought might be that people are seeing this as just a romance with a huge age gap and not a real concern.

She could have left willingly and thought this was a romance. He may be justifying his actions by believing this is a romance. However, it is not really a romance but rather an illusion of a romance.

Bottom line, I think LE in concerned with citizen complacency with this case.

The above is my opinion only.

I very much think the concern is that well meaning friends are helping him, I came to that conclusion last night.

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[Mountain_Kat]

My guess this is the first contact with a child he has made or the cops would know about it by now.

Also I'm willing to say he might not have had bad intent but maybe seeing someone that had a hard time and he let himself cross boundaries and it was a mess before he knew it.

There is a teacher at my sister's school that has always been one all the kids like and I believe he has let boundaries be crossed with the kids, but hasn't done anything. I talked to the principal about it and I wasn't the first. Someone had recently come to them and they had talked to him and that behavior changed. He is young and really relates to the kids and I honestly don't think he was being inappropriate, just not keeping some boundaries, even if to keep himself protected from a false claim.

I could see TC being that way and not being some pedophile that has fought urges his entire life.

I'm open to that, but there is a point where someone has to say "I'm the adult, this is crossing boundaries and I need to get someone to step in here."

I am on exactly the same page.

 

[ImMimis]

Brainstorming here. WHERE is the Nissan??? Has anyone heard of "boondocking"? Maybe a possibility. In searching how to "hide" and camp cheap...I found this. If anyone is close to any of them, go take a drive.https://freecampsites.net/blm-ltvas/

 

[KKearns]

I really think he had the tracking disabled. He search out how it could be tracked. He could have easily taken it somewhere to have it disabled if he couldn't do it. There is nothing illegal about having the tracking on a car you own, disabled.

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[EA18G]

There was another case I wasn't happy with TBI also. What was it?

Oh yeah, Adam Mayes.

Another one was Gary Simpson abducting his 9-year old niece. Someone posted on here within the first day or so that they felt he had taken her to Clinch Mountain area of TN. Sure enough, that is where some private citizens found them. IIRC, the reward was quite high in that case.

 

[seattlechiquita]

I still firmly believe that the school's hesitation to take any real action against TC until a day after the kidnapping planted a seed of doubt in the minds of many people who think they know him. That combined with the fact that the only person initially reprimanded when the kiss was reported was ET could easily make this look like a lovelorn teenager to many of these people instead of a predator grooming his prey. The school carries a lot of the blame in all of this - not just in their failure to act, but also in establishing how those close to the case, but who also don't have full knowledge of the details will look at who's to blame.

ITA. The school did deflect and put a lot of onus on the 15 year old rather than on the 50 year old perv. Pretty effed up. And now, they are gone with the wind. If I was in the school board or district or whatever, I would be peeing my pants right now. Heads must roll on this.

Sending love and good vibes to the families of the victim and the predator. I keep thinking about ET's dad and TC's wife. What a messed up situation they found themselves in, all because some a-hole could not act like an adult.

 

[OtisC]

That's what has been said. I believe the age was 13 but it is at least 15.

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That is a pretty bold statement to be publishing.

For clarity, you may be referring to a TN law that provides a process for a minor to petition the court to be emancipated from their parents in special circumstances.

That is a long long way from a TN law that allows a 13 year old to legally run away with an adult, as you suggested.

Then again, this law may not be what someone said.

Te above is my opinion only.