Teen kidnapped by TN teacher went willingly, says it was wrong, but she doesn't regret it

COLUMBIA, Tenn. — The 15-year-old Tennessee high school student who vanished with her 50-year-old teacher last March, sparking a nation-wide, month-long manhunt, maintains that the whole thing was not "the right thing to do" but Elizabeth Thomas said, "I don't regret it."

That's according to a new interview with her in Tennessee's Columbia Daily Herald.

“There’s been a lot of rumors about me I’d like to clear up,” Thomas said after recently completing 78 days in therapy that was “way too long,” in her words.

“I should not have been up there,” she added about the therapy center in Jackson, Tenn.

Thomas has been out of the public eye since returning from therapy. She now lives with her brother in Columbia, Tenn., where she's being home schooled through the remainder of high school. She wants to go to college and hopes that will happen after her high school education is completed in about two years' time.

"It was an experience I'll have to live with the rest of my life. It's good and bad. It's there. No matter what we do, we'll have to deal with it," she said.

She also said she has no plan to make an appearance on the “Dr. Phil” show to talk about the experience, despite rumors to the contrary. Thomas added that she only recently “wanted to talk — to anyone” about the experience.

She was found with her former teacher and alleged kidnapper Tad Cummins in California in April of this year.

Cummins is jailed in Kentucky and has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated kidnapping, transporting a minor across state lines and other charges.

Cox Media Group