Tennessee teen's sister on kidnapping, 'roller coaster' of emotions
— -- Elizabeth Thomas’ older sister, Kat Bozeman, said her family has experienced a "roller coaster" of emotions since her sister was returned home on Friday.
"It’s a roller coaster. Some days are good you see her more, some days are bad you see her less,” Bozeman told ABC News affiliate WKRN on Sunday. "So it’s a long, long road ahead of us.”
She said her sister is being treated at a mental health facility where she spends a lot of time with a therapist. Visitations at the facility are limited, she said.
Bozeman said she and her sister hadn’t spoken much about her “traumatic” time on the run with her former teacher, Tad Cummins, 50, who allegedly kidnapped her more than a month ago.
“She told us she didn’t have access to telephone, internet, any electronic devices. There was not availability to food all the time, is the understanding,” Bozeman said.
"Obviously, we are really trying not to press her, because it’s really traumatic for her to remember all of these things."
Elizabeth and Cummins were found at a remote cabin in northern California near the Oregon border where he was captured Thursday, more than a month after the two disappeared in March.
The teen returned to Tennessee on Friday and is currently in a "safe location with family and friends where she is comfortable and resting," said Jason Whatley, who is representing the Thomas family.
After Elizabeth was found, authorities said she was "healthy and unharmed."
Elizabeth’s father, Anthony Thomas, told ABC News earlier that the experience has changed her.
“She may not be exactly ... the person she was because there’s a lot of experiences she’s had," Thomas said.
Cummins is scheduled to make his first court appearance at 2 p.m. Monday in Sacramento.
He faces charges of aggravated kidnapping, sexual contact with a minor, and a federal charge of transportation of a minor across state lines with the intent of having criminal sexual intercourse, authorities said. That charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.
