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March 23

The TBI said law enforcement checked on a possible lead in Texas, but there were still no confirmed sightings.

The teen's family released a statement, saying, \"The last ten days have been the most difficult in the life of the Thomas family.\"

The family not only asked for information that could help find Elizabeth, but also said they are seeking details about any relationship between their daughter and Cummins.

\"We are desperate for any information that might lead to our daughter,\" the family's statement said. \"The information that we need is not only from what people have seen and heard after Elizabeth's disappearance, but also from before. Facts about prior events, especially interaction between Elizabeth and Tad Cummins and statements made by both parties to third parties, may very well contain clues to lead to Elizabeth's return.\"

The family also urged the public not to blame school officials for their alleged relationship or how it was handled.

\"We know that each teacher and administrator at Maury County Schools mourns as we do over this tragedy and wishes daily for Elizabeth's safe return,\" the family urged in the statement. \"Whatever questions about how issues were handled when Elizabeth was in school are distant and secondary and, in many ways, distracting, to the core issue of dinging her.\"

The family added, \"It is important to the Thomas family to emphasize that none of the reports about possible mistakes made regarding Tad Cummins prior to Elizabeth's disappearance are relevant to what we are doing now ... Our focus should be on finding Elizabeth. Period.\"

ABC News' Emily Shapiro and David Caplan contributed to this report.

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