BREAKING NEWS: 2 Tennessee girls alive, kidnapper dead

Fugitive kills himself as SWAT team prepares to arrest him; 2 girls safe
May 11, 2012 |
By Adrian Sainz and Holbrook Mohr
Associated Press

GUNTOWN, Miss. -- A manhunt for a fugitive accused of a double-slaying and kidnapping two children ended Thursday evening after the suspect apparently killed himself. The girls he fled with were found safe, police said.

A SWAT team acting on a tip found Adam Mayes, 35, and the girls near New Albany, Miss. When officers went to arrest him, he shot himself in the head, Guntown Police Chief Michael Hall said.

Mayes later was pronounced dead at a hospital, said Daniel McMullen, FBI special agent in charge of Mississippi.

Alexandra Bain, 12, and Kyliyah Bain, 8, were taken to a hospital in Memphis, Tenn., for observation. They appeared to be unharmed, McMullen said.

Mayes had been charged with first-degree murder in the April 27 deaths of Jo Ann Bain, 31, and her daughter Adrienne, 14. Their bodies were found buried outside the Mayes home a week after they were reported missing.

Mayes' wife, Teresa, also is charged with first-degree murder. She told investigators Adam Mayes killed Jo Ann and Adrienne Bain at their Whiteville, Tenn., home so he could abduct the two young sisters, according to documents.

Teresa Mayes told investigators that after she saw her husband kill the two, she drove him, the younger girls and the bodies to Mississippi, according to affidavits filed in court.

She also faces four especially aggravated kidnapping charges.

Authorities would not comment on the motive, but Adam Mayes' mother-in-law, Josie Tate, told the Associated Press that Mayes thought the younger girls might be his daughters.

Adam Mayes' mother, Mary Mayes, also has been charged with conspiracy to commit especially aggravated kidnapping.