The two surviving sisters "are suffering from the experience of being out in the woods and from being kidnapped," a federal law enforcement source on the scene said.
The two surviving sisters "are suffering from the experience of being out in the woods and from being kidnapped," a federal law enforcement source on the scene said.
A tip from a caller led the FBI to the place where fugitive Adam Mayes shot and killed himself -- all within sight of the two young girls he had been holding captive, the agency said Friday.When investigators came upon Mayes, "the girls were on their stomach face down. They were close enough to see what was going on when he killed himself," FBI spokesman Jason Pack said.Alexandria Bain, 12, and Kyliyah Bain, 8, were tended to by two female agents who rode with them in an ambulance to a hospital."They were scared and relieved," Pack said. "They were hungry and thirsty. They gave them water and we drove them out right away."The tip authorities received was not that someone had spotted Mayes, but that there was an old log cabin behind a church that might have power and would be a good hiding place.The area had been searched before by agents, but it was searched again.There is no evidence that Mayes and the girls actually used the cabin, but they were believed to have been in the area for a few days, he said."There was no shelter or anything. It looks like they were in the open woods," Pack said. "They were dehydrated and dirty, like they were here for several days."Thursday's discovery ended a manhunt for Mayes, who was wanted in connection with the kidnappings of the girls and the killing of their mother and sister."Preliminary reports indicate that Mr. Mayes shot himself in the head and was later pronounced dead," said Daniel McMullen, FBI special agent in charge in Jackson, Mississippi.Mayes, 35, was suspected of abducting Alexandria and Kyliyah from their Whiteville, Tennessee, home, in late April, and killing Jo Ann Bain and her eldest daughter, Adrienne, 14.Officers with the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol and state Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Parks rescued Alexandria and Kyliyah, the FBI said.
Alexandria and Kyliyah were released overnight from Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, a hospital spokeswoman said.
"They were released in the middle of the night, somewhere between 2 and 5 a.m.," Sara Burnett said.
Burnett did not know to whom the children were released.
The FBI on Wednesday put Mayes on its list of 10 most wanted fugitives.
Authorities came to the wooded area Thursday evening after someone called to report what they believed may have been Mayes' vehicle, a law enforcement source close to the investigation said.
A task force was nearby and as members approached, Mayes stood up and shot himself in the head, the source said.
Mayes and his wife, Teresa Mayes, had been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping. He faced an additional count of making a false report, according to arrest affidavits filed in Tennessee.
Adam Mayes' mother-in-law told HLN's Nancy Grace on Thursday that he may have believed he was the father of the two young girls he was accused of abducting.
"He believes they are his children," Josie Tate told Grace.Police said Teresa Mayes told them she was in the Bains' garage when Adam Mayes killed Jo Ann and Adrienne Bain.
Teresa Mayes' attorney, Shana Johnson, said Thursday that her client last saw Mayes and the Bain girls in Mississippi on April 27.
The Mayes and Bain families are connected through Adam Mayes' sister Pamela, who used to be married to Jo Ann's husband, Gary Bain, the lawyer said.
Johnson told HLN she was "happy" and "relieved" the girls had been found alive.
In affidavits, investigators said the Mayeses drove the bodies of Jo Ann and Adrienne Bain to Union County in northern Mississippi, where they were discovered Saturday in a shallow grave behind the house of Adam Mayes' mother in Guntown, Mississippi.
Bobbi Booth, Mayes' sister-in-law, told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Thursday night that she's "overwhelmed right now."
"All I'm (thinking) about now is that the children are safe," Booth said. "Thank you, God, for letting those children come home."
Booth described Adam Mayes as "aggressive, abusive, crazy obviously."
But Booth said she never had an inkling Mayes would be accused of kidnapping and murder.
"I never dreamed that he would do this," she said.
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