A 5-year-old boy held captive for seven days in an underground bunker in southern Alabama is alive and his kidnapper is dead, a law enforcement official told NBC News on Monday afternoon.
Not much is clear how the boy was freed, with authorities only saying they went in to save the boy once the suspect was seen with a weapon.
Jimmy Lee Dykes, a 65-year-old man described by his neighbors as a paranoid survivalist, grabbed the boy from a school bus last Tuesday afternoon.
Dykes had boarded the bus and demanded that the bus driver, Charles Poland, 66, turn over two young children. When Poland refused, Dykes then fatally shot him and took the 5-year-old boy named Ethan.
Dykes, a decorated Vietnam veteran, then took Ethan to an underground bunker that neighbors had seen him digging. The bunker is believed to be roughly 8 by 6 feet and to be stocked with supplies. The bunker has a ventilation pipe that authorities have used to deliver items.
Authorities have not discussed a motive for the kidnapping.
There is much more to this story from NBC News, to read about it CLICK HERE.
TXT 24
Twitter
Facebook