The effort goes on and additional arrests are possible.
It came down to good ole law enforcement techniques brought this to conclusion. The ground and pound method working day and night.
Grid searches, thoroughly combing heavily wooded areas. FBI helped MS, TN LE.
Many agencies helped throughout, names these agencies.
This was a case that we knew had national implications and concerns. We knew also that two victims, JB and AB lives had been lost and we wanted to find out why.
MBI because involved in this on May 1 after finding out mother and older daughter had been killed. Our number one concern was for the other two children and the public in this area.
There are no words that I could put out to thank these agencies for the hard work that they have done. Our SAR team worked diligently in bringing this to an end.
Special Agent McMullen: It's a pleasure to be here on behalf of the FBI to say thank you to all the officers and investigators. The investigation that ended a nightmare for AB and KB. I can't say enough about the outstanding work about these agencies. It was a ground fight, we had a lot of technology involved, but as the governor said, it came down to feet on the ground.
The public was important in this investigation. LE at every level was important. We want to make sure we maintain that cooperative spirit. On behalf of the FBI I thank you for rescuing these two children and capturing a top ten fugitive.
Two gentlemen that were very instumental in bringing this to a close Crawford and Lt. Lee Elington.
Yesterday around 1800 hours I received a call about a tip about a cabin behind a CHURCH. There was not sign of any power lines to the woods, but two logging roads were found. 60 yards down the logging road to the left a blue jug was laying down by the line that caught my attention. When I looked back you could see one of the children's head on the ground. They began giving commands and the girls picked their heads up. Mr. Hayes (Mayes) raised to his knees, never brandished the gun to any of us or the children. At that time he took his life.
We were fortunate enough to locate the suspect and these two girls unharmed. A lot of prayers were answered when we found these two young ladies to be safe. Unfortunately the suspect took his life, but at the end of the day two young ladies returned to their father safely, as did the officers.
This is an ongoing investigation, facts are still coming in.
What were the girls doing when the officers showed up? All three were laying down trying to take cover. They were within inches to AM.
We had a couple of investigations going on, one in TN and one here. We were focused on finding the girls so the motive wasn't the focus for us.
Was it tips that kept you all in that area? Certainly, as I said during my comments, one of the most important components in this was the public providing info. When he went onto the FBI most wanted list, that increased the calls. But remained in that area, because we believed that was a pretty good possibility he remained there. The pressure being applied was critical to the ending.
News got out quickly, the amber alert system worked from the very beginning. This would not have happened without the cooperation of the public and the cooperative effort of the LE agencies together.
Will someone get the award? That will be yet to be determined. If it is determined that a individual is responsible for leading officers to this location, that would be a very good possibility.
What will it mean for the Bain family not to have Mayes fully brought to justice? Can't explain how they'd feel.
Won't respond to questions about individuals arrested.
What was the reaction of the children? Alarmed, but they didn't cry. I would think maybe relieved when the incident was over. They'd been several days without food and water. They'd been three days without food and water, with poison ivy and insect bites. They were shaken and in distress.
How has this affected you emotionally? It will make you go home and love your kids.
Mayes didn't say anything before he shot himself.
Once they were spotted on the ground, he shot himself within 10 seconds. He got to his knees.
MHP and Fish and Wildlife were the two agencies.
There was no shelter there in the woods.
We certainly hope to provide the reward money to the tipster but there is a process to verify before so I'm not going into who that is.
There was urgency from the very beginning. We worked nonstop bringing in more resources. There was always a sense of urgency.
They didn't have food and water for three days. They have no idea if they brought food, had food stashed somewhere. I'm sure these children can shed some light on this when they get to a place they can speak and calm down.
Only found the 9mm pistol.
No comment on the mother and AB because of the ongoing investigation.
Were there homes in that area? There were deer camps in that area. This was a hunting area and there were lots of deer camps.
They are combing through all the evidence to see if anyone has assisted in this crime and if anyone did assist, this team will make an arrest.