Saturday, February 2, 2013

Boy Hostage: Day Five


The damage this boy has been inflicted with will be immeasurable and will last a lifetime.  It is unthinkable.  

Alabama hostage crisis stretches into day 5: Suspect holding a young boy hostage has holed up in bunker for days on end in the past 

The gunman was described as a survivalist with "anti-American" views. The young boy he has allegedly kidnapped is unharmed but has cried to go home, police say.


Suspect Jimmy Lee Dykes has been holed up in a bunker on his property with the child for nearly a week.

This image released on February 1, 2013 by the Alabama Department of Public Safety shows Jimmy Lee Dykes, a 65-year-old retired trucker and Vietnam War veteran. Dykes is suspected of kidnapping a five-year-old boy in Midland, Texas. Authorities say Dykes stopped a school bus on January 29 and demanded that several children be turned over to him. When the driver, Charles Poland, 66, defended the children, the assailant shot and killed him, and took away one boy.   = RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Alabama Department of Public Safety" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS = -/AFP/Getty Images

-/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

This image released on February 1, 2013 by the Alabama Department of Public Safety shows Jimmy Lee Dykes, a 65-year-old retired trucker and Vietnam War veteran. Dykes is suspected of kidnapping a five-year-old boy.

An Alabama man holding a terrified young boy hostage in an underground bunker might not be giving up any time soon, authorities said.
Police were negotiating through a 4-inch ventilation pipe with the man, believed to be Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65,a Vietnam veteran and retired truck driver with a wicked temper and a history of threatening neighbors.
Authorities were tight lipped about the conversation with Dykes but said the hostage situation, which entered its fifth day on Saturday, might stretch on for a while. Dykes is holding a 5-year-old boy identified as Ethan who was snatched off a bus at gunpoint.
"He will have to give up sooner or later because are not leaving," James Arrington, police chief of nearby Pinckard, told the Associated Press. Dykes has stayed in the bunker for up to 8 days in the past, Pinckard said.
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Police say Dykes has stayed in the bunker for up to 8 days in the past.


Ethan is physically unharmed but has cried for his parents and wants to go home, police said. The bunker on Dykes’ property has water and electricity. The gunman has allowed authorities to pass down coloring books and medication to treat the child's Asperger's syndrome and attention deficit disorder, State Rep. Steve Clouse told the Los Angeles Times.
Neighbors and court records indicate that Dykes has a history of violent and erratic behavior.
He once beat a dog to death with a lead pipe for straying onto his property.
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JULIE BENNETT/AP

Law enforcement officials continue to work the scene of the hostage crisis in Midland City, Ala., Friday, Feb. 1, 2013. Local, state and federal officers wait out a man accused of shooting and killing a school bus driver, then snatching a 5-year-old child. Suspect Jimmy Lee Dykes has been holed up in a bunker on his property with the child since the late afternoon shooting on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013.

A retired truck driver and Navy veteran, Dykes moved to Midland City five years ago and soon after began threatening residents. He was due in court this week on a charge of menacing a neighbor who says he fired shots at her, her son and her infant grandson.
Dykes was also described as a survivalist with "anti-American" views, the Times reported.
Dykes apparently grabbed the boy at random after a violent confrontation on a packed school bus Tuesday. Armed with a gun, Dykes stopped the bus and demanded two boys, ages 6 and 8, leave with him. The driver of the bus, Charles Albert Poland, Jr., was shot and killed when he tried to intervene.
Poland will be memorialized Saturday.
"He stood in that place, and when that man came to take two children, he said no. And he lost his life because of that ... he did his job, and I'm proud of him as the governor but I'm just proud of him as a human being," Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's obvious the FBI are behind this scam to encourage the anti gun lobby.

Apple said...

I am hoping that since we can shoot and recover OBL undetected down the street from a military academy in Pakistan that we can save this young boy.

Anonymous said...

Prayers for this little boy & his family. Heart aches.

BostonLady said...

What is this crazy person trying to prove? His actions are bizarre. Is he making any demands?

The little boy being held must be so frightened. His parents and family must be going out of their minds.

Prayers for this little boy and his family.

Anonymous said...

I hope things turn out okay and he is returned safe to his family.

Lis said...

That poor little boy. I keep praying the crazy man will release him unharmed. I wish the child's innocence and purity could rub off on his grizzled old brain. :-(

Anonymous said...

I suspect this is all STAGED.

Anonymous said...

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