DEVELOPING: A law enforcement source
says initial reports indicate that a five-year-old boy who was being
held hostage in an underground bunker in Alabama for nearly a week has
been released.
Authorities say 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes shot and killed a bus driver last week in Midland City and then abducted the boy.
Dykes is now dead, the source says, but the boy is in stable condition. An ambulance was seen leaving the area of the bunker. [snip]
State Rep. Steve Clouse, who represents the Midland City area, said the mother told him that the boy has Asperger's syndrome as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. (Fox News Charlotte)
UPDATES:
Action taken after negotiations deteriorated during 7 day hostage standoff with 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes,
Officers believed the child was in imminent danger.
Officers entered the bunker just after 3 p.m. CST.
CBS radio affiliate WSB says reporters heard what may have been a
concussion grenade before ambulance and fire vehicles went to and from
Dykes' property about 4p.m. Eastern Time Monday.
Can this child ever have a normal life after seven days with this crazy killer, especially with his medical problems Asperger's syndrome as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD?
I'm thinking that some of the stuff they sent in (toys, etc.) might have been surveillance decoys. Perhaps that's what led to the breakdown in negotiations???
Not seeing any legitimate descriptions of the "bunker", I would suspect that they dropped stun grenades down the 4" PVC pipe simultaneously with blasting the door open.
I can only imagine what the kid went through during the raid...
Posted by: R.J. Godlewski | February 04, 2013 at 06:57 PM
R.J. Good question about the toys. I didn't think of that. They did need some kind of eye inside that shelter/bunker.
Reports were that the shelter/bunker was 6 X 8 feet inside, had TV, electricity, stores of food etc. for about 8 weeks. Neighbors reported that he used cinder blocks and bricks for the stairs, walls, used some kind of shelving, ...
I hope they had some kind of eyes inside, because I feared for what that man would be doing to that 5 year old boy over 7 days.
Posted by: Debbie | February 04, 2013 at 07:37 PM
Debbie,
Reports had said that the man was treating the boy as a person and was providing him with toys, medicine, etc. I just wondered if he observed a camera in something and then realized that he had been duped.
"Something" triggered the police to move in quickly and that statement about negotiations "deteriorating" implies a lot. This was not a long range raid, say, of the Entebbe type. They had to position themselves and then move into a 'bunker' instantly knowing that if they did not disrupt Dykes, that he "could" shoot the boy.
Even taking down a standard house door does not always go as expected and I assume that this shelter bore a sturdier door that required a breaching charge.
Posted by: R.J. Godlewski | February 04, 2013 at 08:04 PM
I am just relieved to hear he was finally released. That poor little boy, and his parents, the fear alone, must have been unimaginable.
Posted by: Leticia | February 04, 2013 at 08:29 PM
Sometimes, kids with Asperger's are very resilient.
Posted by: Always On Watch | February 05, 2013 at 06:24 AM
Thanks "Always on Watch" I didn't know that - is it also true of those who suffer from "Failure to Thrive" syndrome?
Posted by: Susan Benton | February 05, 2013 at 05:57 PM
sharing a news :-
http://www.edvantage.com.sg/edvantage/features/people/1535536/Asperger_s_syndrome_so_what_.html
Posted by: Mico Ricco | February 06, 2013 at 09:29 AM