No One Wants the Body of Adam Mayes, the FBI's Former Most Wanted
Adam Mayes allegedly killed a mother and daughter and kidnapped two others.
June 3, 2012 — -- The Mississippi state crime lab is trying to figure out what to do with the body of Adam Mayes, the man who allegedly murdered a mother and daughter and kidnapped the woman's two other daughters before shooting himself.
The lab has had Mayes' body since mid-May, and doesn't know what to do with it. Mayes' family won't accept his body. If no one takes the body after six months, it has to be returned to Union County, where he died.
According to Mississippi state law, if there are any living relatives, it is the family's responsibility to take care of the body. But Mayes' wife and mother are behind bars, accused of conspiracy in the two murders and kidnappings, according to WMC-TV. Mayes' brother refuses to accept the body.
"We've had some unusual cases but none like this where the family won't even accept the remains," said Mark Golding, the Union County M.E., according to WMC-TV.
The medical examiner's office did not immediately respond to calls from ABC News.
Police believe Mayes killed Jo Ann Bain and her daughter, 14-year-old Adrienne Bain, in their home in Whiteville, Tenn., on April 27, and then fled with Bain's two other daughters, 12-year-old Alexandra and her 8-year-old sister Kyliyah.
The two girls were rescued after a nearly two-week ordeal. On May 10, Mississippi state highway troopers spotted a small blonde child peeking over a ridge, police said, which led to the girls' rescue.
Moments later, Mayes shot himself as he knelt in the grass next to the children, in what his mother-in-law called the "coward's way out."
Mayes is suspected of killing the girls' sister and mother in order to kidnap the younger girls, whom he thought were his children, relatives have said.
The girls had been living with JoAnn and her husband, Gary Bain, and the family was planning to move to Arizona at the end of the school year.
When they were rescued, the girls, who had been in the forest without food or water for three days, were "eaten up with poison ivy and insect bites," another officer said. He said they were shaken and unable to speak much, but didn't cry.
The girls were brought to a hospital in Memphis, Tenn., that night and released to their father after treatment.
"A lot of prayers were answered when we found these two young ladies to be safe," Master Sgt. Steve Crawford said.
When Adam Mayes went on the run with the girls, he was put on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted List.
Teresa Mayes is charged with murder and especially aggravated kidnapping for her role in assisting Mayes. She is being held in a Tennessee jail.
During the investigation, police also arrested Mayes' mother, Mary Mayes, in connection with the murder and kidnapping.
According to the warrants, Teresa Mayes told police she witnessed Adam kill JoAnn Bain in the garage of the Bains' home, and then kill Adrienne Bain in the home itself.
Adam and Teresa Mayes then took the dead bodies and two young girls to the Mayes' home in Mississippi, where Adam Mayes buried the two bodies, according to court documents.
ABC News' Dean Schabner and Yunji de Nies contributed to this report.
