Kidnapped Girls Had No Food or Water, Could Not Speak

GUNTOWN, Miss. May 11, 2012— -- A small blonde child peeking over a ridge and spotted by Mississippi state highway troopers led to the rescue of Alexandria and Kyliyah Bain, ages 12 and 8, from kidnapper Adam Mayes on Thursday night, police said in a news conference today.

Moments later, Mayes -- kneeling in the grass next to the children -- shot himself in what his mother-in-law called the "coward's way out."

"We saw something lying down by the wood line that caught our attention. We took another five steps, and I gazed around and saw one of the children. An officer started hollering, 'Get your hands up,'" said Master Sgt. Steve Crawford at a news conference today.

The highway patrol and state fish and wildlife officers were searching the wooded area for a cabin that they were told Mayes, 35, may have been hiding in with the two girls he kidnapped two weeks earlier from their home in Tennessee.

Mayes is also suspected of killing the girls' sister, Adrienne, 14, and mother, JoAnn, 37, 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.

As police searched for the cabin last night, they caught sight of one girl and then another and, finally Mayes' head popped up.

"All three were lying face down on the ground trying to take cover," Crawford said.

The girls slowly raised their hands at the officers' command, but Mayes raised only one hand, the officer said.

"Mayes raised his hand and I could see the gun. I hollered 'gun' three times to let my team know, and then Mayes got on his knees. He never brandished the gun toward us, but at that time he took his life," Crawford said.

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.

"When these children get to where they can speak, and calm down, I'm sure we'll find out" more details, a police spokesman said.

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," Crawford said.

Police have not said whether the $71,000 reward offered for Mayes' capture would be handed out to anyone, but noted that police were searching the wooded area not far from Mayes' home because of a tip received from the public.

Adam Mayes' Mother-in-Law Said He Took 'Coward's' Way Out

The mother-in-law of Mayes blasted Mayes for leaving his wife to be charged for killing the kidnapped girls' mother and older sister.

"I'm really trying to hard not to be ugly about this, but he took coward's way out, and he left my daughgter hanging, and they're still talking about maybe seeking the death penalty for her," Josie Tate told ABC News today.

Her daughter, Teresa Mayes, is charged with the killing JoAnn and Adrienne Bain on April 27 and then taking the bodies and Bain's youngest two daughters to Mississippi. Mayes then went on the run with the girls, skyrocketing to the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted List until he was located on Thursday.

Tate said she was "not a bit" surprised that Mayes had it in him to kill the Bain women and kidnap the girls, noting that he had completely "coerced and manipulated and brainwashed and forced" Teresa Mayes into helping him.

Adam Mayes' Wife Still Faces Murder Charges

Tate said that her daughter had called police multiple times for domestic violence accusations against Adam Mayes, and that he had been a controlling, violent person that threatened Josie throughout their years together.

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 arrested Mayes' wife, Teresa, and 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 Bain's 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, the documents state.

The bodies were found earlier this week in the backyard of the home Mayes shares Teresa and his mother and father.