By Emily Le Coz
TUPELO, Miss., May 8 (Reuters) – The mother and wife of the
prime suspect in the kidnapping of a Tennessee family have been
also been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, officials said on
Tuesday.
Two members of the Tennessee family – the mother and one
daughter – have been found dead and two other daughters were
missing and presumed held by Adam Mayes, who remained at large
and was considered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to be
armed and dangerous.
Adam Mayes’ wife, Teresa Mayes, and mother, Mary Mayes, were
jailed at Hardeman County Jail in Tennessee, Circuit Court Clerk
Linda Fulghum said.
Teresa Mayes, 31, was charged with four counts of especially
aggravated kidnapping and held on a $500,000 bond, Fulghum said.
Mary Mayes, 65, was charged with four counts of conspiracy to
commit especially aggravated kidnapping and held on $300,000
bond, the clerk said.
Two bodies found last weekend behind Mayes’ Mississippi
residence were identified as a Tennessee mother and one of her
three daughters, the FBI said Monday.
The medical examiner in Memphis confirmed the bodies found
behind Mayes’ barn in Guntown, Mississippi, were those of Jo Ann
Bain, 31, and Adrienne Bain, 14, according to the FBI.
Bain’s other two daughters, Alexandria, 12, and Kyliyah, 8 –
taken along with their mother and older sister from their home
in rural Hardeman County in western Tennessee – were believed to
still be with Mayes, the FBI said on Monday night.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said it is believed
Mayes has changed his appearance and that he may have altered
the appearances of his victims, perhaps by cutting and dying
their hair.
Bain’s husband reported the four missing from their rural
Tennessee home April 27. Mayes, described as a friend of the
family who was at their home to help them move to Arizona, was
quickly identified as a suspect.
Mayes was last seen in Guntown, north of Tupelo, last
Tuesday, according to the FBI.
(Editing by Daniel Trotta)
