Alabama Boy Rescued After FBI Kills Captor

abcnews

Ethan, the smiling 5-year-old pictured above, escaped harm when and FBI Swat team stormed the bunker where he had been held for six days.  The FBI had been monitoring the situation since he was captured and grew concerned when negotiations with Jimmy Lee Dykes, the man who abducted Ethan from his school bus, deteriorated.  They killed Dykes and took the rescued boy to a hospital where he was reunited with his family and his favorite dinosaur.

FBI Special Agent in Charge, Steve Richardson reported that Ethan was doing fine.  "He is laughing, joking, playing, eating."  He later added. "He's a very brave little boy. He's very lucky. "The Dothan, Alabama hospital placed the boy in a private area guarded by heavy security.  Ethan suffers from Asperger's Syndrome and ADHD, which requires regular doses of medicine as part of his care, but he was not physically compromised during his ordeal.

Associated Press

After killing the bus driver who tired to protect Ethan, Dykes took his hostage to an underground bunker, 6 feet by 8 feet, and allowed the FBI to provide coloring books and medicine for the boy.  They had been observing the bunker from a camera buried under four feet of soil, and decided to act swiftly to rescue Ethan when they noticed Dykes with a gun.

Neighbors reported relief that the ordeal had ended and were not surprised at the outcome.  Dykes served in Viet Nam and was an anti-social loner who was prone to violence.  One neighbor reported that he had killed his dog with a lead pipe.  No motive for the hostage taking has yet been revealed.