GUNTOWN, MS (abc24.com) - Investigators are looking over clues, trying to determine what led to the kidnapping of the Bain family and the murders of Jo Ann Bain and her daughter.
Adam Mayes shot himself in the head when law enforcement closed in on him in the woods Thursday night. Paramedics worked on him in the back of this ambulance as they raced to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Blood is still on leaves lining the forest floor.
The FBI says 12-year-old Alexandria Bain and 8-year-old Kyliyah Bain were face down nearby on the ground, but saw the shooting.
Aaron Ford with the FBI called the area where Mayes and the girls were found, "very rough, hilly, dense trees and shrubbery, a very hard, hard area to survive in."
It was certainly no place for two little girls. The dense Mississippi forest that had hidden Alexandria and Kyliyah Bain was also the spot of their rescue.
In the light of day, the trail and woods look like any other in these rural parts - revealing few signs of Thursday's daring rescue.
31 officers had gone about 100 yards down a emote trail when they spotted Alexandria standing a few feet off in the woods. Her sister Kyliyah was nearby. So was Adam Mayes
"Officers immediately issued commands to show hands," Ford said, "Mayes pulled pistol and shot himself in head; he was later pronounced dead at local hospital."
But all the attention, hugs and love were given to the two girls investigators have been searching through those woods around the clock to find.
Ford said the girls were "hungry, thirsty and dehydrated." suffering from poison ivy and exposure, the FBI believes they'd been in the area the entire time.
Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards says it's no longer a crime scene, but it will be a while before the county will look at the area the same.
The sheriff says they are still working the case. Both he and FBI say no more arrests have been made.
They're following up on what happened there to see if anyone was helping Mayes on the run.
