FBI: No other explosives found near US bunker where man held boy; captor's body removed

Associated Press / The Associated Press
February 7, 2013

Cynthia Murray of Dothan holds her granddaughter Ashleigh Murray as she and others pray during a celebration for Ethan, the boy who was held hostage for a week in an underground bunker, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013 at the Midway Assembly of God in Midland City, Ala. Ethan, who was rescued Monday, turned six on Wednesday. His captor, Jimmy Lee Dykes, was killed during the rescue operation. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. - Bomb technicians found no more explosive devices at the rural U.S. property of the gunman who shot dead a school bus driver and held a 5-year-old boy captive for nearly a week in a rigged underground bunker.

Jimmy Lee Dykes was killed Monday during a gunfight when police raided the Alabama bunker and rescued the boy unharmed, officials said.

Dykes' body had "multiple gunshot wounds," Dale County Coroner Woodrow Hilboldt said Thursday.

The FBI said after the raid that the 65-year-old Dykes had planted one explosive artifact in a ventilation pipe used by negotiators to communicate with him in his bunker. The agency said a second device was found in the bunker. Both were safely removed.

FBI Special Agent Paul Bresson said in an email late Wednesday that technicians had "completed their work and cleared the crime scene."

"No additional devices were found," he added.

Authorities said Dykes boarded the bus full of children on Jan. 29 and gunned down driver Charles Albert Poland Jr. as he tried to protect the 21 children on board. According to officials, the gunman then seized the 5-year-old boy at random and fled to the nearby bunker.

The boy's rescue was carried out by the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, which serves as the agency's full-time counterterrorism unit, FBI agent Jason Pack said Wednesday. Trained in military tactics and outfitted with combat-style gear and weapons, the group was formed 30 years ago in preparation for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

According to a U.S. official, about a dozen Navy Seabees in a special naval construction unit helped authorities build a mock-up of the bunker to plan the FBI assault. The official, who was not authorized to discuss the rescue effort, spoke on condition of anonymity.

FBI and other officials said the team exchanged gunfire with Dykes and killed him before rescuing the boy, whom law enforcement officials only identified by his first name, Ethan.

On Wednesday, Ethan's sixth birthday, residents sought to resume a normal life.

The boy, who has Asperger's syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, was said to be acting like a normal kid despite his ordeal.

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Associated Press writers Jay Reeves, Frank Eltman and Lolita Baldor contributed to this report.