The five-year-old boy who was held captive in an Alabama bunker for the last 7 days is currently recovering in the hospital and is believed to be in good health and generally unharmed, despite his harrowing ordeal. The boy was abducted from a school bus after Jimmy Lee Dykes, a 66-year-old Vietnam Veteran, shot and killed the bus driver after the driver refused to release any children to the armed suspect. Dykes then took the boy to a bunker that he had recently dug on his property and remained there throughout the last week.
FBI officers and hostage negotiators had been in almost constant contact with Dykes throughout the ordeal, but it is unclear exactly what his demands may have been. They seemed confident - at least outwardly - that Dykes was doing what he could to keep the boy comfortable. The bunker had been stocked with food and survival gear, although officials are uncertain how long Dykes and the boy could have remained in the bunker with the current amount of supplies.
The details of the rescue that ended the ordeal are still fuzzy, although the FBI has confirmed that it detonated a device in or near the bunker to distract Dykes momentarily before they entered through the door in the roof and rescued the boy. It's unclear whether Dykes was shot by officers or exactly how he died, but officials noted that they decided to move in when they confirmed with a remote camera that Dykes was armed and they felt like the boy's life was in imminent danger. Authorities have not revealed how they were able to get a camera into the bunker, but it is presumed that it was sent down secretly along with the food and other supplies that were requested and sent down through a ventilation pipe.
FBI officers and hostage negotiators had been in almost constant contact with Dykes throughout the ordeal, but it is unclear exactly what his demands may have been. They seemed confident - at least outwardly - that Dykes was doing what he could to keep the boy comfortable. The bunker had been stocked with food and survival gear, although officials are uncertain how long Dykes and the boy could have remained in the bunker with the current amount of supplies.
The details of the rescue that ended the ordeal are still fuzzy, although the FBI has confirmed that it detonated a device in or near the bunker to distract Dykes momentarily before they entered through the door in the roof and rescued the boy. It's unclear whether Dykes was shot by officers or exactly how he died, but officials noted that they decided to move in when they confirmed with a remote camera that Dykes was armed and they felt like the boy's life was in imminent danger. Authorities have not revealed how they were able to get a camera into the bunker, but it is presumed that it was sent down secretly along with the food and other supplies that were requested and sent down through a ventilation pipe.