Investigators in were pleading for help from the public on Wednesday in their search for two abducted Tennessee girls and the man accused of kidnapping them and killing their mother and sister. The FBI confirmed the suspect, Adam Mayes, is on its list of 10 most wanted fugitives and added $100,000 to the reward fund offered for a break in the case. Mayes has been charged with the murder of Jo Ann Bain and her eldest daughter, Adrienne in late April, but authorities believe he is holding Bain’s younger daughters, 12-year-old Alexandria and 8-year-old Kyliyah. The search is concentrated around Guntown, Mississippi, where the bodies of the mother and her eldest daughter were found over the weekend.
“From an investigative standpoint, we keenly and firmly believe that Adam Mayes is out here somewhere with these two young children,” said Mark Gwyn, the director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. “And it’s going to be up to the public to help us if we’re to bring these children back home and place him in custody where he needs to be.” Mayes is also believed to have changed his physical appearance. On Wednesday, Aaron Ford, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Memphis office, urged Mayes to leave the young girls in a “safe location,” such as a police station, church or hospital, “and then peacefully and safely turn yourself in.” Mayes’ wife, Teresa Mayes, and his mother, Mary Frances Mayes are in custody. Teresa Mayes said her husband intended to take Alexandria and Kyliyah from their home in Hardeman County, near Memphis. Adam Mayes and his wife have been charged with two counts of murder in the first degree and two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping.
