FBI: Officers stormed Alabama hostage bunker, saved child

MIDLAND CITY, Alabama (AP) -- Officers stormed an underground bunker in Alabama where a 5-year-old boy had been held hostage for nearly a week, rescuing the child and leaving the boy's abductor dead, officials said Monday.

Steve Richardson with the FBI's office in Mobile, Alabama, said at a news conference Monday afternoon that negotiations had deteriorated with 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes, a man neighbors described as an isolated loner. Dykes had been seen with a gun, and officers believed the boy was in imminent danger, Richardson said.

Officers stormed the bunker just after 3 p.m. local to rescue the child, who was taken to a hospital in nearby Dothan. Officials have said the child has Asperger's syndrome.

However, it was not immediately clear how Dykes died.

Dykes had been accused of snatching the boy from a school bus last week after killing the driver.

Neighbors described Dykes as a man who once beat a dog to death with a lead pipe, threatened to shoot children for setting foot on his property, and patrolled his yard at night with a flashlight and a firearm.

Government records and interviews with neighbors indicate that Dykes joined the Navy in Midland City, serving on active duty from 1964 to 1969. His record shows several awards, including the Vietnam Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. During his service, Dykes was trained in aviation maintenance.

He had some scrapes with the law in Florida, including a 1995 arrest for improper exhibition of a weapon. The misdemeanor was dismissed. He also was arrested for marijuana possession in 2000.

He returned to Alabama about two years ago.