Relative: Suspect thought kidnapped girls were his

GUNTOWN, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi man on the run from a double slaying thought he might be the father of the two girls he’s now accused of kidnapping, his mother-in-law said.

Authorities said they think the missing girls, Alexandria Bain, 12, and Kyliyah Bain, 8, are still with Adam Mayes, nearly two weeks after he fled with them.

In a Wednesday interview with the Associated Press, Mr. Mayes‘ mother-in-law, Josie Tate, said he thought the missing sisters might actually have been his daughters and that it caused problems in his marriage to her daughter, Teresa Mayes, who is jailed in the case.

“She was tired of him doting on those two little girls that he claimed were his,” Ms. Tate said.

Authorities have put Mr. Mayes on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List and urged him to surrender.

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A combination image shows (clockwise from top left) Jo Ann Bain and ... more >

“Turn the girls in, and then peaceably and safely turn yourself in to law enforcement,” FBI Special Agent Aaron Ford said at a Wednesday news conference. “We believe Mayes could be anywhere in the United States, and we are extremely concerned for the safety of the girls.”

Authorities said Mr. Mayes had changed his appearance since the family was reported missing. On Tuesday they released to the public a surveillance video of him with short hair at a Guntown market.

Nick Barghouthi, 40, a clerk at the County Line gas station and convenience store, said Mr. Mayes had been a regular customer for nine months. On his most recent visit April 30, his appearance was changed.

“He used to have a pony tail, but the day I saw him, his pony tail was gone,” Mr. Barghouthi said.

Mr. Barghouthi said he turned over the surveillance video when law enforcement agents came to talk to him about Mr. Mayes.

The FBI said Mr. Mayes also may have changed the girls‘ appearance by cutting their hair.

Mr. Mayes and his wife were charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in the deaths of Jo Ann Bain, 31, and her daughter Adrienne, 14. Their bodies were found buried outside the Mayeses’ home near Guntown a week after they were reported missing by Mrs. Bain’s husband, Gary.

The reward for information leading to Mr. Mayes‘ arrest is now at more than $171,000.

Mr. Mayes‘ wife told investigators he killed Mrs. Bain and Adrienne at their Whiteville, Tenn., home on April 27 so he could abduct the two young sisters who remain missing, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

Authorities refused to comment on the motive for the April 27 slayings and abductions at the news conference.

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