CBS docuseries chronicles case of Alabama boy held in bunker for a week

CBS docuseries chronicles case of Alabama boy held in bunker for a week

The harrowing ordeal of a 5-year-old boy held captive in an underground bunker for more than a week by a gunman who shot his bus driver dead a decade ago in Alabama is being featured in the fall premiere episode tonight of a CBS docuseries.

The “FBI True” episode “The Boy in the Bunker,” which airs 8 p.m. Tuesday on CBS, details the case of Ethan Gilman, who was snatched from his school bus in Dale County by gunman Jimmy Lee Dykes on Jan. 29, 2013. His plight captured the nation’s attention before his dramatic rescue in Midland City on Feb. 4, 2013.

The “FBI True” episode airing Tuesday night features interviews with Molly Amman, the FBI profiler called in to develop a profile of the gunman before he was identified, and Bill Francis, who headed the Hostage Rescue Team tasked with saving Ethan.

Just after 3:30 p.m. on the day of the abduction, Dykes boarded a school bus stopped in Midland City. He told the driver, 66-year-old Charles Albert Poland Jr., he wanted to take two children from the bus. Poland refused and ultimately was shot and killed by Dykes.

Authorities said Dykes left with only Ethan, and took the boy to a 6-foot by 8-foot underground bunker that he had spent months building. It was equipped with a PVC ventilation pipe through which hostage negotiators communicated with Dykes to try to secure Ethan’s release.

On Feb. 4, 2013, just before 3:15 p.m., the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team breached the roof of the bunker after negotiations broke down and they feared for Ethan’s life. They threw stun grenades into the bunker and exchanged gunfire with Dykes before killing Dykes and rescuing Ethan. The FBI said Dykes’ mission was to take hostages to use as pawns in attempt to share his anti-government grievances with the world.

Photos taken after Ethan’s rescue showed how cramped the space was and how Dykes sealed all of the cracks in the bunker with caulk. Two bunk style beds with thin mattresses were stacked one atop the other with a ladder across from the beds leading up to a hatch to the outside. Visible PVC plumbing pipes and exposed electrical outlets are also visible as are the unfinished walls and nails in the rafters to hang things.

The ordeal was previously retold in the CBS show “The FBI Declassified” in October 2020.