Sheriff Wally Olson on Motive in Alabama Hostage Situation: ‘We Were Never Really Able to Figure Out What Jimmy Lee Dykes' Story Was’

On Monday, the week-long hostage standoff in Alabama came to an end. Five-year-old Ethan was rescued, and his kidnapper, 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes, was killed. Sheriff Wally Olson, of the Dale County Police Department, joined Fox and Friends to describe the raid and fill us in on how Ethan is doing now.

Olson said that it became clear to authorities that they needed to try a different tactic. “We had a breakdown in the negotiations – they began to deteriorate, so we started having to come up with other options to be able to try to resolve it safely.”

While it was clear that Dykes had a story that he wanted told, police were never quite able to figure out what it was. “We know it was very important to him and very complex, but we were never able to really discover what the story was,” Olson revealed.

While Olson wouldn’t reveal any tactical details about the raid that freed Ethan, he did say that the boy was physically unharmed.

“He’s doing well, he is still being evaluated. We want to make sure he is okay before he goes home […] He’s been through a lot. He’s endured a lot and been through a lot and we just want to follow up and stay on top of him and make sure he heals.”