Sisters Recovering In US Murder-Kidnap Case

Two young sisters are recovering from an apparent abduction by a man who is also accused of killing their mother and elder sibling, before he committed suicide in front of the girls.

Alexandria Bain, aged 12, and her sister Kyliyah, eight, were missing for two weeks after Adam Mayes allegedly kidnapped them, their mother Jo Ann, 31, and 14-year-old sister Adrienene in Whiteville, Tennessee, US.

They were reported missing by the girl's father Gary Bain, triggering a manhunt spanning several states and Mayes' inclusion onto the FBI's Ten Most Wanted fugitives list.

Police believe their 35-year-old captor murdered their mother and elder sister before fleeing with the two girls and his wife, Teresa Mayes, to his rented mobile home in Guntown, in Mississippi on April 27.

Described as a family friend who was like an uncle to the girls, Mayes supposedly had gone to the house the night before to help the family pack for a move to Arizona.

Instead, police say, he killed the mother and her oldest daughter in the garage of their home, packed their corpses into a car, and headed south with the younger girls.

The sisters' ordeal ended on Thursday after police received a tip-off and discovered them with their captor in woods near his mobile home.

Mayes shot himself in the head as officers approached - after which Alexandria turned to Kyliyah and was heard saying: "Now we can go home."

The girls were taken to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital to be treated for dehydration, exposure, and poison ivy.

They were released early Friday morning and are now back at the family home.

Child trauma specialists are helping police interview the girls about their experience.

The bodies of their mother and elder sister were discovered in a shallow grave in Mayes' backyard during the two-week man-hunt.

Mayes' wife has been charged with first degree murder and kidnapping for her role, and his mother, Mary Frances, has also been charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping.