Inside The Bunker: The 2013 Alabama Hostage Crisis

The FOX True Crime Podcast w/ Emily Compagno

Fox News

True Crime

4.8 • 708 Ratings

🗓️ 28 February 2023

⏱️ 90 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Warning: This podcast episode contains graphic audio. Midland City, Alabama is the kind of small town where everyone knows their neighbor, for better or for worse. Neighbors of Jimmy Lee Dykes knew him as a hostile recluse to be avoided at all costs. The extent of the danger that Dykes posed wouldn't be realized until January 29th, 2013, when he boarded a school bus, murdered the driver, and took 5-year-old Ethan Gilman hostage. Retired FBI Special Agent Kyle Vowinkel discusses his experience working on the case, and the great lengths his team went to fight for Ethan's safe return. Kyle Vowinkel served for 24 years as an FBI Special Agent is a former U.S. Army officer, and is a West Point graduate. Kyle served on both the FBI’s elite Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) and the Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU). After his assignments on HRT and the CNU, he used his leadership experiences as a supervisor at multiple FBI offices and retired as Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) in the Miami Division. During his Bureau career, Kyle was deployed to over twenty countries, including China, Qatar, Kenya, South Korea, and Peru, and as a tactical operator on HRT on hundreds of high-risk missions domestically as well as overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. While a member of CNU, he negotiated with kidnappers, pirates, and more. Kyle is a keynote inspirational speaker at events around the world for companies and institutions such as West Point, Cornell University, Google, hostage negotiation seminars, and FBI National Academy events. Later, in 2023, he plans to publish a book sharing stories from his career. Learn more about Kyle: https://www.apexriskconsulting.us/ Follow Emily on Instagram: @realemilycompagno Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Sprinkled with peanut farms and relics of its prosperous railroad beginnings, many consider
0:09.0	the everyday quiet of Midland City as a comforting trait of the community.
0:13.0	There are no surprises or tragedies to upset the familiar nature of the town.
0:18.0	The everyday routine of Midland City has cultivated a tight-knit community.
0:23.3	Residents are bound together by faith, family, and friendship, making it the kind of small town
0:29.1	where everyone knows their neighbor, for better or for worse. I'm Emily Campano, and this is the Fox
0:36.1	True Crime podcast.
1:04.5	Music I'm Emily Campano, and this is the Fox True Crime podcast. Neighbors of Jimmy Lee Dykes knew him as a recluse.
1:09.3	A man consumed with anger, paranoia, and a hatred for the government.
1:16.5	The 65-year-old decorated Vietnam War veteran had nothing to his name in Midland City. He formerly worked as a land surveyor and truck driver and spent his days living out of a
1:20.7	run-down van on his 100-acre property.
1:25.0	Estranged from his family, Dykes lived in isolation. He was known to patrol his
1:29.7	property armed with either a shovel or gun. Neighbors recall him as a man of a hostile nature.
1:39.8	One neighbor had even reported Dykes to the police for pulling a gun on him after accusing him of
1:44.8	trespassing. Another woman claimed he beat her dog to death with a pipe.
1:52.5	Dykes was a man to be avoided at all costs, but one schoolboy had no choice. It was a normal
1:59.6	school day for five-year-old Ethan Gilman.
2:02.8	On January 29, 2013, Ethan boarded the school bus to return home.
2:08.8	Ethan had Asperger syndrome and had a strong bond with Charles Poland, the bus driver
2:14.0	beloved by all the students he worked with.
2:16.9	Ethan typically sat close to Charles, seeing him as a caring and kind figure.
2:22.2	But the ride home soon took a turn for the worse.
	...

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