(Jackson, TN) Gerald Long lived across the street from Adam Mayes for a number of years. He says he was a quiet, but friendly man, and was regularly visited by Joann Bain and her three children.
“They used to come over here and visit, sometimes the girls would stay for a week or so.”, said Long. “They would even come over here and help me plant flowers in the garden, and they did a good job.”
Long says he was shocked when he heard Adam Mayes, abducted the Bain family, and killed Joann and her oldest daughter. He said the Mayes home wasn’t a stranger to crime, and fights, but nothing like this.
“They had problems like anybody else, fights and stuff.” said Long.
But one incident stood out in Long’s mind, one where Mayes’ sister accused him of having an inappropriate relationship with a seven-year old girl visiting the home.
The allegations are outlined in police reports from the Madison County sheriff’s office, allegations that Mayes was in a bathroom with a seven-year old girl. She was naked and he claimed to be shaving her legs.
“We took the allegations very seriously.”, said Sgt. T.J. King, in Madison County. He led the investigation, searched the Mayes home, and eventually let him go calling the case, “unfounded.”
His neighbors say whatever the outcome, it makes them think twice about the family that lived across the street, and thankful it has ended with two children returned home safely.
