In the Nation

GUNTOWN, Miss. - A manhunt for a fugitive accused of kidnapping and a double-slaying ended Thursday after the suspect apparently shot himself. The two girls he fled with are safe, police said.

Adam Mayes, 35, died Thursday evening after authorities acted on a tip and found him in the area near New Albany, Miss. When they went to arrest him, he shot himself in the head, said Guntown Police Chief Michael Hall.

The girls, Alexandra Bain, 12, and Kyliyah Bain, 8, were taken to a hospital for observation, Hall said. It was not immediately clear if they were with Mayes when he was killed. Mayes' mother-in-law, Josie Tate, said that Mayes believed the missing sisters might actually be his daughters.

Mayes had been charged with first-degree murder in the April 27 deaths of Jo Ann Bain, 31, and her daughter Adrienne, 14. Mayes' wife, Teresa, also is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths. She told investigators that he killed Jo Ann and Adrienne Bain at their Whiteville, Tenn., home so he could abduct the two young sisters, according to court documents.

- AP

HOUSTON - A former Houston Chronicle reporter announced Thursday that she had filed a federal gender-discrimination complaint alleging she was fired because she failed to disclose she also had worked as an exotic dancer.

Sarah Tressler, 30, alleges she was fired by the newspaper in March for not indicating on her employment application that she had worked as a stripper.

"I was very upset that I was fired because I had been told by many editors that I was doing a good job. . . . There was no question on the form that covered my dancing. I answered the questions on the form honestly," Tressler said in a statement.

Tressler announced she had filed the complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission during a Los Angeles news conference with her lawyer, celebrity attorney Gloria Allred. Tressler worked as a society reporter for the newspaper from Jan. 19 through March 27.

- AP

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Julian White, the longtime director of Florida A&M University's famed marching band, announced his retirement Thursday, while a top state official urged the university to keep the band suspended while investigations of a drum major's death continue.

Frank Brogan, the chancellor of Florida's state university system, wrote a blunt letter to FAMU president James Ammons urging him to keep the band suspended. Ammons was expected to discuss the band at a special meeting of the university board of trustees on Monday.

Eleven FAMU band members face felony hazing charges stemming from Robert Champion's death in November. Two others face misdemeanor counts. Ammons suspended the band soon after Champion's death and tried to fire White. White's dismissal was placed on hold while the criminal investigation unfolded. He insisted that he did nothing wrong.

- AP