Man once held in underground bunker graduates from high school, focusing on moving forward
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ABBEVILLE, Ala. (WTVY/Gray News) – Ethan Gilliam was just 5 years old when he was kidnapped and held in an underground bunker for six days. Now, known as Ethan Alexander Turner, he is graduating from high school and looking toward the future.
Turner was abducted from a school bus in Dale County, Alabama, by Jimmy Lee Dykes. The bus driver, Charles Poland Jr., was killed during the kidnapping. Dykes was shot and killed by police.
Now 18, Turner said he hopes people see him as more than the crime that once defined him.
“I don’t want people to be like, ‘Oh, he’s this boy’ or this dude,” Turner said. “I want them not to be scared to go on a bus or do that just because of what happened.”
Nicci and Brandon Turner later adopted him and on Friday, watched Ethan and two of his siblings graduate from Abbeville High School.
Nicci said she has long reminded her children that trauma does not have to determine their future.
“What happens to you is not you. It doesn’t define you,” she said. “And you don’t have to be a victim. You can pick yourself up and keep going.”
Turner said the graduation celebration — with family, friends and community supporters in attendance — meant “a whole lot” to him.
“I’m just really blessed to have family and friends and all that stuff,” he said.
Along the way, Turner found stability and an outlet through art and hands-on work, including painting, building and creating. He also developed interests in nature and forestry.
“I like nature — forestry and all that stuff,” he said. “Just looking outside, basically.”
At school, Turner joined Future Farmers of America, learned trade skills and discovered a passion for welding.
Former Midland City Elementary principal Phillip Parker said the graduation was emotional for teachers and staff who knew Turner when the kidnapping happened.
“It was very emotional for teachers and myself,” Parker said. “But he adjusted. I don’t know of a kid that could have done any better to come back into a situation that he was in and just be treated normal.”
Walding called Turner “a survivor.”
Retired Dale County Superintendent Donny Bynum said Poland, the bus driver who was killed during the kidnapping, would be proud of Turner’s progress.
“I know without a doubt he’s smiling down today to see what Ethan has done,” Bynum said.
Turner said he hopes others facing their own challenges keep moving forward.
“Just don’t give up and try to keep going and keep pacing yourself,” he said.
For Turner, the next chapter comes after a childhood marked by trauma and a future he said is defined by persistence — and by what he builds next. Currently, he plans to attend Wallace Community College to study welding.
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