FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives

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See also: Former FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives and FBI Most Wanted Terrorists
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Abbreviation FBI
Seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list arose from a conversation held in late 1949, during a game of Hearts between J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and William Kinsey Hutchinson,[1] International News Service (the predecessor of the United Press International) Editor-in-Chief, who were discussing ways to promote capture of the FBI's "toughest guys." This discussion turned into a published article, which received so much positive publicity that on March 14, 1950, the FBI officially announced the list to increase law enforcement's ability to capture dangerous fugitives.

The list itself has no particular ranking. This may be because the FBI does not want to promote competition between criminals to gain the Number 1 spot. However, the FBI has in the past identified individuals by the sequence number in which each individual has appeared on the list. Some individuals have even appeared twice, and often a sequence number was permanently assigned to an individual suspect who was soon caught, captured, or simply removed before his or her appearance could be published on the publicly released list. In those cases, the public would see only gaps in the number sequence reported by the FBI.

Individuals are removed from this list upon capture or death, and replaced by a new entry selected by the FBI. Individuals can also be taken off the list should the charges against them be dropped. In five cases, the FBI removed individuals from the list after deciding that they were no longer a "particularly dangerous menace to society".[1] Donald Eugene Webb, added to the list in 1981, was on the list longer than anyone, at 25 years, 10 months, and 27 days.[2] Billie Austin Bryant spent the shortest amount of time on the list, being listed for two hours in 1969.[3] On very rare occasions, the FBI will add a "Number Eleven" if that individual is extremely dangerous but the Bureau does not feel any of the current ten should be removed.[4]

The list is commonly posted in public places such as post offices. Listed fugitives[who?] have been known to turn themselves in upon becoming aware of their listing. As of June 6, 2008, 489 fugitives have been listed (eight of them women), and 459 captured or located, [5] 148 (31%) of them due to public assistance.

The FBI also maintains a list of Most Wanted Terrorists, along with FBI Crime Alerts, Missing Persons, and other fugitives.

The most recent Ten Most Wanted Fugitive captured is Jon Schillaci.

Contents

[edit] Current most wanted list

FBI ten most wanted fugitives
Name Date Added Number on List
1 Victor Manuel Gerena May 14, 1984 #386
Victor Manuel Gerena is wanted in connection with the armed robbery of approximately $7 million from a security company in West Hartford, Connecticut in 1983. He allegedly took two security employees hostage at gunpoint and then handcuffed, bound and injected them with an unknown, non-lethal, substance to further disable them. The FBI believes he may be living in Cuba. The reward for information leading to Gerena's capture is $1,000,000.[6]
2 Glen Stewart Godwin December 7, 1996 #447
Glen Stewart Godwin is being sought for his 1987 escape from Folsom State Prison in California, where he was serving a lengthy sentence for murder. He was subsequently imprisoned in Mexico on drug trafficking charges, but escaped from prison there as well. The reward for information leading to Godwin's capture is $100,000.[7]
3 Osama bin Laden[8] June 7, 1999 #456
Osama bin Laden[8] is the leader of al-Qaeda, and is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States embassies, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed over 200 people. Bin Laden and al-Qaeda are also responsible for the October 12, 2000, attack on the USS Cole off the coast of Yemen, which killed 17. Although bin Laden also later appeared on the first publicly released FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list on October 10, 2001, he was listed there for the 1998 embassy attack, and not for his alleged role in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000, because the most wanted lists name fugitives charged with a crime by a prosecutor or under indictment by a grand jury. Bin Laden was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in, for instance, the federal indictment against convicted terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, but has not been formally indicted for his role in the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Osama bin Laden is the subject of a $25 million reward through the State Department's Rewards for Justice program targeting international fugitives, especially terrorists, plus $2 million through a program developed and funded by the Air Line Pilots Association and the Air Transport Association.[9][10][8]
4 James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger, Jr. August 19, 1999 #458
James J. Bulger is wanted for his role in numerous murders (18 counts) committed from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s in connection with his leadership of an organized crime group that allegedly controlled extortion, drug deals, and other illegal activities in the Boston, Massachusetts, area. He has a violent temper and is known to carry a knife at all times. He was once the boss of Boston's Winter Hill Gang before he went into hiding. The reward for information leading to Bulger's capture is $1,000,000.[11]
5 Robert William Fisher June 29, 2002 #475
Robert William Fisher is wanted for allegedly killing his wife Mary and their two young children Robert Jr. and Brittany and then blowing up the house in which they all lived in Scottsdale, Arizona in April of 2001. Possible motive for the murders is that Mary was about to file a divorce he didn't want to go through.[12] The reward for information leading to Fisher's capture is $100,000.[13]
6 Jorge Alberto Lopez-Orozco March 17, 2005 #480
Jorge Alberto Lopez-Orozco is wanted in connection with the murders of a woman and her two young children, ages 2 and 4, in Mountain Home area, Idaho. [14] The victims' charred remains were found on August 11, 2002, inside a burned-out vehicle. He may be travelling with his brother, Simon Lopez-Orozco, and Simon's wife, both of whom have been charged as accessories in the crime. The reward for information leading to Lopez-Orozco's capture is $100,000. [15]
7 Emigdio Preciado, Jr. March 14, 2007 #485
Emigdio Preciado, Jr. is wanted for opening fire on two sheriff's deputies in Los Angeles, California on September 5, 2000, seriously injuring one of them. He was believed to be heading to a gang-related drive-by shooting at the time. The FBI believes he may be in Mexico.[16] The reward for information leading to Preciado's capture was $100,000, but it has been increased to $200,000.[17]
8 Alexis Flores June 2, 2007 #487
Alexis Flores (born July 18, 1975), is wanted for the kidnapping and murder of five-year-old Iriana DeJesus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in July 2000. According to a profile on America's Most Wanted, there is evidence child was also raped before the murder, though rape is not listed on his official FBI poster. He was last seen in Arizona, where he served a prison term for forgery. He may have returned to Honduras, where he is believed to still have ties.[18] The reward for information leading to Flores' capture is $100,000.
9 Jon Savarino Schillaci CAPTURED September 7, 2007 #488
Jon Savarino Schillaci was wanted for the alleged molestation of a young boy in Deerfield, New Hampshire in October of 1999. Schillaci had been communicating with the victim's family while he was serving time for prior sexual assault convictions. After his release from prison, the family provided Schillaci a home from which to start his new life, during which time the molestation occurred.[19] The reward for information leading to Schillaci's capture was $100,000. Schillaci was captured in Mexico on June 5, 2008, and flown back to New Hampshire one day later.[20]
10 Jason Derek Brown December 8, 2007 #489
Jason Derek Brown is wanted for murder and armed robbery. In November 2004, authorities say Brown shot and killed an armored car guard outside a Phoenix, Arizona movie theater and fled on a bicycle with $56,000 in a duffel bag.[21] News of his addition to the FBI's Top 10 list was first broken on the website of the TV show America's Most Wanted. The reward for information leading to Brown's capture is $100,000.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Facts on the Program (HTML). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
  2. ^ The Hunt for the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" Fugitives. Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees. CNN (2006, June 6).
  3. ^ McCabe, Paul (2001, March 21). Ask the FBI.: The Ten Most Wanted list. USA Today.
  4. ^ John Douglas & Mark Olshaker, The Anatomy of Motive: The FBI's Legendary Mindhunter Explores the Key to Understanding and Catching Violent Criminals, 1999, by Mindhunters, Inc.
  5. ^ Press Release: FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive Arrested In Mexico (HTML). Boston FBI Field Office. Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
  6. ^ Gerena's FBI Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive Alert (HTML). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
  7. ^ Godwin's FBI Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive Alert (HTML). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
  8. ^ a b c All official U.S. posting has the name starting with a U and not an O.
  9. ^ Osama bin Laden's FBI Most Wanted Fugitive Alert (HTML). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
  10. ^ Rewards for Justice Wanted Terrorist Osama bin Laden (HTML). Rewards for Justice. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
  11. ^ Bulger' s FBI Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive Alert (HTML). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
  12. ^ Mounties got their man, but he isn't Fisher (HTML). AZCentral. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.
  13. ^ Fisher's FBI Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive Alert (HTML). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
  14. ^ AMW FUGITIVE DATA FILE FOR Jorge Alberto Lopez-Orozco (HTML). America's Most Wanted. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
  15. ^ Lopez-Orozco's FBI Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive Alert (HTML). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
  16. ^ Preciado, Jr's FBI Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive Alert (HTML). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved on 2007-03-16.
  17. ^ FBI Los Angeles Division Press Release (HTML). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
  18. ^ Flores' FBI Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive Alert (HTML). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved on 2007-07-02.
  19. ^ Schillaci's FBI Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive Alert (HTML). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.
  20. ^ TOP TEN CAPTURE - Most Wanted Fugitive Found in Mexico (HTML). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
  21. ^ Brown's FBI Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive Alert (HTML). Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.

[edit] External links