The FBI's 'Ten Most Wanted': Two Down, Eight To GoWith James Bulger's arrest and Osama bin Laden's death, there are eight names left on the current FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. Who is left, and just what did these fugitives do?
In The Beginning The "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" program was launched on March 14, 1950 — a joint effort between the FBI and national news media.
Nobody Is THE Most Wanted The list doesn't rank fugitives in any order; just being on the list makes them all equal priority — the highest.
Fugitives By The Hundreds At present, 494 fugitives have landed on the list. All but 30 of them have been located with 152 captured though help from the public. Of those, 17 were apprehended through the long-running TV show, America's Most Wanted.
Women Are Most Wanted, Too Eight women have made the "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list, the first being Ruth Eisemann-Schier, who made the list in 1968 for kidnapping, extortion and other charges.
The Price Of Justice The minimum reward for the capture of a "Ten Most Wanted" fugitive is $100,000. Sometimes, as in the case of Osama bin Laden, the amount can be much larger.
A Dubious Honor With 59 apprehensions, California leads the nation in the number of "Most Wanted" fugitives captured.
Doing Time On The List At 27 years, Victor Manuel Gerena has been on the list longer than any other fugitive. Billie Austin Bryant, however, spent the least amount of time on the list — just two hours.
William "Willie" Sutton, listed 3/20/1950-2/18/1952: Sutton was a prolific criminal who stole a total of $2 million from more than 100 banks. Though he was quoted as saying he robbed banks because "that's where the money is," Sutton denied uttering the famous phrase. At the time of his capture, he was the most celebrated criminal in America. Sutton ended up in prison a number of times but managed to escape. He was arrested the last time in 1952.
Serri Graslie, Claire O'Neill, Amanda Steen
James Earl Ray, listed 4/20/1968-6/8/1968:Ray assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. He was captured a few months later but made his second appearance on the FBI's most wanted list when he escaped from prison in 1977. He was recaptured three days later.
Serri Graslie, Claire O'Neill, Amanda Steen
Angela Davis, listed 8/18/1970-10/13/1970:Davis was a political activist and scholar who landed on the list in 1970 when guns registered under her name were used in a courtroom shooting. She was acquitted at trial.
Serri Graslie, Claire O'Neill, Amanda Steen
Bernardine Dohrn, listed 10/14/1970-12/7/1973:Dohrn was a co-founder of the radical organization Weather Underground and was sought by the FBI because of her involvement with the group. She was removed from the list after three years.
Serri Graslie, Claire O'Neill, Amanda Steen
Leonard Peltier, listed 12/22/1975-2/6/1976:Peltier was a Native American activist convicted of killing two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975. He was apprehended in Alberta by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Serri Graslie, Claire O'Neill, Amanda Steen
Theodore Bundy, listed 2/10/1978-2/15/1978:"Ted" Bundy was a serial killer who murdered at least 30 women in the 1970s. He was captured in Florida after being stopped for speeding while driving a stolen vehicle.
Serri Graslie, Claire O'Neill, Amanda Steen
Ramzi Yousef, listed 4/21/1993-2/7/1995:Yousef was one of the main conspirators in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. A year after he fled to Iraq, he assembled and planted a bomb on a plane bound for Tokyo. He was captured in Pakistan in 1995.
Serri Graslie, Claire O'Neill, Amanda Steen
Osama bin Laden, listed 6/7/1995-5/1/2011:Bin Laden was initially wanted in connection with the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa that killed more than 200 people. He remained on the list after being connected to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs during an ambush on his Pakistan compound in May 2011.
Serri Graslie, Claire O'Neill, Amanda Steen
Eric Rudolph, listed 5/5/1998-5/31/2003:Rudolph was known as the "Olympic Park Bomber," for the bomb he created and detonated at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. After the Olympics, he also set off bombs at abortion clinics and a lesbian bar in the South. Rudolph was captured after he was arrested while dumpster-diving in North Carolina.
Serri Graslie, Claire O'Neill, Amanda Steen
James Bulger, listed 8/19/1999-6/22/2011: "Whitey" Bulger was the head of a major organized crime operation based in Boston. He landed on the list because of his connection to murders in the 1970s and 1980s. Bulger, now 81, was the oldest person to be placed on the FBI's list. He was apprehended in Santa Monica, Calif., after 16 years on the run.
