Happy 75th Anniversary to the FBI's 'Ten Most Wanted' List

While researching this topic, I learned that the list dates all the way back to March 14, 1950, meaning that it just celebrated its 75th anniversary about a week ago. And it's a pretty exclusive list. Since 1950, only 535 fugitives have been listed, and of them, 497 were apprehended or located. Not bad, I suppose.  

Related: Caught! Another One of FBI's 'Ten Most Wanted' in Custody

The story goes that a reporter for the International News Service once asked the FBI to give him the names of the "toughest guys" they wanted to capture, and when he wrote a story about it, it was really popular with the public. J. Edgar Hoover was so amazed at the publicity it got that he decided to make the "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" a regular part of the FBI. It's been a success in getting the names and images of these bad guys (and girls) out to the media and the public. 

To make the list, a person must meet two criteria. One, "the individual must have a lengthy record of committing serious crimes and/or be considered a particularly dangerous menace to society due to current criminal charges." And two, "it must be believed that the nationwide publicity afforded by the program can be of assistance in apprehending the fugitive, who, in turn, should not already be notorious due to other publicity." 

Each of the FBI's 55 field offices gets to submit potential candidates for the list, and the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division agents go over them and send the finalists to FBI leaders for final approval. To be removed from the list, the person must be captured, obviously, or their federal charges must be dropped. Rarely, a person is removed because they're no longer considered a threat to society (that's happened about fourteen times). 

The list can also sometimes have more than ten people on it. For example, when James Earl Ray killed Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, he was added to the list that already had ten people on it. 

The list has had some famous faces on it over the last 75 years. According to the FBI, "Most have involved violent crime, although cyber fugitives and persons wanted for crimes against children, drugs, and white-collar crimes have been added, as well. A select few have even shook the foundations of modern American history."  

Thomas James Holden was the very first person placed on the list. A member of the Holden-Keating gang, he was notorious for committing numerous crimes, usually robbing trains and trucks, and eventually escaping from the Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, but he made the list because he killed his wife and two brothers in 1949. He was captured in Oregon in 1951. 

Over the years, several names that practically anyone would know have made the list as well: Ray, Osama Bin Laden, Ted Bundy, Patty Hearst, James “Whitey” Bulger. 80-year-old Eugene Palmer is the oldest person to ever make the list. He allegedly killed his daughter-in-law in 2012 and was placed on the list in 2019. Today, he remains at large but has been removed from the list because he no longer meets the criteria. 

As for the youngest, a few teenagers have made the list over the years. They include David Fine, a radical anti-Vietnam War activist, who, at the age of 18, took part in the Sterling Hall bombing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1970. He was captured in 1976. Alejandro Rosales Castillo, who is currently on the list, allegedly killed a co-worker in North Carolina in 2016 when he was just 17 years old. He was added to the list the next year at the age of 18, and he remains on the list today. It's believed he's hiding out in Mexico. 

Something that shocked me is that only eleven women have made the list in 75 years. The first was Ruth Eisemann-Schier in 1968. She and her boyfriend kidnapped a wealthy Emory University student, buried her alive in a ventilated fiberglass box, and held her for ransom. She eventually served four years in jail and was deported to Honduras, where she was born. Currently, Ruja Ignatova is the only female on the list. Born in Bulgaria, she's wanted for her role in a "large-scale fraud scheme" that robbed investors of billions of dollars. She was added to the list in 2022. 

Related: True Crime Sunday: It's Always the Ones You Least Expect

Other people currently on the list include Ryan James Wedding, a former Canadian Olympian for running a major transnational drug trafficking operation, and Vitel’Homme Innocent, a Haitian man who leads the gang Kraze Barye. The ironically named Innocent is partially responsible for the "kidnapping of 17 Christian Missionaries in Haiti, including five children, one as young as 8 months old." 

According to the FBI, "The hostages were allegedly held at gunpoint and most remained captive for 61 days. The gangs demanded a ransom payment for each of the victims. Additionally, under the direction of Innocent, it is alleged that in October 2022, the Kraze Barye gang kidnapped a United States citizen in Haiti and killed a second United States citizen during the kidnapping attempt." You can view the entire list here. 

Here are a few other "fun facts" about the list: 

• More people were captured or located in 1968 than in any other year (33 total). 
• Billie Austin Bryant spent the shortest amount of time on the list at two hours in 1969. 
• Victor Manuel Gerena was the person who spent the longest time on the list at 32 years. 
• Six people, including Ray, have been on the list multiple times. 
• Only 13 fugitives were killed during their capture, and 25 have surrendered over the years. 
• More people on the list were caught in California than any other place in the world (62 total). 
• 61 of the fugitives were caught in other countries.   
• At least 17 were caught after appearing on "America’s Most Wanted," while two were caught after appearing on "Unsolved Mysteries." 

So there you have it — 75 years of the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" in a nutshell. The bureau has done some good work capturing some really bad men (and a few women) over the years, and it's comforting to know it's back in good hands.