The FBI is celebrating the 60th anniversary of it’s Ten Most wanted program :
The Beginning
On February 7, 1949, an article entitled FBI’s Most Wanted Fugitives Named appeared in The Washington Daily News. A United Press International reporter contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation and asked for the names and descriptions of the “toughest guys” the FBI wanted to capture. In hopes the publicity would lead to arrests, the FBI listed the names of ten fugitives it considered to be the most potentially dangerous. The story generated so much publicity and public appeal, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover permanently implemented the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” program a year later on March 14, 1950.
This “Top Ten” program relied heavily on the nation’s news media. Recognizing the need for public assistance in locating fugitives, the “Top Ten” program was designed to publicize particularly dangerous fugitives who might not otherwise merit nationwide attention. And it worked! Citizen cooperation led to the arrest of nine of the first 20 “Top Tenners.” This included the very first “Top Tenner“, Thomas Holden, who was arrested after a citizen recognized his photograph in an Oregon newspaper.
There is a full list of all 494 ne’er-do-wells that have appeared on posters (or lately on the FBI website) during the last 60 years.
The very first name on the Ten most wanted list goes to Thomas James Holden :
# | Name | Date Placed on List | Date Located | |
1 | Thomas James Holden | 3/14/1950 | 6/23/1951 | |
Holden was arrested in Beaverton, Oregon, following a tip from a citizen who read a wire service story in the Portland, Oregon, newspaper The Oregonian and contacted the FBI. |
He was finally captured 15 months later and eventually died in prison :
Thomas James Holden – U.S. prisoner, was arrested June 23, 1951 in Beaverton, Oregon, following a tip from a citizen who read the INS story in the Portland, Oregon, newspaper The Oregonian and contacted the FBI.[1] He had fled Illinois, and was charged with unlawful flight across state lines November 4, 1949; had shot to death his wife and her two brothers while drinking June 5, 1949 in Chicago; was released from Leavenworth Prison November 28, 1947; after escape, was caught with a fellow escapee by Special Agents and local police officers on a golf course at Kansas City, Missouri, July 7, 1932; was alleged to be one of the “outside” crew in a sensational armed break of other prisoners from Leavenworth in December, 1931; escaped from Leavenworth in 1930; was convicted of robbing a mail train in the late 1920s.
Seems like quite a rum fellow :
The current list has two long serving names, the second longest being a rather familiar one :
456 | Usama Bin Laden | 6/7/1999 | still on list | |
Bin Laden is wanted in connection with the 1998 bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed over 200 people. |
And, just in case you spot him while shopping at your local Tesco, here is the full “Wanted Poster” :
MURDER OF U.S. NATIONALS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES; CONSPIRACY TO MURDER U.S. NATIONALS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES; ATTACK ON A FEDERAL FACILITY RESULTING IN DEATH USAMA BIN LADEN
Date of Photograph Unknown
Aliases: Usama Bin Muhammad Bin Ladin, Shaykh Usama Bin Ladin, the Prince, the Emir, Abu Abdallah, Mujahid Shaykh, Hajj, the Director DESCRIPTION
Date of Birth: 1957 Hair: Brown Place of Birth: Saudi Arabia Eyes: Brown Height: 6′ 4″ to 6′ 6″ Complexion: Olive Weight: Approximately 160 pounds Sex: Male Build: Thin Nationality: Saudi Arabian Occupation: Unknown Remarks: Bin Laden is the leader of a terrorist organization known as Al-Qaeda, “The Base”. He is left-handed and walks with a cane. Scars and Marks: None CAUTIONUSAMA BIN LADEN IS WANTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE AUGUST 7, 1998, BOMBINGS OF THE UNITED STATES EMBASSIES IN DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA, AND NAIROBI, KENYA. THESE ATTACKS KILLED OVER 200 PEOPLE. IN ADDITION, BIN LADEN IS A SUSPECT IN OTHER TERRORIST ATTACKS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
CONSIDERED ARMED AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS PERSON, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL FBI OFFICE OR THE NEAREST U.S. EMBASSY OR CONSULATE. REWARDThe Rewards For Justice Program, United States Department of State, is offering a reward of up to $25 million for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction of Usama Bin Laden. An additional $2 million is being offered through a program developed and funded by the Airline Pilots Association and the Air Transport Association.
Interestingly, according to Pravda (no, not the BBC), we may be getting a new number one terrorist before they even manage to catch the last one :
The world may have established another “terrorist number one.” Saudi Osama bin Laden was replaced (or is about to be replaced) by U.S.-born native of Yemen Anwar al-Awlaki.
Some European sources reported that the CIA compiled a new list of persons subject to immediate elimination because of emanating threats. Such a document surfaced before. Osama bin Laden was always at the top of the list. But now “terrorist number one” is 39-year-old Anwar al-Awlaki.
There is no official confirmation of this information. But it is possible that this may be true. Back in April the information was released that the U.S. administration has given authorization for the destruction of Al-Awlaki. He is considered related to three participants in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
It is also assumed that al-Awlaki had contact with the Nigerian Umar Farooq Abdulmutallab who tried to blow up the plane Amsterdam-Detroit on December 25, 2009. He is also suspected of a connection with Major of the U.S. Army Malik Hassan, who shared the ideas of Islamic extremism, and on this grounds shot his colleagues in the fall of last year at a military base in Texas.
If the above is true, the world will have to learn a new name symbolizing “the embodiment of evil on earth.” Now this questionable title will belong to a U.S. citizen.
Still a bugger to pronounce though.
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