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The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives is a most wanted list maintained by the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The list arose from a conversation held in late 1949 between
J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation  ...
,
Director of the FBI The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a United States' federal law enforcement agency, and is responsible for its day-to-day operations. The FBI Director is appointed for a single ...
, and William Kinsey Hutchinson,
International News Service The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909.
(the predecessor of the
United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 2 ...
) 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 first person added to the list was Thomas J. Holden, a robber and member of the Holden–Keating Gang on the day of the list's inception. Individuals are generally only removed from the list if they are captured, die, or if the charges against them are dropped; they are then replaced by a new entry selected by the FBI. In eleven cases, the FBI removed individuals from the list after deciding that they were no longer a "particularly dangerous menace to society". Machetero member Víctor Manuel Gerena, added to the list in 1984, was on the list for 32 years, which was longer than anyone else. Billie Austin Bryant spent the shortest amount of time on the list, being listed for two hours in 1969. The oldest person to be added to the list was Eugene Palmer on May 29, 2019, at 80 years old. On 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. Despite occasional references in the media, the FBI does ''not'' rank their list; no suspect is considered "#1 on the FBI's Most Wanted List" or "The Most Wanted". The list is commonly posted in public places such as
post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...
s. Some people on the list have turned themselves in. On May 18, 1996, after surrendering at the U.S. embassy in Guatemala City, Leslie Isben Rogge became the first person on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list to be apprehended due to the FBI's then-new home page on the Internet. The FBI maintains other lists of individuals, including the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists, along with crime alerts, missing persons, and other fugitive lists. On June 17, 2013, the list reached a cumulative total of 500 fugitives having been listed. As of December 23, 2022, 529 fugitives had been listed, eleven of them women, and 493 of them were captured or located (93%), 163 (31%) of them due to public assistance.


New additions

The Criminal Investigative Division (CID) at FBI Headquarters calls upon all 56 Field Offices to submit candidates for the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list. The nominees received are reviewed by special agents in the CID and the Office of Public Affairs. The selection of the proposed candidates is forwarded to the Assistant Director of the CID for their approval and then to the FBI's Director for final approval. This process takes some time, which is why James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger Jr., who was arrested in
Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
on June 22, 2011, remained on the list until May 9, 2012, despite no longer being at large.
Osama bin Laden Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until his death in 2011. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, his group is designated ...
similarly remained on the list for almost a year after his death at the hands of U.S. forces on May 2, 2011.


List as of December 2022

Rewards Reward may refer to: Places * Reward (Shelltown, Maryland), a historic home in Shelltown Maryland * Reward, California (disambiguation) * Reward-Tilden's Farm, a historic home in Chestertown Maryland Arts, entertainment, and media * "Reward ...
are offered for information leading to capture of fugitives on the list; the reward is a minimum of $100,000 for all fugitives, currently exceeded in the cases of Jose Rodolfo Villarreal-Hernandez at $1 million and Rafael Caro Quintero at $20 million (the latter was captured on July 15, 2022).


See also

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Former FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives This incomplete list of former FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives are convicted felons that have been on the list of the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. Former FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives by decade Former FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1950s Former ...
*
List of Mexico's 37 most-wanted drug lords This is a list of Mexico's 37 most-wanted drug lords as published by Mexican federal authorities on 23 March 2009. According to a ''BBC Mundo'' Mexico report, the 37 drug lords "have jeopardized México national security." As of 8 January 2016, ...
*
Specially Designated Global Terrorist A Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) is a person or entity that has been designated as such by the United States Department of State or the US Department of the Treasury. An SDGT designation is made under authority of US Executive Order 1 ...


References


External links

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Ten most wanted fugitives list is turning 65 years old
��FBI news blog
Additional information from ''America's Most Wanted''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fbi Ten Most Wanted Fugitives 1950 establishments in the United States