The FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list turned 66 years old last week
— and it ain’t your grandfather’s catalog of thugs and hoodlums
anymore.
Like crime in America, the list has evolved. It started in the 1950s as an array of the “toughest” bank robbers and car thieves before adding radicals and kidnappers in the ’60s, mobsters in the ’70s and gangbangers and white-collar criminals in the ’80s and ’90s.
Today, you’ll find a rogue’s gallery of murderers, rapists, drug traffickers, child abusers and armed robbers with zero regard for human life.
And you won’t find them on post-office walls anymore. Not only does the FBI now post the list on digital billboards, but it has a Facebook page and Twitter account devoted to it.
The list was founded on March 14, 1950, after a UPI reporter called and asked the FBI for a list of the “toughest guys” it wanted to capture.
The resulting news story drew so much interest that the list was institutionalized by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover in the hope that public assistance would lead to fugitive arrests.
The first woman on the list was Ruth Eisemann-Schier. She and ex-con Gary Steven Krist kidnapped the daughter of a Florida developer from a Decatur, Ga., motel on Dec. 17, 1968.
The duo buried the heiress, Barbara Jane Mackle, in a shallow grave in a coffin with ventilation tubes and food. They demanded a $500,000 ransom — and got it. Mackle was found alive.
But Eisemann-Schier, then 28, never saw a penny and was captured in Oklahoma after posing as 19-year-old co-ed to apply for a job at a mental institution. A clerk had run her fingerprints.
Eisemann-Schier served four years in prison before being deported to her native Honduras.
Gangster Al Capone, Martin Luther King Jr. assassin James Earl Ray, serial killer Ted Bundy and the polygamous “prophet” Warren Jeffs are a few of the infamous criminals to make the list.
Since its inception, the 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list has led to the capture or location of 474 criminals. A total of 505 fugitives have made the list in 66 years.
Yaser Abdel Said, 59
Irving, Texas
Murder
On list since December 2014
The married Egyptian immigrant, a taxi driver with a history of abusive behavior, forbade his two teenage daughters from dating. They did, in secret.
When Said found out on Christmas Eve 2007 he was furious, authorities say. A few days later, on New Year’s Day, in a so-called “honor killing,” he drove the girls in his taxi to a wooded area and allegedly shot them point blank and left their bodies his cab.
The 6-foot-2 Said killer enjoys eating at Denny’s and I-Hop restaurants, smokes Marlboro lights and has a fondness for German Shepherds. He has ties to New York, Canada and Virginia, and is believed to be armed and dangerous.
Fidel Urbina, 36
Chicago
Murder, kidnapping, rape
On list since June, 2012
Urbina was free on bond after brutally raping a woman, authorities say, when he landed a gig as a garage attendant on Chicago’s south side. Urbina then allegedly raped and murdered a second woman, a customer whose body was found in the trunk of a charred car in a desolate alley in October 1998.
Despite his effort to destroy the evidence of his horrible deed authorities were able to identify the victim and tie Urbina to the murder.
The Mexican-born Urbina is 5-foot-11 with pockmark acne on his right cheek. He has 10 different aliases, including “Tonorio.” The FBI believes he may have fled to Durango, Mexico.
Eduardo Ravelo, 47
Racketeering, drug trafficking
El Paso, Texas
On list since October 2009
The FBI says Ravelo is a capo in the Barrio Azteca criminal enterprise. He was indicted in Texas in 2008 for conspiracy to launder money and intent to distribute heroin, cocaine and marijuana. Authorities believe he is also a hit man for the Vicente Carillo Fuentes drug ring and has several murders under his belt.
The 5-foot-9 suspect sports tattoos on his back, chest and abdomen and has up to 15 different aliases, including “T-Blas,” “2×4,” and “Lumberman.”
The FBI believes Ravelo may have had plastic surgery to alter his appearance and fingerprints and splits his time between Mexico and Texas. He is possibly armed and dangerous.
William Bradford Bishop Jr., 69
Murder
Bethesda, Md.
On list since April 2014
Bishop, a Yale alum and former diplomat who speaks five languages, was employed as a U.S. foreign service officer in March 1976 when he was passed over for a promotion. Shortly after, the licensed pilot became unhinged and allegedly bludgeoned his 37-year old wife, and three sons (ages 5, 10 and 14) to death with a sledgehammer. It is believed Bishop, an insomniac suffering from depression, went off his meds before the murders.
The FBI says Bishop transported the bodies from Bethesda to Columbia, N.C., and lit them on fire. The manhunt for the 6-foot-1 outdoorsman was expanded to the rural South.
Over the years the FBI has followed numerous leads of Bishop’s whereabouts — he was a homeless vagrant on the streets of Alabama, he was killed by a hit-and-run driver — but none proved true.
Victor Manuel Gerena, 57
Armed robbery
Hartford, Conn.
On list since May 1984
In September 1983, Gerena, a New York City native, allegedly grabbed two security guards at a Wells Fargo Armored Car facility in West Hartford, Conn., pointed a gun to their heads, handcuffed them and injected them with a mystery fluid before making off with $7 million.
It was the largest cash robbery in U.S. history at the time. The FBI believes the former machinist, who is 5 feet 7 inches tall, is hiding out in Cuba.
Gerena has earned the dubious distinction of spending more time on the 10 Most Wanted list than any other person.
Robert William Fisher, 54
Murder
Scottsdale, Ariz.
On list since June 2002
The Navy veteran and former fireman was working as a cardiovascular technician at the Mayo Clinic when, authorities say, he shot his wife in the head and slit the throats of his two young children in their home in April 2001. He then set the house on fire.
No one saw it coming. Days before the horrific murders, the 6-foot-1 Brooklyn native and big-game hunter went to church, changed the oil in his 2001 Dodge Ram and did a few home repairs.
The FBI says Fisher has ties to New Mexico and Florida and is believed to be carrying several weapons, including a high-powered rifle.
Glen Stewart Godwin, 58
Murder
Folsom, Calif.
On list since December 1996
Godwin had no prior records when he allegedly robbed, stabbed and killed a local drug dealer in California in 1987. He then filled the body with explosives and blew it up. He was sentenced to 26 years in Folsom State Prison, but he escaped by slipping into a manhole, climbing through several hundred feet of a storm drain and then paddling a raft — left for him by an outside accomplice — down the American River.
Cops caught up to Godwin in 1991 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where he as collared for dealing drugs. While serving time in a Guadalajara prison he murdered another inmate. Five months later the crafty criminal escaped again.
The FBI believes the fugitive may be traveling throughout Mexico and Central and South America and remains involved in narcotics.
Muloh Jaqory Mason, 25
Aggravated robbery, attempted murder
Lakewood, Colo.
On list since December, 2015 (RECENTLY CAPTURED)
Mason was nabbed on Jan. 15 at a Motel 6 in Thornton, Colo., and, surrounded by a SWAT team, surrendered.
Prior to his capture, the 6-foot-2 Mason and two cohorts were accused of going on a crime spree in November of 2015. Wearing green skeleton masks similar to those in “Scream” horror movies, the trio allegedly held up two separate banks, shoving guns in teller’s faces, and shooting two bystanders during their getaways. Mason’s accomplices were captured shortly after the robberies.
He remains on the list until the FBI finds a suitable replacement.
Jason Derek Brown, 46
Murder, armed robbery
Phoenix, Ariz.
On list since December 2007
In 1994 Brown left his wife and The Church of Latter Day Saints and developed an un-Mormonlike interest in alcohol, women, luxury cars and club drugs. Ten years later, in November 2004, Brown was working as a golf equipment importer when he allegedly shot and killed an armored car guard outside a movie theater. The FBI says he fled with $56,000.
Brown resembles a surfer dude and bears such a striking resemblance to actor Sean Penn that the FBI twice mistakenly apprehended the actor’s body double.
The 5-foot-7 avid golfer was last spotted in August 2008 at a stoplight in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Alexis Flores, 40
Murder, kidnapping
Philadelphia
On list since June 2007
Flores was on the hunt for work as a handyman and a place to live in Philadelphia when he allegedly raped and murdered a 5-year-old girl in July 2000. The young child’s body was found strangled in the same building where Flores found shelter.
Flores has scars on his forehead and right cheek and identified himself as Carlos from Honduras to locals. He served time in Arizona for forgery, and was deported to Honduras.
After his deportation, Arizona police discovered that Flores’ DNA matched the sample taken from the Philadelphia crime scene. He was immediately placed on the Top 10 list. The FBI believes Flores is still in Honduras.
Like crime in America, the list has evolved. It started in the 1950s as an array of the “toughest” bank robbers and car thieves before adding radicals and kidnappers in the ’60s, mobsters in the ’70s and gangbangers and white-collar criminals in the ’80s and ’90s.
Today, you’ll find a rogue’s gallery of murderers, rapists, drug traffickers, child abusers and armed robbers with zero regard for human life.
And you won’t find them on post-office walls anymore. Not only does the FBI now post the list on digital billboards, but it has a Facebook page and Twitter account devoted to it.
The list was founded on March 14, 1950, after a UPI reporter called and asked the FBI for a list of the “toughest guys” it wanted to capture.
The resulting news story drew so much interest that the list was institutionalized by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover in the hope that public assistance would lead to fugitive arrests.
The first woman on the list was Ruth Eisemann-Schier. She and ex-con Gary Steven Krist kidnapped the daughter of a Florida developer from a Decatur, Ga., motel on Dec. 17, 1968.
The duo buried the heiress, Barbara Jane Mackle, in a shallow grave in a coffin with ventilation tubes and food. They demanded a $500,000 ransom — and got it. Mackle was found alive.
But Eisemann-Schier, then 28, never saw a penny and was captured in Oklahoma after posing as 19-year-old co-ed to apply for a job at a mental institution. A clerk had run her fingerprints.
Eisemann-Schier served four years in prison before being deported to her native Honduras.
Gangster Al Capone, Martin Luther King Jr. assassin James Earl Ray, serial killer Ted Bundy and the polygamous “prophet” Warren Jeffs are a few of the infamous criminals to make the list.
Since its inception, the 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list has led to the capture or location of 474 criminals. A total of 505 fugitives have made the list in 66 years.
Here’s a look at today’s Top 10:
Yaser Abdel Said, 59
Irving, Texas
Murder
On list since December 2014
The married Egyptian immigrant, a taxi driver with a history of abusive behavior, forbade his two teenage daughters from dating. They did, in secret.
When Said found out on Christmas Eve 2007 he was furious, authorities say. A few days later, on New Year’s Day, in a so-called “honor killing,” he drove the girls in his taxi to a wooded area and allegedly shot them point blank and left their bodies his cab.
The 6-foot-2 Said killer enjoys eating at Denny’s and I-Hop restaurants, smokes Marlboro lights and has a fondness for German Shepherds. He has ties to New York, Canada and Virginia, and is believed to be armed and dangerous.
Fidel Urbina, 36
Chicago
Murder, kidnapping, rape
On list since June, 2012
Urbina was free on bond after brutally raping a woman, authorities say, when he landed a gig as a garage attendant on Chicago’s south side. Urbina then allegedly raped and murdered a second woman, a customer whose body was found in the trunk of a charred car in a desolate alley in October 1998.
Despite his effort to destroy the evidence of his horrible deed authorities were able to identify the victim and tie Urbina to the murder.
The Mexican-born Urbina is 5-foot-11 with pockmark acne on his right cheek. He has 10 different aliases, including “Tonorio.” The FBI believes he may have fled to Durango, Mexico.
Eduardo Ravelo, 47
Racketeering, drug trafficking
El Paso, Texas
On list since October 2009
The FBI says Ravelo is a capo in the Barrio Azteca criminal enterprise. He was indicted in Texas in 2008 for conspiracy to launder money and intent to distribute heroin, cocaine and marijuana. Authorities believe he is also a hit man for the Vicente Carillo Fuentes drug ring and has several murders under his belt.
The 5-foot-9 suspect sports tattoos on his back, chest and abdomen and has up to 15 different aliases, including “T-Blas,” “2×4,” and “Lumberman.”
The FBI believes Ravelo may have had plastic surgery to alter his appearance and fingerprints and splits his time between Mexico and Texas. He is possibly armed and dangerous.
William Bradford Bishop Jr., 69
Murder
Bethesda, Md.
On list since April 2014
Bishop, a Yale alum and former diplomat who speaks five languages, was employed as a U.S. foreign service officer in March 1976 when he was passed over for a promotion. Shortly after, the licensed pilot became unhinged and allegedly bludgeoned his 37-year old wife, and three sons (ages 5, 10 and 14) to death with a sledgehammer. It is believed Bishop, an insomniac suffering from depression, went off his meds before the murders.
The FBI says Bishop transported the bodies from Bethesda to Columbia, N.C., and lit them on fire. The manhunt for the 6-foot-1 outdoorsman was expanded to the rural South.
Over the years the FBI has followed numerous leads of Bishop’s whereabouts — he was a homeless vagrant on the streets of Alabama, he was killed by a hit-and-run driver — but none proved true.
Victor Manuel Gerena, 57
Armed robbery
Hartford, Conn.
On list since May 1984
In September 1983, Gerena, a New York City native, allegedly grabbed two security guards at a Wells Fargo Armored Car facility in West Hartford, Conn., pointed a gun to their heads, handcuffed them and injected them with a mystery fluid before making off with $7 million.
It was the largest cash robbery in U.S. history at the time. The FBI believes the former machinist, who is 5 feet 7 inches tall, is hiding out in Cuba.
Gerena has earned the dubious distinction of spending more time on the 10 Most Wanted list than any other person.
Robert William Fisher, 54
Murder
Scottsdale, Ariz.
On list since June 2002
The Navy veteran and former fireman was working as a cardiovascular technician at the Mayo Clinic when, authorities say, he shot his wife in the head and slit the throats of his two young children in their home in April 2001. He then set the house on fire.
No one saw it coming. Days before the horrific murders, the 6-foot-1 Brooklyn native and big-game hunter went to church, changed the oil in his 2001 Dodge Ram and did a few home repairs.
The FBI says Fisher has ties to New Mexico and Florida and is believed to be carrying several weapons, including a high-powered rifle.
Glen Stewart Godwin, 58
Murder
Folsom, Calif.
On list since December 1996
Godwin had no prior records when he allegedly robbed, stabbed and killed a local drug dealer in California in 1987. He then filled the body with explosives and blew it up. He was sentenced to 26 years in Folsom State Prison, but he escaped by slipping into a manhole, climbing through several hundred feet of a storm drain and then paddling a raft — left for him by an outside accomplice — down the American River.
Cops caught up to Godwin in 1991 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where he as collared for dealing drugs. While serving time in a Guadalajara prison he murdered another inmate. Five months later the crafty criminal escaped again.
The FBI believes the fugitive may be traveling throughout Mexico and Central and South America and remains involved in narcotics.
Muloh Jaqory Mason, 25
Aggravated robbery, attempted murder
Lakewood, Colo.
On list since December, 2015 (RECENTLY CAPTURED)
Mason was nabbed on Jan. 15 at a Motel 6 in Thornton, Colo., and, surrounded by a SWAT team, surrendered.
Prior to his capture, the 6-foot-2 Mason and two cohorts were accused of going on a crime spree in November of 2015. Wearing green skeleton masks similar to those in “Scream” horror movies, the trio allegedly held up two separate banks, shoving guns in teller’s faces, and shooting two bystanders during their getaways. Mason’s accomplices were captured shortly after the robberies.
He remains on the list until the FBI finds a suitable replacement.
Jason Derek Brown, 46
Murder, armed robbery
Phoenix, Ariz.
On list since December 2007
In 1994 Brown left his wife and The Church of Latter Day Saints and developed an un-Mormonlike interest in alcohol, women, luxury cars and club drugs. Ten years later, in November 2004, Brown was working as a golf equipment importer when he allegedly shot and killed an armored car guard outside a movie theater. The FBI says he fled with $56,000.
Brown resembles a surfer dude and bears such a striking resemblance to actor Sean Penn that the FBI twice mistakenly apprehended the actor’s body double.
The 5-foot-7 avid golfer was last spotted in August 2008 at a stoplight in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Alexis Flores, 40
Murder, kidnapping
Philadelphia
On list since June 2007
Flores was on the hunt for work as a handyman and a place to live in Philadelphia when he allegedly raped and murdered a 5-year-old girl in July 2000. The young child’s body was found strangled in the same building where Flores found shelter.
Flores has scars on his forehead and right cheek and identified himself as Carlos from Honduras to locals. He served time in Arizona for forgery, and was deported to Honduras.
After his deportation, Arizona police discovered that Flores’ DNA matched the sample taken from the Philadelphia crime scene. He was immediately placed on the Top 10 list. The FBI believes Flores is still in Honduras.
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