FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives

The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives is a most wanted list maintained by the United States's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The list arose from a conversation held in late 1949 between J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, and William Kinsey Hutchinson,[1] International News Service (the predecessor of the United Press International) 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.[2] 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.[3][1]

A color photograph of a man with a moustache wearing tinted glasses, a white undershirt, and a yellow overshirt in front of a white wall
On May 19, 1996, Leslie Isben Rogge (pictured here in 1973) 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.

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.[1] Billie Austin Bryant spent the shortest amount of time on the list, being listed for two hours in 1969.[4] 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.[5] 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".[1]

The list is commonly posted in public places such as post offices. Some people on the list have turned themselves in.[8] 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.[9] The FBI maintains other lists of individuals, including the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists,[10] 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.[11] As of May 25, 2023, 531 fugitives had been listed, eleven of them women, and 494 of them were captured or located (93%), 163 (31%) of them due to public assistance.[1][12]

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.[13] The nominees received are reviewed by special agents in the CID and the Office of Public Affairs.[13] 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.[13] This process takes some time, which is why James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger Jr., who was arrested in Santa Monica, California on June 22, 2011,[14] remained on the list until May 9, 2012,[15] despite no longer being at large. Osama bin Laden similarly remained on the list for almost a year after his death at the hands of U.S. forces on May 2, 2011.[16]

List as of October 2023

Rewards are offered for information leading to capture of fugitives on the list; the reward is a minimum of $250,000 for all fugitives.[1]

Photo Name Date added Sequence
number		 Comments
Alexis Flores
June 2, 2007
487
 Flores is wanted for the kidnapping, rape and murder of five-year-old Iriana DeJesus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in July 2000. He was deported to his native Honduras in 2005 after serving a prison term for forgery in Arizona. He was added to the list after his deportation when his DNA was matched to the DeJesus crime.[17][18]
Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel
April 18, 2017
514
 Patel, an Indian national, allegedly stabbed and killed his wife in a doughnut shop in Hanover, Maryland, on April 12, 2015. He was last seen taking a shuttle to Newark Penn Station. According to authorities, he has connections to Canada, Georgia, Illinois, India, Kentucky, and New Jersey.[19][20][21]
Alejandro Castillo
October 24, 2017
516
 Castillo is wanted in connection with the August 2016 murder of a 23-year-old woman, Truc Quan "Sandy" Ly Le, whom he had previously dated. The two became acquainted while working together in a restaurant in Charlotte, North Carolina.[22]
Arnoldo Jimenez
May 8, 2019
522
 Jimenez is wanted for the murder of his wife on May 12, 2012. Jimenez allegedly stabbed his wife to death just hours after their wedding. Her body was found in a bathtub at her apartment in Burbank, Illinois.[23]
Jose Rodolfo Villarreal-Hernandez (captured)
October 13, 2020
524
 Villarreal-Hernandez was wanted for directing individuals to track and murder a man in Southlake, Texas, in May 2013. A reward of up to $1,000,000 was offered for information leading to his capture.[24] He was captured in Mexico City on January 7, 2023.[25]
Yulan Adonay Archaga Carias
November 3, 2021
526
 Archaga Carias is charged federally in the Southern District of New York with racketeering conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and possession and conspiracy to possess machine guns. As the alleged leader of MS-13 for all of Honduras, Archaga Carias allegedly controlled MS-13 criminal activity in Honduras and provided support and resources to the MS-13 enterprise in Central America and the United States with firearms, narcotics, and cash. Archaga Carias is also allegedly responsible for supporting multi-ton loads of cocaine through Honduras to the United States and for ordering and participating in murders of rival gang members and others associated with MS-13.[26] The reward for information leading to his capture was increased to $5 million on February 8, 2023.[27]
Ruja Ignatova
June 30, 2022
527
 Ignatova is wanted for her alleged leadership of a massive fraud scheme called OneCoin. She was last seen in October 2017 in Athens, Greece, and has ties to her birthplace of Bulgaria and Germany.[28]
Omar Alexander Cardenas
July 20, 2022
528
 Cardenas is wanted for his alleged involvement in the murder of a man outside a barbershop in Los Angeles, California, in the summer of 2019.[29]
Wilver Villegas-Palomino
April 14, 2023
530
 Wilver Villegas-Palomino is a member of the National Liberation Army or Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), a transnational criminal organization and foreign terrorist organization. He is charged with Narcoterrorism, International Cocaine Distribution Conspiracy, and International Cocaine Distribution. United States Department of State Narcotics Rewards Program is offering up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest and/or his conviction.[30]
Donald Eugene Fields II
May 25, 2023
531
 On December 8, 2022, a federal arrest warrant was issued for Donald Eugene Fields II, who is wanted for the alleged sex trafficking of at least one child in Missouri between approximately 2013 and 2017. He was suspected to had done the same thing to two more children.[31][32]

See also

References
  1. "Facts on the Program". FBI Director. Retrieved April 13, 2022.
  2. "This Day in History 1950: The FBI debuts 10 Most Wanted". History.com. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
  3. "1. Thomas James Holden".
  4. "Ask the FBI.: The Ten Most Wanted list". USA Today. March 21, 2001. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  5. Douglas, John; Mark Olshaker (July 1999). The Anatomy of Motive: The FBI's Legendary Mindhunter Explores the Key to Understanding and Catching Violent Criminals. Mindhunters, Inc. ISBN 0-671-02393-4.
  6. "One of FBI's Most Wanted fugitives turns herself in". wistv.com. September 19, 2005. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  7. Marfin, Catherine. "Former UT student, FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive turns himself in after three decades on the run". The Daily Texan. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
  8. Examples being Heather Tallchief in 2005[6] and Robert Van Wisse in 2017.[7]
  9. "FBI Web Site Helps Snag a Fugitive". The Washington Post. Reuters. May 20, 1996. p. D8. Retrieved September 6, 2020 – via Proquest.
  10. "FBI Most Wanted Terrorists". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  11. "Alleged rapist, killer added to FBI's 'Most Wanted' list". NBC News. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
  12. "Wanted by the FBI: Another Milestone for the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List". Federal Bureau of Investigation. March 14, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  13. "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives Program". FBI. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  14. Melley, Brian and Greg Risling (June 23, 2011). "FBI arrests mob boss Whitey Bulger in Calif." Associated Press.
  15. "FBI Ten Most Wanted". Retrieved November 27, 2011.
  16. Pelofsky, Jeremy (April 10, 2012). "FBI replaces bin Laden on Ten Most Wanted list". Yahoo! News. Reuters.
  17. "Alexis Flores". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Archived from the original on June 29, 2007. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  18. "AMW Fugitive Data File for Alexis Flores". America's Most Wanted. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
  19. "Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  20. Bui, Lynh (April 18, 2017). "Latest on FBI's most wanted list: Man accused of killing wife in Md. doughnut shop". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  21. "New Top Ten Fugitive". Federal Bureau of Investigation. April 18, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  22. "New Top Ten Fugitive". Federal Bureau of Investigation. October 24, 2017.
  23. "Arnoldo Jimenez Added to Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List". Federal Bureau of Investigation. May 8, 2019.
  24. "Jose Rodolfo Villarreal-Hernandez Added to Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List". Federal Bureau of Investigation. October 13, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  25. Burns, Ahraya; Beausoleil, Sophia; Reyes, Jacob (January 8, 2023). "Mexican Cartel Leader Linked to 2013 Southlake Killing Arrested". KXAS-TV. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  26. "Alleged MS-13 Leader Added to FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List". Federal Bureau of Investigation. November 3, 2021. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  27. Tabachnick, Cara (February 9, 2023). "U.S. offers $5 million reward for MS-13 gang leader 'Porky'". CBS. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  28. "Ruja Ignatova Added to FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List". Federal Bureau of Investigation. June 30, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  29. "Omar Cardenas Added to FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List". Federal Bureau of Investigation. July 20, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  30. "Wilver Villegas-Palomino Added to FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
  31. "DONALD EUGENE FIELDS II". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  32. "FBI offering $250,000 reward for man who disappeared before court date on sex trafficking charges". KSDK. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
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