LONGEST TIME ON LIST Victor Manuel Gerena, May 1984 to December 2016


SHORTEST TIME ON LIST Billie Austin Bryant Jan. 8, 1969, 5-7 p.m.


OLDEST PERSON ON LIST Eugene Palmer, 80


BRYANT RAY


Billie Austin Bryant spent only two hours as one of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. He made the list after murdering two FBI agents, but was captured two hours later. James Earl Ray, who murdered the


Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and eluded authorities by using a fake name, is one of only a handful of people who made the list twice. 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden


ment for final approval. Throughout its history, the makeup


of the list has undergone changes. It initially focused on robbers, burglars, and car thieves before shifting in the 1960s to kidnapping, sabotage, and destruction of government property. Organized crime and murder


became the focus in the 1970s, fol- lowed by drugs and serial murderers in the 1980s. By the 1990s, the list reflected more international criminal activity, but currently focuses primarily on vio- lent gangs, murders, armed robber- ies, drug trafficking, mass shootings, and violent crimes against children, according to the FBI. Getting removed from the list is as


simple as being caught, but names are also taken off if charges against the person are dismissed or they no lon- ger fit the agency’s criteria, which has happened 15 times. While Holden was undoubtedly “a


menace,” the list has included people who were just as bad, and even worse. Among the latter is Osama bin


Laden following the 1998 bombings of the United States embassies in Tanza- nia and Kenya. “He was put on the top 10 list in 1999, before the 9/11 attacks,” said FBI


BIN LADEN HOLDEN


made the list years before the terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. He was recorded as Usama following the 1998 bombings of the United States embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. When Thomas James Holden became the


first person named to the list, FBI oficials described him as “a menace to every man, woman, and child in America.”


historian John Fox during an inter- view about the list’s anniversary, not- ing that at that time, he was known as Usama instead of Osama. “The FBI had been looking for him


for many years, especially after the 9/11 attacks.” Fox said bin Laden had a $25 mil-


lion reward on his head, instead of the minimum award of $250,000, but it was never collected because he was killed by the U.S. military during a raid on his compound in 2011. As bad as he was, some who have


made it on the list were bad enough to make it twice. Among them was James Earl Ray, who assassinated the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Ray, who also holds the distinc-


tion for being only the second “special addition” to the list, was sent to prison but escaped and started going by the name Eric Starvo Galt. The FBI found fingerprints at the


site of King’s murder and linked them to Galt, who fled to Canada and later Europe following the shooting but was spotted by FBI agents working in the United Kingdom. Ray’s second stint on the list was


only a couple of days, but certainly wasn’t the shortest. That distinction goes to Billie Austin Bryant, who was


TOP 10 STATES WITH NAMES ON LIST California, 62 Illinois, 39 New York, 37 Florida, 23 Michigan, 21 Pennsylvania, 20 Tennessee, 19 Georgia, 18 Massachusetts, 15 Washington, D.C., 15


FAMILIES ON LIST Samuel and Earl Veney


(apprehended in 1965) Charles and Gordon Ervin


(1967/1969) Dwight and Karleton Armstrong


(1972/1976) Charles and Michael Hammon (1986)


CURRENT TOP 10 MOST WANTED Ryan James Wedding Ruja Ignatova Omar Alexander Cardenas Yulan Adonay Archaga Carias Fausto Isidro Meza-Flores Cindy Rodriguez Singh Giovanni Vicente Mosquera Serrano Alejandro Rosales Castillo Wilver Villegas-Palomino Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel


placed on the list as a special addi- tion at 5 p.m. Jan. 8, 1969, and was removed two hours later. Bryant, an escaped convict who murdered a pair of FBI agents, was sentenced to two life sentences with- out the possibility of parole. Following his escape, Bryant went on a crime spree that resulted in him shooting the two agents and being placed almost immediately on the list. A massive manhunt ensued, and


within two hours Bryant was found hiding in an attic.


OCTOBER 2025 | NEWSMAX 21


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