The FBI’s Most Wanted list, started in 1950 at the urging of J. Edgar Hoover, is the last place criminals want to end up, besides prison. The highly publicized list enlists the public’s help to find hardened fugitives, often escapees.
To identify the most wanted criminals of the 1960s, 24/7 Tempo reviewed FBI data on over 500 current and former listees. We defined “most wanted” as those on the list the longest without being caught.
Some notorious criminals aren’t included because they were only on the list briefly before capture, like James Earl Ray, Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassin, who was arrested in the UK after 2 months.
Since its start, 492 of 529 listees have been caught, 163 by citizens. Many early listees were captured before publication or evaded capture entirely. (These are the most wanted criminals of the 1950s.)
The FBI sometimes removes criminals without arrest, like if charges are dropped, they’re deemed no longer a high danger, or they died. John Gibson Dillon was removed after being found dead at the bottom of a well, wired to 400 pounds of drilling gear, ending his 3 years on the list.
Harry Robert Grove, Jr.
> Added to the list: Feb. 19, 1962
> Years on the list: 1
> Charged with: Robbery, bail-jumping
> Arrested or removed from list: Jan. 26, 1963 (arrested)
William Terry Nichols
> Added to the list: April 6, 1961
> Years on the list: 1
> Charged with: Armed robbery, jailbreak
> Arrested or removed from list: April 30, 1962 (arrested)
Howard Jay Barnard
> Added to the list: April 12, 1963
> Years on the list: 1
> Charged with: Robbery
> Arrested or removed from list: April 6, 1964 (arrested)
Alfred Oponiwicz
> Added to the list: Nov. 27, 1963
> Years on the list: 1
> Charged with: Armed robbery, safecracking
> Arrested or removed from list: Dec. 23, 1964 (arrested)
Donald Stewart Heien
> Added to the list: March 8, 1965
> Years on the list: 1
> Charged with: N/A
> Arrested or removed from list: Feb. 3, 1966 (arrested)
Edward Owen Watkins
> Added to the list: Sept. 21, 1965
> Years on the list: 1
> Charged with: Bank robbery
> Arrested or removed from list: Dec. 2, 1966 (arrested)
Lynwood Irwin Mears
> Added to the list: April 11, 1966
> Years on the list: 1
> Charged with: Breaking and entering, jailbreak
> Arrested or removed from list: May 2, 1967 (arrested)
Monroe Hickson
> Added to the list: Feb. 17, 1967
> Years on the list: 1
> Charged with: Murder
> Arrested or removed from list: Jan. 30, 1968 (removed)
Carmen Raymond Gagliardi
> Added to the list: June 9, 1967
> Years on the list: 1
> Charged with: Murder
> Arrested or removed from list: Dec. 23, 1968 (arrested)
George Edward Wells
> Added to the list: March 28, 1968
> Years on the list: 1
> Charged with: Armed robbery, interstate flight
> Arrested or removed from list: May 27, 1969 (arrested)
Harold Thomas O’Brien
> Added to the list: Jan. 4, 1963
> Years on the list: 2
> Charged with: Murder, interstate flight
> Arrested or removed from list: Jan. 14, 1965 (removed)
Marie Dean Arrington
> Added to the list: May 29, 1969
> Years on the list: 2
> Charged with: Murder, jailbreak
> Arrested or removed from list: Dec. 22, 1971 (arrested)
Gordon Dale Ervin
> Added to the list: April 13, 1967
> Years on the list: 2
> Charged with: Robbery
> Arrested or removed from list: June 7, 1969 (arrested)
Warren David Reddock
> Added to the list: March 11, 1969
> Years on the list: 2
> Charged with: Murder
> Arrested or removed from list: April 14, 1971 (arrested)
John B. Everhart
> Added to the list: Nov. 22, 1960
> Years on the list: 3
> Charged with: Murder, jailbreak
> Arrested or removed from list: Nov. 6, 1963 (arrested)
John Gibson Dillon
> Added to the list: Sept. 1, 1961
> Years on the list: 3
> Charged with: Drug trafficking, bail-jumping
> Arrested or removed from list: March 2, 1964 (removed)
Chester Collins
> Added to the list: May 14, 1964
> Years on the list: 3
> Charged with: N/A
> Arrested or removed from list: March 30, 1967 (removed)
Alson Thomas Wahrlich
> Added to the list: July 9, 1964
> Years on the list: 3
> Charged with: Kidnapping, molestation, interstate flight
> Arrested or removed from list: Oct. 28, 1967 (arrested)
Taylor Morris Teaford
> Added to the list: May 10, 1969
> Years on the list: 4
> Charged with: Rape, murder
> Arrested or removed from list:
Byron James Rice
> Added to the list: July 5, 1968
> Years on the list: 4
> Charged with: Murder, arson
> Arrested or removed from list: Oct. 2, 1972 (arrested)
Donald Leroy Payne
> Added to the list: Oct. 6, 1960
> Years on the list: 5
> Charged with: Rape, assault
> Arrested or removed from list: Nov. 26, 1965 (removed)
Edward Howard Maps
> Added to the list: June 15, 1962
> Years on the list: 5
> Charged with: Murder, arson
> Arrested or removed from list: Dec. 1, 1967 (removed)
Cameron David Bishop
> Added to the list: April 15, 1969
> Years on the list: 6
> Charged with: Sabotage
> Arrested or removed from list: March 12, 1975 (arrested)
John William Clouser
> Added to the list: Jan. 7, 1965
> Years on the list: 7
> Charged with: Kidnapping, robbery, aggravated assault
> Arrested or removed from list: Aug. 1, 1972 (removed)
Benjamin Hoskins Paddock
> Added to the list: June 10, 1969
> Years on the list: 8
> Charged with: Bank robbery, jailbreak
> Arrested or removed from list: May 5, 1977 (removed)