Since the inception of the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List in 1950, over 500 criminals have been placed on it as of November 2023. This highly publicized list enlists the public’s help to find hardened fugitives, often escapees, and as a result of the cooperation of Americans, a vast majority of these felons were apprehended or located.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation got its technical start on July 8, 1908. It was a group that began as an unnamed force of special agents, appointed by Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte, who worked in the Department of Justice. This nameless force eventually gave way to the FBI that we know today.
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 two months. Many early listees were captured before publication or evaded capture entirely. (These are the most wanted criminals of the 1950s.)
To determine who were the FBI’s most sought-after 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.
Criminals are sometimes removed from the list without being arrested. This can happen if charges are dropped, they are n longer considered a threat or high danger, or they have 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.
Here are the FBI’s most sought-after fugitives of the 1960s
Harry Robert Grove, Jr.
- Added to the Most Wanted list: Feb. 19, 1962
- Criminal offense: Robbery, bail-jumping
- Arrested/Removed from list: Jan. 26, 1963
William Terry Nichols
- Added to the Most Wanted list: April 6, 1961
- Criminal offense: Armed robbery, jailbreak
- Arrested/Removed from list: April 30, 1962
Howard Jay Barnard
- Added to the Most Wanted list: April 12, 1963
- Criminal offense: Robbery
- Arrested/Removed from list: April 6, 1964
Alfred Oponowicz
- Added to the Most Wanted list: Nov. 27, 1963
- Criminal offense: Armed robbery, safecracking
- Arrested/Removed from list: Dec. 23, 1964
Donald Stewart Heien
- Added to the Most Wanted list: March 8, 1965
- Criminal offense: N/A
- Arrested/Removed from list: Feb. 3, 1966
Edward Owen Watkins
- Added to the Most Wanted list: Sept. 21, 1965
- Criminal offense: Bank robbery
- Arrested/Removed from list: Dec. 2, 1966
Lynwood Irwin Mears
- Added to the Most Wanted list: April 11, 1966
- Criminal offense: Breaking and entering, jailbreak
- Arrested/Removed from list: May 2, 1967
Monroe Hickson
- Added to the Most Wanted list: Feb. 17, 1967
- Criminal offense: Murder
- Arrested/Removed from list: Jan. 30, 1968
Carmen Raymond Gagliardi
- Added to the Most Wanted list: June 9, 1967
- Criminal offense: Murder
- Arrested/Removed from list: Dec. 23, 1968
George Edward Wells
- Added to the Most Wanted list: March 28, 1968
- Criminal offense: Armed robbery, interstate flight
- Arrested/Removed from list: May 27, 1969
Harold Thomas O’Brien
- Added to the Most Wanted list: Jan. 4, 1963
- Criminal offense: Murder, interstate flight
- Arrested/Removed from list: Jan. 14, 1965
Marie Dean Arrington
- Added to the Most Wanted list: May 29, 1969
- Criminal offense: Murder, jailbreak
- Arrested/Removed from list: Dec. 22, 1971
Gordon Dale Ervin
- Added to the Most Wanted list: April 13, 1967
- Criminal offense: Robbery
- Removed from list: June 7, 1969 (arrested)
Warren David Reddock
- Added to the Most Wanted list: March 11, 1969
- Criminal offense: Murder
- Arrested/Removed from list: April 14, 1971
John B. Everhart
- Added to the Most Wanted list: Nov. 22, 1960
- Criminal offense: Murder, jailbreak
- Arrested/Removed from list: Nov. 6, 1963
John Gibson Dillon
- Added to the Most Wanted list: Sept. 1, 1961
- Criminal offense: Drug trafficking, bail-jumping
- Arrested/Removed from list: March 2, 1964
Chester Collins
- Added to the Most Wanted list: May 14, 1964
- Criminal offense: N/A
- Arrested/Removed from list: March 30, 1967
Alson Thomas Wahrlich
- Added to the Most Wanted list: July 9, 1964
- Criminal offense: Kidnapping, molestation, interstate flight
- Arrested/Removed from list: Oct. 28, 1967
Taylor Morris Teaford
- Added to the Most Wanted list: May 10, 1969
- Criminal offense: Rape, murder
- Arrested/Removed from list: May 24, 1972
Byron James Rice
- Added to the Most Wanted list: July 5, 1968
- Criminal offense: Murder, arson
- Arrested/Removed from list: Oct. 2, 1972
Donald Leroy Payne
- Added to the Most Wanted list: Oct. 6, 1960
- Criminal offense: Rape, assault
- Arrested/Removed from list: Nov. 26, 1965
Edward Howard Maps
- Added to the Most Wanted list: June 15, 1962
- Criminal offense: Murder, arson
- Arrested/Removed from list: Dec. 1, 1967
Cameron David Bishop
- Added to the Most Wanted list: April 15, 1969
- Criminal offense: Sabotage
- Arrested/Removed from list: March 12, 1975
John William Clouser
- Added to the Most Wanted list: Jan. 7, 1965
- Criminal offense: Kidnapping, robbery, aggravated assault
- Arrested/Removed from list: Aug. 1, 1972
Benjamin Hoskins Paddock
- Added to the Most Wanted list: June 10, 1969
- Criminal offense: Bank robbery, jailbreak
- Arrested/Removed from list: May 5, 1977