11 Facts About the FBI Top-10 Fugitive List

Nearly 500 fugitives have been featured on the FBI top-10 list.

ByABC News
May 12, 2012, 3:07 PM

May 12, 2012— -- intro: Although FBI top-10 fugitive Adam Mayes, wanted for murder and kidnapping two Tennessee girls, was apprehended after only being on the FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted list for 29 hours, his case was not one of the fastest to be closed. Here are some other facts about the Top Ten List.

quicklist: 1title: Billy Austin Bryanttext: In 1969 Billy Austin Bryant was apprehended only two hours after being placed on the Most Wanted List. After escaping from Lorton Prison in Virginia, Bryant robbed a bank in Maryland and killed two FBI agents in Washington who were closing in on him. Bryant was immediately placed on the Top 10 list and captured just two hours later after an intense manhunt began. media: 16330247

quicklist: 2title: Top Ten List Is Effectivetext: Since its inception in 1950, 496 fugitives have been on the Top Ten list, and 466 have been apprehended or located. media: 16330326

quicklist: 3title: Record Breakertext: Victor Manuel Gerena, wanted for stealing $7 million from a security company in Connecticut, has been the longest-sought fugitive. He has been on the Top Ten List for over 27 years. There is a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest.media: 16330293

quicklist: 4title: Public Awarenesstext: 153 Fugitives have been captured as a result of tips and assistance from the public. media: 16330279

quicklist: 5title: 1968: A Banner Yeartext: In 1968 the FBI captured 33 fugitives who had been placed on the Top 10 list. Among those captured was James Earl Ray, wanted for the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King. Ray is one of six people put on the list twice. He was added again in 1977 when he escaped from the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Tennessee. Bloodhounds tracked him down after 54 hours.media: 16330369

quicklist: 6title: Eight Women Have Been on the Listtext: The first woman to be placed on the list was Ruth Eisemann-Schier, added in 1968 for kidnapping a millionaire's daughter. She was arrested after 79 days on the run. She served four years in prison, and, as a condition of her release, was they deported to her native Honduras.media: 16330381

quicklist: 7title: Katherine Ann Powertext: Katherine Ann Power was the women who spent the longest time on the FBI list. She was wanted for the 1970 shooting of a Boston police officer. She moved undetected to Oregon, established a false identity and lived quietly there. She turned herself in 14 years later, in 1984.media: 16330476

quicklist: 8title: Established in 1950text: The list was set up in 1950 after a 1949 newspaper article with the headline "FBI's 'Most Wanted Fugitives' Named" appeared in The Washington Daily News. media: 16330495

quicklist: 9title: The First Man Caughttext: William Raymond Nesbit was the first fugitive to be captured as a result of the 10 most wanted list. Only two days after the FBI posted the list with his picture, a boy in Minnesota recognized him. He had been living in a cave along the Mississippi river media: 16330522

quicklist: 10title: Bin Laden's Replacementtext: Suspected child pornographer Eric Justin Toth, a former third-grade teacher, replaced the Osama bin Laden on the FBI's most-wanted list after the Al Qaeda leader was killed in Pakistan in 2011. Toth was last seen in Arizona in 2009. He was believed to have been on the run through Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota. media: 16330532

quicklist: 11title: Whitey Bulgertext: Boston Mobster James "Whitey" Bulger was the oldest person to be placed on the list. He was 69 when he was added in August 1999. Bulger was captured in 2011 living in Santa Monica, California. The FBI announced Bulger's capture on Twitter media: 16330544