FBI's "Top 10" turns 60

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - Sixty years ago, the FBI started keeping a list of the country's Top 10 Fugitives. Since then, it has posted 494 people on the list and made 463 captures; 152 have been arrested with help from the public.

In 1949, a reporter asked the FBI: "Who are the top 10 toughest guys you are looking for?" FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover liked the idea of a list so much he began what is now known as "The FBI's Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List."

FBI Fugitive 378 was Thomas William Manning. He was busted in Norfolk on April 24, 1985. Vanessa Torres, with the FBI told WAVY.com, "He was originally wanted for being a domestic terrorist for a bombing in New England, but when he arrived here in Norfolk he robbed a bank and killed a state trooper."

The Top 10 list is compiled in Washington, D.C., by the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division. All field divisions are told to send in top candidates. The Top 10 are picked based on threat to community or seriousness of crimes.

The list is printed and distributed, especially over the internet. Osama Bin Laden is still on the list. "Initially the fugitives were bank robbers, and kidnappers. The fugitives now on the list have created more serious crimes, like terrorism," Torres said.

"Our publicity strategies have changed since technology has evolved. We now have use of Internet, Twitter, Facebook, and we are even on digital billboards now," Torres said. Adams Outdoor Advertising has donated space on it's I-264 billboard to the FBI.

You may have seen Richard Wiggins on a billboard until he surrendered to U.S. Marshals because his family urged him to. Paul Holland was put up high on a donated Lamar Outdoor Advertising sign on I-264. Neighbors saw him and called the FBI. "It is so easy for us to call down there, and just like that the picture is up there in just an instant," Torres said.

Edward Myrics was once up on a billboard on I-264. It was thought he went to New Jersey, so the FBI put him on a billboard in New Jersey, where he was eventually arrested on March 11, 2010.

Fugitive 115 was Walter Bernard O'Donnell. He was the first from Hampton Roads to be put on the Top 10 list in June 1959, but was taken off two days later. "One of our citizens recognized his photo and he was arrested here in Norfolk," Torres said.

Fugitive 327 is Melvin Dale Walker. He was captured in Virginia Beach on November 9, 1974 after FBI Agents staked out his house.

Information about the “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” can be found on the Internet, television, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, podcasts, cell phone applications, and digital billboards. As technology continues to advance, the FBI intends to utilize all the tools available to publicize the “Top Ten” Fugitives and engage the public in helping to locate them.

More information about the “Top Ten” Fugitives is available on the FBI’s Internet home page at www.fbi.gov .