FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1970s


The FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives during the 1970s is a list, maintained for a third decade, of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.

FBI headlines in the 1970s

As a decade, the 1970s are marked by the passing of the Hoover era. J. Edgar Hoover had formed and defined the Bureau for nearly a half century. He was succeeded by a long list of short-term directors throughout the Nixon - Ford - Carter era who could not match Hoover's larger persona. Eventually, Director William H. Webster brought stability to Bureau, during the President Reagan era.
On the 1970s top 10 list, perhaps the most notable is the 2nd appearance of James Earl Ray, in 1977. Additionally, in 1971 the list was completely filled with long-time fugitives, who persistently evaded capture, leading to the very first year in which the FBI found it impractical to add any new fugitives to the top ten list. In 1970, the FBI had packed the list with an extraordinary number of "Special Additions" of whom most evaded capture. Consequently, the 1971 list opened with a total of sixteen wanted fugitives at large, nearly twice as many as would typically appear on the list at any other given time. By the end of the year 1971, three of the listed wanted fugitives had been captured, bringing the opening 1972 list down to a still extraordinarily large number of thirteen fugitives. Due to further removals from the list in 1972, the FBI found justification to finally list a single new Fugitive late that year.

FBI 10 Most Wanted Fugitives to begin the 1970s

The FBI in the past has identified individuals by the sequence number in which each individual has appeared on the list. Some individuals have even appeared twice, and often a sequence number was permanently assigned to an individual suspect who was soon caught, captured, or simply removed, before his or her appearance could be published on the publicly released list. In those cases, the public would see only gaps in the number sequence reported by the FBI. For convenient reference, the wanted suspect's sequence number and date of entry on the FBI list appear below, whenever possible.
As the decade began, the following fugitives were the FBI's Ten Most Wanted:
NameSequence NumberDate of EntryNotes
John William Clouser#2031965Dropped from the list August 1, 1972
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Charles Lee Herron#2651968Arrested in June 1986
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Taylor Morris Teaford#2791968Dropped from the list May 24, 1972
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Byron James Rice#2821968Apprehended October 2, 1972
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Warren David Reddock#2981969Arrested April 14, 1971
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Cameron David Bishop#3001969Arrested in Rhode Island March 12, 1975
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Marie Dean Arrington#3011969Arrested in New Orleans, December 22, 1971. Sentenced to life in prison without parole
Arrington was the second woman to appear on the list since the list began.
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Benjamin Hoskins Paddock#3021969Bank robber, appeared on the list after escaping prison. Dropped from the list on May 5, 1977, captured in 1978. He was the father of the Las Vegas shooter, Stephen Paddock.
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Joseph Lloyd Thomas#3041969Arrested March 8, 1970

The tenth space had just opened up at the end of the year 1969, but was promptly filled by a new individual on the list in the first week of 1970.

FBI Most Wanted Fugitives added during the 1970s

The most wanted fugitives listed in the decade of the 1970s include :

1970–1974

1975–1979

End of the decade

By the end of the decade, the following fugitives were remaining at large on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list:
NameSequence numberDate of entry
Charles Lee Herron#2651968
Katherine Ann Power#3151970
Joseph Maurice McDonald#3391976
Raymond Luc Levasseur#3501977
Carlos Alberto Torres#3561977
Charles Everett Hughes#3641978
Leo Joseph Koury#3661979
John William Sherman#3671979
Earl Edwin Austin#3701979
Vincent James Russo#3711979

FBI directors in the 1970s

*Acting director