'Barefoot Bandit' Linked to Bahamas Crash

Teen fugitive goes international

By Jane Yager, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 7, 2010 4:24 AM CDT
Updated Jul 7, 2010 5:34 AM CDT

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'Barefoot Bandit' Linked to Bahamas Crash — FILE - This July 2009 file self-portrait provided by the Island County Sheriff's Office shows Colton Harris-Moore. (AP Photo/Island County Sheriff's Office via The Herald)

After all those years in the rainy Pacific Northwest, maybe Colton Harris-Moore was looking for a tropical vacation. The theft of a plane from Indiana over the weekend and its crash landing in the Bahamas a few hours later look like the work of the notorious teen "Barefoot Bandit," leading authorities to suspect that Harris-Moore has left his Washington state base. The move takes Harris-Moore "from being a regional nuisance to an international problem," an FBI agent told ABC News.

Harris-Moore is suspected in recent car thefts, burglaries and airport break-ins in Illinois, South Dakota, Nebraska and Idaho. As he has racked up a string of daring thefts while eluding police, the teen fugitive has earned a growing cult following. His Facebook fan page has more than 44,000 followers, and movie and book deals are in the works.
(More Colton Harris-Moore stories.)

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