St. Louis Assistant Special Agent in Charge Mike Kaste talks about some of the criminals that have been apprehended from the agency's "Top Ten" list over the years.
Originally published March 11, 2010 at 3:59 p.m., updated March 11, 2010 at 3:59 p.m.
St. Louis Assistant Special Agent in Charge Mike Kaste talks about the 60th anniversary of the agency's "Top Ten" list over the years.
Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) Mike Kaste said Thursday that Sunday, March 14, marks the FBI’s celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” program.
The “Top Ten” program is designed to publicize particularly dangerous fugitives. The FBI said it's an extremely important law enforcement tool and media involvement is crucial to its success.
Kaste said, “Since the program began, almost 500 fugitives have been placed on the list. Ninety-four percent of them have been apprehended or located. And the public’s cooperation resulted in 33 percent of those apprehensions.”
The “Top Ten” program began from a newspaper story in late 1949. A reporter for International News Service asked the FBI for the names and descriptions of the “toughest guys” thebBureau would like to capture. The story had so much appeal and generated so much positive publicity that former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover implemented the “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” program 60 years ago.
Since its inception, the St. Louis Division, which covers the eastern half of Missouri, has added the following four fugitives to the “Top Ten” list:
- Joseph James Brletic was wanted for robbery in Robertson, Mo. He was placed on list on Feb. 9, 1953 and was arrested the next day on Feb. 10, 1953.
- Gordon Lee Cooper was wanted for armed robbery in Poplar Bluff, Mo. He was placed on list on May 11, 1953 and was arrested exactly a month later on June 11, 1953.
- Raymond Louis Owen Menard was wanted for burglary in St. Louis. He was placed on the list on May 3, 1954 and was arrested two days later on May 5, 1954.
- Thomas Edward Galloway was wanted for murder in St. Louis. He was placed on the list on June 24, 1964 and was arrested less than a month later on July 17, 1964.
For decades, people saw the “Top Ten” posters in post offices, but now 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 said it intends to use all the innovative 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.
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