By: HISTORY.com Editors
The FBI debuts “10 Most Wanted Fugitives” list
The Federal Bureau of Investigation institutes the “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list in an effort to publicize particularly dangerous fugitives. The creation of the program arose out of a wire service news story in 1949 about the “toughest guys” the FBI wanted to capture. The story drew so much public attention that the “Ten Most Wanted” list was given the okay by J. Edgar Hoover the following year.
J. Edgar Hoover
Since their inceptions, the FBI and the CIA have been two separate entities, but did you know that these two organizations were almost combined in one agency, run by none other than J. Edgar Hoover?
Since its debut, hundreds of the criminals included on the list have been apprehended or located, with more than 150 as a result of tips from the public. The Criminal Investigative Division (CID) of the FBI asks all 56 field offices to submit candidates for inclusion on the list. The CID in association with the Office of Public and Congressional Affairs then proposes finalists for approval of by the FBI’s Deputy Director. The criteria for selection is simple, the criminal must have a lengthy record and current pending charges that make him or her particularly dangerous. And the FBI must believe that the publicity attendant to placement on the list will assist in the apprehension of the fugitive.
Generally, the only way to get off the list is to die or to be captured. There have only been a handful of cases where a fugitive has been removed from the list because they no longer were a particularly dangerous menace to society. Only ten women have appeared on the Ten Most Wanted list. Ruth Eisemann-Schier was the first in 1968.
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Citation Information
- Article Title
- The FBI debuts “10 Most Wanted Fugitives” list
- Author
- HISTORY.com Editors
- Website Name
- History
- Date Accessed
- October 21, 2026
- Publisher
- A&E Television Networks
- Last Updated
- May 28, 2025
- Original Published Date
- November 13, 2009
