Colton Harris Moore

Colton Harris Moore (born March 22, 1991) is an American former fugitive.

He was charged with the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in property, including several small aircraft, boats, and multiple cars, all committed while still a teenager.

In 2003, police found a neighbor's camcorder in his home.

Never before sentenced to more than a month, he was given a three-year juvenile sentence and was housed at the Green Hill School in Chehalis.

He was transferred to a halfway house in Renton where he fled by walking out of the facility in April 2008.

Moore is suspected of being responsible for approximately 100 thefts in Washington, Idaho, and Canada, including bicycles, automobiles, light aircraft, and speedboats.

It is believed that he learned how to fly small planes by reading aircraft manuals, handbooks, watching a "How to fly a small airplane" DVD, and playing flight simulator computer games.

Police found a 2008 white Toyota Sequoia in Norfolk, Nebraska, which was reported stolen in Yankton, South Dakota.

One plane he stole in 2009 was a Cessna 182, FAA registration number N24658, belonging to then KZOK-FM radio personality Bob Rivers, valued at over $150,000.

The plane was later recovered from a Yakama Indian Reservation crash site.

Though badly damaged, it was rebuilt and is in Florida.

According to local sheriffs, Moore would often slip into a home just to SOAK in a hot bath or steal ice cream from the freezer.

While his thefts would escalate to increasing value in cash and property, he initially would steal only what he needed for living in the woods as a survivalist.

In 2009, he allegedly used a homeowner's computer and credit card to order bear mace and a pair of $6,500 night vision goggles.

He fled to the Bahamas on July 4, 2010, allegedly in a plane stolen from Bloomington, Indiana.

He was indicted on July 6, 2010, by a U.S. Federal Court in Seattle, Washington, on charges of transporting another stolen aircraft in that state.

Moore, still only 19, was arrested in Harbour Island, Bahamas, on July 11, 2010, after police shot out the engine of the boat in which he was attempting to flee.

Two days later, he was extradited from Nassau, Bahamas, to Miami, Florida, and transferred on July 21 to the Federal Detention Center, SeaTac in Washington.

On May 30, 2010, police found a handwritten note and $100 at a veterinary clinic in Raymond, Washington, approximately 95 mi southwest of Seattle.

The note read:

"Drove by, had some extra cash. Please use this money for the care of animals"

In late June 2010, Moore was suspected of vehicle thefts stretching as far east as Illinois.

The trail of suspected thefts attributed to him passes through Idaho, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois.

On December 16, 2011, Moore was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for dozens of consolidated charges brought against him from three different counties.

On January 27, 2012, he was sentenced to six and a half years for related federal crimes.

He became known as the "Barefoot Bandit" by reportedly committing some of his crimes barefoot, once leaving behind 39 chalk footprints and the word "CYA!."

Despite the widely reported nickname, officials said that he more often wore shoes.

On September 28, 2016, Moore was released from prison on parole.

Colton Harris Moore was born in Mount Vernon, Washington and grew up in his mother's house on Camano Island.

Neighbors said they made several calls to Child Protective Services, believing he was neglected or abused.

His father, Gordon, used drugs and was in prison while Moore was a toddler.

When he was twelve years old, his father (who had recently been released) walked into the woods after an argument at a family barbecue, was subsequently arrested and not heard from again.

According to his mother, Pamela Kohler, his stepfather died when he was about seven years old, and from the time Moore was in the first grade, she knew there was "something off about him" – "sort of a disconnection".

He would not listen to his teachers, started altercations at school, and would sometimes deliberately break things around the house.

According to a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation, Moore said that his mother drank and became mean, breaking his possessions.

He started living in the wild at the age of seven, and would break into vacation homes in the area, stealing blankets, food and water before disappearing into the forest for days.

His first conviction for stolen property came at age 12, and by the time he was 13, he had three more.

He has been diagnosed with depression, attention deficit disorder and intermittent explosive disorder.

Each conviction brought a 10-day stay in a detention center, or community service.

His mother once said, "Every time he had anything any good, everyone thought he stole it. What does that do to a kid?"