Colton Harris-Moore’s mother says he’s not out in the cold

CAMANO ISLAND — Colton Harris-Moore’s mother is growing weary of the all the attention placed on her son.

She said she’s tired of being bothered at her home, and of the exaggerations of her son’s behavior being spread by police, the Internet and the media.

“He doesn’t live outside. He lives in a home, has his own room,” said Pam Kohler, who lives on rural Camano Island.

She said he isn’t to blame for every crime on Camano Island and around the Pacific Northwest.

Harris-Moore, 18, is a fugitive who’s wanted in two states and Canada in connection with a string of burglaries and thefts.

Kohler said she speaks to him occasionally over an untraceable phone line and doesn’t know his location.

The Island County sheriff’s office simply isn’t up to task of bringing him in.

“They’re too damned lazy to do anything about,” she said. “He’s my son, and I will not put up with any more lies.”

Harris-Moore has gained international notoriety and has become an Internet folk hero. That has forced Kohler to change her phone number, in part, because of persistent calls from reporters eager to learn more about her son, she said.

“He thinks that Facebook is funny, with all his followers,” Kohler said.

As the December holidays approach, she said she misses having him around, although she’s getting used to his absence, she said.

The mother and son have a tumultuous past, according to court records.

Still, she said she plans to buy her son a gift, just in case she gets a chance to see him: a bullet-proof vest.

Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com.