Key events in the history of Colton Harris-Moore

Here are some of the key events in the story of Colton Harris-Moore, 19, the self-described “Barefoot Bandit” from Camano Island:

  • March 22, 1991 — Born in Skagit County, he grew up on Camano Island. Although described as bright and creative, he had behavior problems in school and his first felony conviction by age 12.
  • February 2007 — Arrested and prosecuted as a juvenile after a series of break-ins and thefts on Camano Island and in neighboring Stanwood. He made his first headlines after evading capture for months by hiding in the woods and seeking shelter in empty vacation homes.
  • April 22, 2008. — While serving a three-year sentence for burglary, escapes from a group home for juvenile offenders in Renton.
  • .

  • July 18, 2008 — Crashes a stolen car into Elger Bay Grocery. A backpack with evidence is found, including a stolen digital camera. Harris-Moore used it to snap a self-portrait, an image that spread around the world.
  • Nov. 12, 2008 — An airplane is stolen from Orcas Island and crashes near Yakima. He’s the prime suspect.
  • March 12, 2009 — Island County Sheiriff’s Office seeks his arrest on adult charge of flight to avoid prosecution.
  • June 20, 2009 — A deputy’s patrol car is broken into on Camano Island. His rifle and other equipment stolen. A fire station on Camano Island also is burglarized.
  • Sept. 8, 2009 — The Island Market on Orcas Island is burglarized and an ATM vandalized. Tests later show Harris-Moore’s blood at the scene and he is charged with the crime.
  • Sept. 22, 2009 — A boat is stolen from Orcas Island. San Juan County sheriff’s deputies say Harris-Moore is then suspected in dozens of island burglaries, two airplane thefts and a boat theft. They think he is then headed toward Canada.
  • Sept. 29, 2009 — A small plane is stolen in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Police link the theft to a string of crimes across British Columbia.
  • Oct. 1, 2009 — A logger discovers the plane stolen in Idaho crashed in a clearing near Granite Falls. Harris-Moore’s DNA is found in the plane and man trackers follow bare footprints to a makeshift camp in the woods. Somebody shoots at a deputy during the intense manhunt, which involves SWAT teams and a helicopter from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
  • Oct. 9, 2009 — A Mukilteo man builds a Colton Harris-Moore Facebook Fan Page. The story of the Camano Island teen fugitive and his Web popularity sparks international media attention.
  • Oct. 26,2009 — Harris-Moore’s former partner in crime, convicted felon Harley Davidson Ironwing, is arrested for shoplifting in Everett. Within weeks he gives the first of what becomes many jailhouse interviews about his days burglarizing homes with Harris-Moore.
  • Dec. 11, 2009 — Federal prosecutors secretly charge Harris-Moore with theft of the Idaho plane. an FBI agent’s affidavit says the teen then is the focus of roughly 65 investigations involving police in two states and Canada.
  • Feb. 11 — A plane stolen from Anacortes is recovered on Orcas Island. Not far away, a grocery store is burglarized. Somebody draws bare footprints on the floor.
  • Feb. 28 — A burglary is attempted at an Orcas Island hardware store.
  • March 18 — Federal agents and police from multiple jurisdictions scour the west side of Orcas Island.

  • April 16 — A Hollywood studio buys the rights to a movie based on the fugitive’s life.
  • May 15 — Video captures Harris-Moore at a marina on Lopez Island moments before a boat is stolen. the vessel is later found adrift off Camano Island.
  • May 21 — A Seattle man starts an anti-Harris-Moore Web site, trying to drum up enthusiasm for his arrest.
  • May 29 — An Everett bounty hunter announces he’s joined the hunt. Police are cool to his involvement. Days later he meets with a crowd of about 200 people on Camano Island.
  • May 30 — Harris-Moore leaves a note and cash a Raymond, Wash., veterinary clinic, asking that the money be used to help animals. He signs the note “the Barefoot Bandit.”
  • June 1 — A stolen boat from southwest Washington turns up in Oregon along the Columbia River. A car is stolen during a burglary at a small airport in Warrenton, Ore.
  • June 8 — Harris-Moore snubs an Edmonds attorney’s offer to help and a supposed anonymous donor’s offer to pay him $50,000 if he surrenders.
  • June 9 — Food and a car are stolen when a burglar fails in an attempt to steal a plan in McMinnville, Ore.
  • June 10 — A car is stolen at a small airport in Ontario, Ore. It is recovered two days later in Boise, Idaho. Officials began warning police that Harris-Moore may be on the move east.
  • June 13 — The trail picks up in Spearfish, S.D., where a car stolen in Wyoming is recovered at a small airport. The thief leaves in another stolen car.
  • June 18 — A manhunt is launched after people in Yankton, S.D. return home to find a naked young man in their home. Evidence links Harris-Moore to the burglary. Another car is stolen.
  • June 20 — Harris-Moore faces charges for a burglary and car theft in Norfolk, Neb.
  • June 21 — More burglaries and another car theft in Pella, Iowa.
  • June 22 — A car owned by the city of Ottumwa, Iowa, is stolen and there are burglaries, including one at the local airport.
  • June 24 — The car taken in Ottumwa, Iowa is found stuck in the sand near Dallas City, Illinois.
  • July 3 — A car stolen from Illinois is recovered and then a Cessna 400 plane is stolen from a locked hangar at the Monroe County Airport in Bloomington, Ind.
  • July 4 — The Cessna stolen in Indiana is found crashed off the coast of Grand Abaco Island in the Bahamas, about 1,200 miles from where it was stolen. FBI announces a $10,000 reward and unseals a criminal complaint against Harris-Moore.
  • July 11 — The Royal Bahamas Police Force arrest Harris-Moore before dawn on neighboring Eleuthera Island.
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