Two boats, three days, one sneaking suspicion
By JEREMIAH O’HAGAN Staff Reporter
Colton Harris-Moore
A trail of abandoned boats, leading from San Juan Island to Lopez Island to Camano Island, sparked suspicion that Colton Harris-Moore might be giving up flying for a while, choosing instead a mode of transport that doesn’t require crash landings.
San Juan County Sheriff’s Office investigated a deserted 24-foot boat that was found beached on Lopez Island last Friday.
The boat was taken from a home on the south tip of San Juan Island, after the home was burglarized. Sheriff William Cumming suspects Colton Harris Moore
Two days later, a sport fishing boat was reported stolen from a private marina on Lopez Island. However, just as the report was being filed, U.S. Coast Guard found the boat — “abandoned and floating off Camano Island,” according to a press release.
“This incident is being investigated as another possible criminal event involving Colton Harris-Moore and may be linked to a recent boat theft and burglary on San Juan Island,” Cumming said, adding that investigators from Island and San Juan counties were coordinating their efforts.
As of Wednesday, there were no further developments, but Chuck McCarty, at Friday Harbor’s San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, said Harris- Moore was indeed a suspect. he said, “but it’s a pretty strong belief.”
Harris-Moore, 19, is wanted in connection with multiple crimes in San Juan, Island and Snohomish counties, and has also been linked to airplanes stolen from Anacortes, Idaho and British Columbia. He is suspected in connection with thefts totaling as much as $1.5 million in value.
He’s evaded capture since April 2008, when he escaped from a halfway house in Renton, and has since sparked his own Facebook fan page and fringe loyalties.
But, he’s also sparked some not-so-loving attention. One man from Seattle decided to start his own blog, www.catchthebarefootbandit. wordpress.com, which is raising money to offer a reward for information leading to Harris- Moore’s capture. Currently, the sum is “$2,500 and growing.”
The blog also gives people a place to rant, read rants, and even buy their own anti-Harris-Moore paraphernalia.
Staff Reporter Jeremiah
O’Hagan: 629-8066 ext.
125 or ohagan@scnews.
com.
