From coast to coast, islands to islands, the Barefoot Bandit skipped across the United States out witting authorities every step of the way. Colton Harris-Moore stole, he lied, he broke dozens of laws yet seduced most people he met with his calm polite demeanor. This modern day pirate was on the lamb for almost 2 years stealing cars, boats, and his favorite…airplanes.
Author, journalist, and fellow island lover Bob Friel wrote the tell all book documenting the tale of teenage Colton Harris-Moore. Bob lives on peaceful Orcas Island which is located in Washington state’s Puget Sound. At least it was peaceful before the Barefoot Bandit made it his hunting grounds. He tracked Colton on his cross country crime spree and was there when the law finally caught up with the bandit in the Bahamas.
I wrote a story over a year ago about picking up a hitchhiker (it’s what you do on small islands) on Harbour Island and that guy told us the story of how he helped catch the Barefoot Bandit. At the time I didn’t know much about the story, but good guy Kenny Strachan filled me in on what became one of the biggest stories to ever come out of quiet Eleuthera and Harbour Island. You can read more about me meeting Kenny here.
Bob Friel, being a former editor at Caribbean Travel & Life magazine knew the Bahamian islands well. He had contacts and all over the Abacos and Eleuthera where Colton crashed a plane, stole some boats and finally got nabbed. Those contacts helped put him right there, within minutes of when famous crime spree finally came to an end. He might have actually witnessed the capture if it weren’t for being awake for 36 hours and needing to take a nap. Suck it up Bob, you were right there!
The book, “The Barefoot Bandit: The True Tale of Colton Harris-Moore, New American Outlaw” dives into why Colton turned out they way he did. When you read the book and see what his family life was like you’ll understand. You may even be a little surprised he turned out as well as he did, for a criminal anyways. Hell he even had a Facebook page with over 100,000 fans on it with people routing for him and wishing him to be safe. It really is a unique tale, one that you can’t help but get caught up in.
If you’d like to grab the book and learn the tale of this modern day pirate you can grab it on Amazon here…
Cheers!
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