NASSAU – Police were yesterday hunting for a pilot who vanished after wrecking a small plane in the Bahamas and investigators in the United States turned their suspicions towards an American teenager on the run dubbed the “Barefoot Bandit”.
The single-engine Cessna that crashed in shallow waters off Abaco Island was apparently stolen from Bloomington, Indiana. By the time rescuers arrived on Monday, no one was inside.
The 2009 Cessna 400 Corvalis was stolen over the weekend from the Monroe County Airport.
US authorities said the heist has similarities to other thefts attributed to 19-year-old Colton Harris-Moore, a Washington State teenager who has no formal flight training.
The teen got his nickname for allegedly committing crimes while shoeless.
He is suspected of stealing cars and small airplanes to evade authorities since escaping from a halfway house near Seattle in 2008.
Authorities believe he has taken five planes, luxury cars and power boats.
A statement on the website of the US Embassy in Nassau said Harris-Moore may have recent injuries.
It said the FBI was offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
Be the first to comment