FBI Top Ten Fugitive Apprehended in Wyoming

WYOMING—Special Agent in Charge James H. Davis, FBI Denver, announced the arrest today of FBI Top Ten Fugitive Edward Eugene Harper, also known as Ed Harmon. Harper was wanted for his alleged involvement in the sexual assault of two girls, ages 3 and 8, in Hernando, Mississippi.

FBI special agents, with assistance from the Wyoming Game and Fish, arrested Harper this morning. Harper has been a fugitive for approximately 14 years, and was arrested in Washakie County, Wyoming, in the southern portion of the Big Horn Mountains. The FBI, based on a tip generated from the media attention on Harper, conducted an investigation and subsequently obtained a federal search warrant for the location where Harper was residing. Harper is believed to have lived a nomadic lifestyle, living in a 1979 truck with a camper top, moving from place to place, and earning a living by doing odd jobs and herding sheep.

Harper was transported to Casper, Wyoming, where he will be held at the Natrona County jail.

Background: On April 27, 1994, Edward Eugene Harper was indicted by the Circuit Court of DeSoto County, Mississippi, for the 17th Judicial District of Mississippi, Case Number CR94-124CD, for conspiracy to commit sexual battery, child fondling, and sexual battery. At the time of the alleged offenses, Harper was 47 years of age. Harper allegedly befriended the neighborhood girls and molested them after gaining their trust.

Harper failed to appear for a scheduled court hearing and a state warrant was issued for his arrest on October 31, 1994, in DeSoto County, Mississippi. Subsequently, a federal arrest warrant was issued for Harper by the United States District Court, Northern District of Mississippi, after he was charged in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1073, Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution.

Harper was placed on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list on November 29, 2008. He was the 491st person to be placed on the list, and the most recent. The list was established in 1950; since then, 462 (as of today) fugitives have been apprehended or located. Prior to Harper’s placement on the “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list, he was placed on Oprah Winfrey’s Child Predator Watch List and has been profiled on the television program, “America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back.”

Further information about Edward Eugene Harper and other fugitives currently appearing on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list is available on the FBI’s Internet Home Page at http://www.fbi.gov.