Colton Harris-Moore, the barefoot boy bandit, outfoxes sheriffs

[niceypoo]

In the forests and remote islands around Seattle, police are setting traps for a barefoot teenage outlaw who has eluded them for nearly two years.

Police say 18-year-old Colton Harris-Moore, whose escapades are turning him into a folk legend, is a one-man crime wave, responsible for 50 burglaries as well as stealing light aircraft, which he taught himself to fly from video games, and several speedboats.

He lives in the woods, shuns shoes and catches his own food. His only technological aid is a pair of thermal-imaging goggles to hunt at night and his weakness is pizzas, which he asks to be delivered at the edge of the woods.

He is like a Jr. James Bond or something. He has a huge internet following and movie offers.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6946030.ece

[knowbody0]

1. I watched Colton grow up here on my island

kids mocked him for being dirty and smelling bad. he pulled up to my driveway one night in an escalade and yelled out
"who's poor now?" he always bragged about having a millionaire dad who was a pilot.

about one month ago I came home to find a swat team in by back woods. they are very angry with the kid and claim he shot at them. he has humiliated them for over three years now. that he taught himself to fly is astonishing to me.

[paulsby]

6. the flying thing isn;'t that hard

flying a small plane is very simple. the laws of aerodynamics means they basically fly themselves. landing otoh, is a bit more difficult, but iirc, he wasn't exactly a perfect pilot at landings.

realistically speaking, if you can run a flight simulator in "realistic mode" you can fly a basic cessna or piper cub or the like quite easily.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

2. What a highly disturbed individual. How long before he kills someone?

Or on the other hand, I'm sure he already has.

[niceypoo]

11. What makes you think he kills people?

??

[Sarah Ibarruri]

16. The fact that he sounds completely and totally f****d up.

His behavior is the complete opposite of what's considered emotionally healthy behavior.

[Occulus]

13. What makes you so sure? n/t

[Sarah Ibarruri]

15. He's anti-social, chaotic, a loner, enjoys disruption (his only joy?)

He has no family (at least he rejects the concept of family). In short, he's f****d up.

[Occulus]

18. So in other words, he's a messed-up teen. I myself fit four of your five criteria when I was 18.

That doesn't speak to why you're "sure" he's killed someone.

I'll ask you again, since you never answered the first time. What makes you sure he's already killed someone?

[Sarah Ibarruri]

22. I think during the teens, when hormones are raging (and I don't just mean sexually)

boys don't have their wits about them.

Also, the teen brain is not properly wired. It's all not properly wired until about more or less 21-25 years old. (Beaucoup articles out there on that).

So yeah, I agree that teens are way out there. The teen years are VERY delicate. It's when males most commit suicide.

That's where family, community, school, etc. come in. They help balance a child. A kid who has none of that and lives isolated in the woods like some mentally ill homeless man, is either already f****d up, or you can count he will soon be that way.

And then there's just plain old mental illness. Children and teens with mental illness need a lot more than just living barefoot in the woods and sustaining themselves by biting off the heads of opposums.

[Libertas1776]

3. Said his mother...

"Kohler said she was proud her son had stolen the aircraft because he had never had a flying lesson in his life. “I was going to send him to flight school, but I guess I don’t have to,” she said. “I’d tell him the next time he took a plane: wear a parachute and practise your landing."



Oh, well isn't that sweet and precious.:sarcasm: HEY CRAZY LADY! What the hell kind of mother were you that your kid ended up like this??? Let's if he does decide to crash another Cessna, it's into YOUR house and no one innocent.

[Ghost in the Machine]

5. "Raised in a caravan on Camano Island, an isolated community in the Puget Sound,..."

"Raised in a caravan on Camano Island, an isolated community in the Puget Sound, Harris-Moore started living wild at the age of seven. He would break into holiday homes, steal blankets and food and vanish into the woods for days.

In April 2008, after being sent to a juvenile detention centre, he complained that the beds were too short for his lanky frame and went on the run. "


Sounds like a feral kid....

[knowbody0]

8. he grew up here, feral is a good description

[Libertas1776]

10. Well, he has a mother.

She must be so proud, basically letting her kid become Tarzan and all. She should win mother of the year :sarcasm:

[pansypoo53219]

4. i'm with him on no shoes.

lot less stuff you need.

[mrs_p]

9. except in the pacific nw

bare feet = cold, wet feet

[niceypoo]

12. Makah indians didnt wear footwear...

...of any sort, summer or winter and they live in the rain forest. Is about adaption.

[paulsby]

7. i can totally understand the folk hero draw

but if you've ever been a victim of such a criminal, you're likely a bit less admirous.

these island communities mostly operate on trust. when i was a kid, i lived in a similar community and never once locked the front door of our house, and routinely left the car keys in the ignition or on the front seat.

ONE person like this kid affects the whole community and takes away that magic.

it's pretty sad, actually.

some of the article is also fanciful. we don't KNOW he stays in the woods. he may very well be staying with people who harbor him. nobody knows for sure.

[Selatius]

14. If he were robbing big banks and predatory payday lenders, he'd become mythical in stature.

And that he can shoot bolts of lightning from his ass.

[Occulus]

19. Don't give him ideas.

This sounds like the sort of person who could pull it off.

[proteus_lives]

17. I hope they catch him before he kills someone or himself.

[Edweird]

20. The fact that he's burglarizing and stealing from neighbors makes him a dick.

If you're gonna steal, do it from corporations. On the other hand, this kid obviously has some skillz that could be put to good use - as long as he manages to avoid serious criminal charges. He's clearly very intelligent and can think on his feet. I hope he gets it together.

[aikoaiko]

21. I suspect his story won't end well. nt