Bradford Bishop

American fugitive

William Bradford Bishop Jr. (born August 1, 1936) is a former United States Foreign Service officer who has been a fugitive from justice since killing his wife, mother, and three sons in 1976. On April 10, 2014, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) placed him on the list of its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives. On June 27, 2018, Bishop, who at the time would have been 81 years old, was removed from the list, making room, the FBI said, for another "dangerous fugitive". However, he is still being actively pursued by the FBI, and an INTERPOL Red Notice is still in effect.

William Bradford Bishop Jr. was born August 1, 1936, in Pasadena, California, to Lobelia Amaryllis St. Germain and William Bradford Bishop Sr. He attended South Pasadena High School and received a bachelor of science degree in history from Yale University and a master of arts degree in international studies from Middlebury College. Alternatively, Bishop has been reported to have a bachelor's degree in American Studies from Yale and a master's degree in Italian from Middlebury College. He also holds a master's degree in African Studies from UCLA. After graduating from Yale in 1959, Bishop married his high school sweetheart Annette Weis, After leaving the Army, Bishop joined the U. S. State Department and served in the Foreign Service in many postings overseas. In February 1976, when d'Amboise was scheduled to perform at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Lobelia invited him and his wife Carrie to spend Sunday night, February 29, at the Bishops' home in Bethesda. D'Amboise cancelled his appearance at the last minute due to a knee injury, but failed to notify the family. he filled the gas can and the tank of his 1974 Chevrolet station wagon at an adjacent gas station. On March 10, a neighbor of Bishop's contacted police after having not seen the family for some time. A detective found blood on the front porch of the Bishop residence, on the floor and on the walls of the front hall and bedrooms. Dental records were used to confirm that the bodies found in North Carolina were of Bishop's family. On March 18, Bishop's station wagon was found abandoned at an isolated campground in Elkmont, Tennessee, at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a few miles from the Appalachian Trail and about 400 mile (644 km) from the site where Bishop's family was buried. He was unhappy at his desk job and interested in another foreign posting, but Annette was reluctant. He is fond of dogs. He also enjoys scotch whisky, peanuts, and spicy foods. Bishop has a six inch vertical scar on his lower back from surgery, a cleft chin and a facial mole on his left cheek. He may have had his father's Smith & Wesson M&P .38 Special revolver with the serial number C981967 and his Yale class ring with him when he vanished. He is also believed to have taken his diplomatic passport with him, as his was the only one among the family's diplomatic passports that was missing.

Bishop had approximately one week of advance time before the authorities began looking for him. It has been suggested that he could have traveled on his diplomatic passport. FBI Special Agent Steve Vogt stated in 2014 that neither Bishop's wallet nor passport have ever been found. It has also been speculated that Bishop may have had intelligence training in the 1960s which could have helped him evade detection in 1976. Since 1976, there have been numerous claimed sightings of Bishop in various European countries, including Italy, Belgium, England, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

After the initial investigation, the Bishop case became the subject of articles in national publications like Reader's Digest and Time at milestone anniversaries. It was followed on an ad hoc basis by The Washington Post, the Washington Star, and The Washington Times as well as local Washington, D. C. television stations. The case was featured on television shows such as NBC's Unsolved Mysteries, ABC's Vanished and Fox's America's Most Wanted. Bishop was profiled on the AMW website thirty three years to the day since his family's bodies were discovered, with a new age enhanced bust of him with facial hair. A German TV show, Aktenzeichen XY ungelöst, also featured the case in its 250th episode on November 6, 1992, to find possible evidence of Bishop living abroad. In 2010, authorities believed Bishop was living in Switzerland, Italy or elsewhere in Europe, or possibly in California; he may have worked as a teacher or become involved in criminal activities. Authorities revealed in 2010 that before the murders, Bishop had been corresponding with federal prison inmate Albert Kenneth Bankston in the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois, Bishop evidently had instructed Bankston to send letters to his State Department office address. America's Most Wanted posted the last letter on its web site, which Bankston mailed sixteen days after the murders without knowing that they had happened or that Bishop was a fugitive unable to receive mail at his office. Bankston died in 1983, ten years before law enforcement discovered his connection to Bishop. In 2014, the body of an unidentified man resembling Bishop, who had been killed by a car while walking along an Alabama highway in 1981, was exhumed by the FBI. A DNA test indicated the man was not Bishop. In 2011, the FBI used fingerprints to determine that reports that Bishop had died in Hong Kong or France were false. In 2014, authorities stated Bishop was probably living in plain sight in the U. S. and avoiding discovery by avoiding arrest. Being arrested would enable law enforcement to run his fingerprints and catch him. That same year, at the request of the FBI, forensic artist Karen Taylor created an age progression sculpture to suggest Bishop's projected appearance at about age 77. Using Taylor's sculpture, several alternative images were created by Lisa Sheppard to show the addition of facial hair and glasses. In early April 2014, WRC TV in Washington, D. C. launched a webpage to display multiple investigative reports and extensive information on the Bishop case. This included samples of Bishop's handwriting, fingerprints, dental records and previously unseen Bishop family videos. On July 27, 2014, the search for Bishop was a featured story on The Hunt with John Walsh on CNN. In March 2021, a woman who had been adopted came forward claiming she found out through a DNA testing service that Bishop was her biological father. The FBI confirmed that she was indeed his biological daughter.