mobanmarketCALIFORNIA — It was cold and dreary the night of June 11, 1962, when after 18 months of planning three men wriggled through a chiseled shaft into a utility corridor and then onto the roof of the notorious Alcatraz Island penitentiary.
The three then made their way down a pipe, climbed two barbed wire fences and placed their makeshift inflatable raft — made out of 50 prison-issued WWII-era raincoats — into the 54 degree waters of the San Francisco Bay, climbed inside and were never seen again.
Those three men, Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin now 96, 93 and 92 years of age — if they are still alive — remain on Northern California’s Top 12 Most Wanted Fugitives even though they escaped from Alcatraz nearly 61 years ago.
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On the 60th anniversary of the escape, the U.S. Marshalls Service released updated renderings as to what the three might appear to look like at their current ages. Many people assumed the trio died by drowning in the Bay. But to date, no bodies have ever been found.
Others on the list of Northern California’s Most Wanted, a website by the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center/High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area dedicated to maintaining public safety in northern California, also lists murderers, another escapee from federal prison and an arsonist, just to name a few.
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Here is the list of Northern California’s Most Wanted Fugitives in no particular order.
Michael Que Heath
Heath allegedly jumped out of a vehicle driven by Jamie Valenzuela and stabbed the victim numerous times. The victim died at the scene. At the time of the homicide both suspects were validated members of “West Side Mob.” Valenzuela was arrested and convicted while Heath was never located and is still wanted for the murder.
Robert Matthews
Robert Matthews is wanted by the Antioch Police Department for his role in a 2021 gang related shooting in the city.
According to Antioch PD Matthews was one of two shooters in the unprovoked gang related shooting on Nov. 11, 2021. Matthews, who has an active No Bail arrest warrant for homicide with a gang enhancement fled the scene and has been on the run since the homicide. He is also wanted in a string of armed robberies in San Mateo County and should be considered armed and dangerous.
Samuel Mendoza-Rubio
Domingo Rosas Yepez
Juan Antonio Beltran Lopez
Juan Antonio Beltran Lopez is wanted by Seaside Police for the Aug. 10, 1999 murder of a 50-year-old school teacher who was found deceased with a gunshot wound to her neck in her residence in Seaside. Lopez, who had been renting a room from the victim, disappeared after the murder and was never located, however, the murder weapon was ultimately recovered at his place of work. There is an active arrest warrant for Lopez who is believed to have relatives that live in Southern California.
Vincent Eugene Tomera
Vincent Eugene Tomera is wanted by the FBI for wire fraud.
Tomera, doing business as Pacific Equity and Capital, Inc., allegedly engaged in a scheme to defraud real estate investors in 2008 and 2009. Numerous investors entrusted Tomera with funds to be used as secured loans in a real estate project in San Francisco, but Tomera allegedly deceived investors by misrepresenting the level of seniority of the investors’ deeds of trust and the manner in which the investment funds were used. Investors ultimately lost over $1 million as a result of the fraud.
A federal arrest warrant was issued for Tomera in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, on June 21, 2012, after he was charged with four counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud.
Daniel Molintas Rillera
If arrested or whereabouts are known, contact the nearest United States Marshals Office or call the United States Marshals Service Headquarters at 1-877-WANTED2.
Eric Pree
Louis Houston / John Louis Houston Jr.
Louis Houston / John Louis Houston Jr. is wanted by the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office for arson, insurance fraud and perjury.
Houston is charged with 74 counts of insurance fraud and perjury relating to false claims to replace property damaged in arsons associated with buildings and U-Haul trucks. He has been seen in Richmond and San Pablo and has worked as a truck driver.
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Clarence Anglin
John William Anglin
Frank Lee Morris
Anyone with any information on any of Northern California’s 12 Most Wanted Fugitives should contact the authorities immediately.
The Northern California Regional Intelligence Center and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area are public safety government programs that operate in partnership to help safeguard communities from organized crime, drug trafficking, and other harmful threats, through collaboration, preparedness, training, and investigative support services.
The group connects federal, state, and local agencies in the northern California region to each other, and to the nation via seamless integration with its fellow National Network of Fusion Centers and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas.
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