FBI Special Agent Woody Enderson announced yesterday that alleged clinic bomber Eric Robert Rudolph may soon be forced to retreat from hiding to get more food and supplies.
Rudolph is one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted fugitives, wanted in 3 Atlanta-area bombings and a fatal bombing in Birmingham, AL. Rudolph’s targets were abortion clinics, a gay and lesbian bar and Centennial Olympic Park, during the 1996 games in Atlanta.
FBI agents have been searching the North Carolina mountains for more than a year, with little luck. But recent reports of burglaries and information from hunter and hikers have led officials to believe that Rudolph has exhausted the supplies he stole last July, and may be forced to resurface again soon.
Two hundred FBI agents will continue to search for Rudolph this winter, using tracking dogs, heat-seeking devices and night-vision equipment that work well in clear, cold weather.
Enderson believes that although FBI has failed to capture Rudolph in one of its largest-ever manhunts, it has been successful in that Rudolph has not been free to commit more bombings. “I feel very strongly that if we were to leave and walk away, that somebody else might die,” said Enderson.
