FBI: Suspect in family slaying fled to Mexico
January 11, 2002 Posted: 4:34 PM EST
(2134 GMT)
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A man
suspected of killing his family in Oregon fled to Mexico just after police discovered
the bodies of his wife and three children off the Oregon coastline, the FBI said
Friday.
The FBI added Christian Michael
Longo, 27, to its Ten Most Wanted List Friday in an effort to enlist the public's
help in locating him.
"We're confident he ended
up in Cancun (Mexico) on the 27th ... but where he's gone since then, we don't
know," said Charles Mathews, special agent in charge of the Portland, Oregon,
FBI Office.
Longo fraudulently obtained
the credit card of another Oregon resident and used that man's name in San Francisco
to board an American Airlines plane to Cancun, Mathews said.
"It's our belief that
he is skilled in ... identity theft," Mathews said, noting that Longo has
used false identities before. Last Sunday, authorities at San Francisco International
Airport discovered a green Dodge Durango believed to have been stolen from a Portland
car dealership by Longo. A parking ticket indicated the vehicle was left in the
airport's short-term parking lot on December 26.
FBI agents are working with
local authorities in Mexico to find Longo, who is expected to continue using false
identification to move from place to place.
The bodies of two of Longo's
children were found in Alsea Bay in Waldport on December 19 and 22, and divers
discovered the bodies of Longo's wife and 2-year-old daughter in Yaquina Bay in
Newport, Oregon, on December 26, the FBI said.
Longo is charged with seven
counts of aggravated murder, according to Lincoln County District Attorney Bernice
Barnett. Four counts are for the killings of his wife, Mary Jane, 35, and their
children: Zachary, 5; Sadie Ann, 3; and Madison, 2. The three additional counts
are based on the ages of the children at the time of their deaths and the fact
that there were multiple killings, Barnett said.
Sgt. Lawrence Ratti of the
San Francisco Police Department said Longo is believed to be using the aliases
Jason Joseph Fortner and John Thomas Christopher. The last reported sightings
of him came from the San Francisco area shortly after Christmas.
By adding Longo to the Ten
Most Wanted list, the FBI will offer a $50,000 reward for information leading
to his arrest and conviction. The FBI is pursuing Longo on a federal fugitive
warrant.
The Longos lived near the
Oregon coast, first near Waldport and then in Newport, about 100 miles southwest
of Portland, the FBI said. Before that, the family lived in Michigan.
-- CNN Correspondent Susan
Candiotti contributed to this report.