
The FBI says Longo, one of the agency's Ten Most Wanted fugitives, fled to Mexico last month.

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.


Christian Longo is suspected of killing his wife and their three children, Zachary, Madison and Sadie Ann, from left.

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.