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http://cgi.pathfinder.com/time/daily/0,2960,27362-101990625,00.html
On the Trail of the Boxcar Bandito
The FBIís latest Most Wanted suspect is very elusive and apparently very smart
Itís both what they know and what they don't know about Rafael Resendez-Ramirez that worries law enforcement authorities. What police suspect is that the tattooed 39-year-old Mexican rail-riding drifter and fugitive may be responsible for as many as eight recent murders in Texas, Kentucky and Illinois. The killings bearing his imprint, say authorities, have all occurred near train tracks and been brutally violent, often the result of bludgeoning. What they donít know, and what worries them most, is where Ramirez is now, and what might have caused him to go on this suspected killing spree. All of those concerns prompted the FBI this week to put him on its Ten Most Wanted List.
"The remarkable thing about Ramirez," says TIME assistant managing editor Howard Chua-Eoan, "is that while he gives the impression of being an illiterate Mexican immigrant, he is extraordinarily smart." His apparent cunning has only served to heighten the concerns of the law enforcement community. Police believe Ramirez has used some 30 aliases (they're not even sure if Rafael Resendez-Ramirez is his real name), numerous birthdates, a variety of Social Security numbers, and repeated changes of appearance to elude them -- all of which have also enabled him to slip in and out of the U.S. with ease. "There are reports that he once left a car at the border" -- a decoy that made it look as though he was headed into Mexico -- "while apparently heading north," says Chua-Eoan. "He may also have tutored laborers in algebra, geometry and English." Exaggerated or not, the reports have all converged to make the capture of Ramirez one of the FBI's top priorities.