Barefoot Bandit

Before Colton Harris-Moore became famous as an international fugitive, before he attracted more than 100,000 fans on Facebook and before he stole a single airplane, he was one very unpopular teenager back in his hometown of Camano Island, Wash.

“Colton Harris Moore is nothing but a thief, a criminal,” Camano resident Josh Flickner says. “He’s not Robin Hood. He’s not Jesse James. He’s not James Bond.”

Colton’s crime spree on this tranquil island began when he was just 10 years old. He soon advanced to breaking into homes, using stolen credit cards and stealing boats. Now, at age 19, he has a $10,000 price tag on his head and a bounty hunter on his trail.

This past summer, residents of Camano Island reached a breaking point and gathered to discuss rumors that were frightening everyone.

“We want him stopped,” says a man at the gathering. “Most of us what him dead, period.”

A crowd roars, “No,” in response.

How did it come to this? Why would anyone want to kill this troubled teenager?

“I mean, he is a criminal,” says Ashley Martin, who grew up with Colton on Camano Island. “But at the same time, there really is a little part of me that just really feels bad for him because I’ve known him, you know, almost my whole life.”

Martin remembers Colton as “a very sweet little kid.”

Classmate Jessica Wesson remembers a little boy who always loved animals and airplanes.

“He was really smart, very into airplanes. He had a Boeing book of all the planes that they actually made,” she tells “48 Hours Mystery” correspondent Peter Van Sant.

“And did he tell you what he wanted to do for a living when he grew up?”

“He mentioned that he wanted to be a pilot,” she replies. “When we heard he was stealing planes, I was like, well, that kinda makes sense.”

Wesson says she never went to Colton’s house. Maybe he didn’t want her to see the dilapidated trailer where he grew up with his mother, Pam Kohler.

“Why do you think Colton went from being this sweet kid that you knew when you first met him into a criminal?” Van Sant asks.

“Probably his upbringing,” Wesson replies. “I hear his mom wasn’t so nice…”

“48 Hours” Investigator Paul Ciolino uncovered court records that showed a dozen calls to child protective services by the time Colton was just 14.

“The issue here with Colton is not so much what he did, but who created this kid,” Ciolino explains. “There was physical abuse. There was mental abuse. There was physical neglect.”

Author Bob Friel is writing a book about Colton’s life called “The Barefoot Bandit: The True Tale of Colton Harris-Moore, New American Outlaw.”



“I was having nightmares when I began to research his childhood… I would literally wake up in a sweat thinking about some things… Colt went through,” Friel says. “His biological father was in and out of that trailer home that Pam was in.”

Colton’s father, Gordon Moore, has been mostly absent from his life. But when Colton was 12, Gordon was convicted of assault for choking the boy. Colton told a child services caseworker that his mother, Pam, was outraged – at him – for calling 911.

Colton had nowhere to turn. As one case worker wrote, “Colton wants mom to stop drinking and get a job and have food in the house, mom refuses.”

“Pam chose beer over everything… It ruined his life,” says Jacquie Staggs, who has known Pam since Colton was born.

Asked how Colton got his name, she says, “If you ask Pam, she’ll tell you she named him after the beer.”

“You’re telling me that Pam named her son after Colt 45? The malt liquor?” Van Sant asks.

“Uh-huh. That’s what she told me.”

“48 Hours” wanted to try and meet Colton’s mother. Investigator Paul Ciolino and Producer Sarah Prior joined Van Sant on a walk up the dirt driveway to find some answers.

“That’s her house. Sarah, if she calls out, why don’t you say that you’re the one who left the note,” instructs Van Sant.

A homemade sign out front shows Pam does not like visitors. It reads: NOTICE IF YOU GO PAST THIS SIGN YOU WILL BE SHOT.

Peter Van Sant: Hello, Pam?

Pam Kohler: Who are you?

Sarah Prior: Hi, I’m Sarah. I left you a note the other day from CBS…

Pam: I’m getting my shotgun right now.

Sarah: We just wanna talk to you, Pam. Can you just talk to us for a moment?

Pam: I’m getting my shotgun now. Get out of here!

Later, Pam changed her mind. Off camera, she told “48 Hours” she’s always been a good mother to Colton. She also showed us a collage he made when he was 15, filled with images of things Colton might say he was missing in life: money, food and, of course, airplanes.

“When Colton Harris-Moore would break into a vacation home… he would use the shower. He would wash his clothes and he would sleep on the bed or sleep on the couch,” Friel says. “…He was not the traditional kid breaking in to steal booze and damage a house.”

But along the way, Colton did more than more just grab a snack and a shower. He stole laptops, iPods, cell phones and jewelry.