John Kiriakou - How to Disappear and Live Off the Grid: A CIA Insiders Guide

Copyright 2022 by John C. Kiriakou

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN: 978-1-5107-5612-0

eBook ISBN: 978-1-5107-5613-7

Cover design by Kai Texel

Printed in the United States of America

For Kate

Contents

Authors Note

All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of the US government. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying US government authentication of information or endorsement of the authors views.

Introduction

H ISTORY IS FILLED WITH ACCOUNTS OF people who have disappeared. From the early days of American history there were mysterious tales such as that of the Roanoke colony which disappeared while it waited for supplies from England. To this day, historians speculate about what happened to the group of just over one hundred English settlers. Sometimes the reasons for disappearances are obvious such as that of Amelia Earhart, who vanished while on a solo airplane flight around the world. Other people while hiking in the forest become lost and are never seen again. And then there are the people who disappear not as a result of misadventure but because they need to hide.

An examination of people who have managed to escape shows that the best way not to be found is to isolate yourself from your world. This presents enormous risks as technology is advancing so quickly. The small place that you have chosen may be found from a satellite image, from a helicopter, or even a drone. Then there are the curious hikers who may get lost from their track as they are searching for a great adventure and find themselves in the middle of your new home. Unless youre Eric Rudolph, the domestic terrorist who bombed the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and then took to the woods before being found in 2003, you likely wont want to just live out in the woods somewhere.

Our culture often glamorizes those who have taken flight whether from law enforcement or criminal gangs. In Mafia films its often called going on the lam or going to the mattresses. Many people still remember the Simon and Garfunkel hit song Somewhere They Cant Find Me which romanticizes the story of a young criminal who bids farewell to his girlfriend by telling her that his life seems unreal as he is forced to fly down the highway. Contemporary fiction, for the purposes of entertainment, often examines the issue of disappearances. One of the best is the author Thomas Perry who in the novel Vanishing Act introduced a character named Jane Whitefield who is a Native American guide who works to helps desperate people escape from enemies who want them dead. As a member of a clan of the Seneca tribe, she has a supportive network of people who can provide a safe haven while she provides her clients with new identities that are backed up by authentic paperwork. With her special skills, she can create deceptive trails that will defeat those who pursue her clients. Her motives are pure and she does not work for money, while her clients are not criminals, but honest people who can no longer survive with their real identities. Though Jane Whitfield is a fictional character, there are certainly people who, for a price, can help someone disappear.

Several decades ago, there was a popular television series entitled The Fugitive. It was the story of a doctor, Richard Kimble, who was wrongly convicted for the murder of his wife. The starting point for the program is when he escapes custody and has to hide from the police while searching for the one-armed man who actually killed his wife. In 1993, the story was made into a very popular movie and, as in the television series, viewers were encouraged to cheer for the fugitive.

People disappear for a variety of reasons. In the world of intelligence operations, agents often need to disappear when they have accomplished their mission. And then there are the unhappy spouses who want to start a new life unencumbered by the consequences of a failed union. Some disappearances are understandable and fully justified while others may involve a flight from justice if you are being sought for a criminal action. Prospects for eluding the police are reasonably promising. A key factor is the severity of the crime for which you are being sought. Something like aggravated assault will not place a person on the FBI Most Wanted list, whereas kidnapping, murder, or bank robbery will ensure your prominence. Because law enforcement agencies have limited resources, many cases simply disappear through official inattention. In an area like Las Vegas, each year more than 400,000 arrest warrants are issued, a brief search may be undertaken in the city, and then the warrants are forgotten. For fugitives whose crimes are lesser and have not generated public outrage, the most likely way in which they will be caught is in a routine traffic stop or some other mundane event. Otherwise, for most people on the run, freedom begins at the county line.

Our freedom may begin at the Canadian border since it is relatively easy to leave the United States if you are the object of a police search. There is no border coverage at all in remote areas of Maine, Minnesota, Montana, and North Dakota, so a fugitive can simply walk into Canada. Because of a relatively open southern border, it is also possible to make it into Mexico. However, both Canadian and Mexican authorities are alert to the presence of such fugitives and usually will quickly apprehend and imprison them.

American authorities have expressed concern about the problem of criminal suspects who have found havens in Canada and Mexico. US Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) has lobbied for a strengthening of the US-Mexico extradition treaty because it omits many serious crimes. The US Justice Department has established special initiatives to apprehend border-crossing fugitives.

Perhaps most frequently discussed is the person who needs to disappear because he is being sought by the police for some criminal act he committed. Depending on the severity of the charges he faces, this person is highly motivated and is especially aware of the desperation of his situation. A failure of his flight plan can mean confinement in a correctional institution for many years or perhaps even execution. People in this category, as fugitives from justice, stand out on statistical summaries because they are reported. From the internet, you can get an approximate number for this category on a given date. The unhappy spouses or the people whose lives have become too difficult are not necessarily counted so the internet cannot tell us how large this community may be. What we do know is that, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons database, more than 600,000 people of all ages go missing every year in the United States and well over four thousand unidentified bodies are found each year. Some cases, like that of Elizabeth Smart, get national attention but most cases never get much more than brief local attention. Most of the approximately 600,000 cases are resolved because the people returned or were determined to have died of natural causes. In many cases, the alleged disappearance was nothing more than a misunderstanding. When all of this is sorted out it means that each year around two thousand people actually disappear.