NEW YORK – As Salt Lake City puts massive security measures into place for the Winter Games, the man whom the FBI believes bombed the 1996 Atlanta games is still on the loose.
Eric Robert Rudolph, 36, is charged in connection with the fatal bombing at the Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta, Ga., as well as two other deadly bombings.
No substantiated sighting of Rudolph, one of the FBI's ten most wanted, has occurred since 1998 and as the world's eyes will soon focus on Salt Lake City worries of another strike are in question.
"This is an active case," said Patrick Crosby, pubic affairs officer for the Southeast Bomb Task Force.
"The security people from Salt Lake City have been in contact with different federal offices around the country to get as much information and stay as informed as possible into any current fugitives or investigations that may effect them," he said.
"Although there's no evidence to indicate he's left the area, the Salt Lake people are leaving no stone unturned with any possibilities — and not just him — any fugitive."
The Southeast Bomb Task Force, a coalition of agencies on the federal, state and local levels, leads the search for Rudolph and remains steadfast in its mission four years after his warrant was issued.
Crosby said there is no evidence to indicate Rudolph has left western North Carolina and the investigation continues to be centered there.
"We have an office there and we work closely with the local officials and hunters groups and all kinds of people to be as diligent as we can.
"We've gone through various stages of intelligence gathering and at one time had people physically doing grid searches but those are now only driven by specific leads."
The FBI is offering a $1,000,000 reward for information leading directly to the arrest of Rudolph. He is considered armed and dangerous.
Crosby said the number of tips coming in about Rudolph is relative to the amount of people going into the remote wooded areas where he's believed to be hiding — hunting season and the changing of the seasons are just some of the factors.
"The number of tips come and go," said Crosby. "The key is stay diligent, you never know which one will be the tip that leads to an arrest.
"We will remain in place in North Carolina, this is a long-term investigation — and we will continue to be diligent about it."
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