SEATTLE - Sheriff's Deputies in Bloomington, Indiana believe the teen bandit swiped a plane and flew it by himself some 1,200 miles to the Bahamas.
It was inside a hanger at the Monroe County Airport that cops say Colton Harris Moore lifted his latest set of wings from plane owner John Miller.
"Circumstances of luck for this guy that he was able to take mine, because I had to leave the key in it to have the oil changed, "said Miller.
Miller says Harris Moore used a crowbar to bust in and took off in his Cessna 400 and headed for the Bahamas.
"I'd just say the boy had good taste, it's a hell of a lot better than the other airplanes around there," said Miller.
Sheriff's Deputies in Indiana say Colton first popped up on their radar after they say he dumped a hot set of wheels in a church parking lot last week. Monroe County Airport Manager Bruce Payton says the church is only a mile from the airstrip.
"The Sheriff's Department had located a car stolen and found it not far from the Monroe County Airport," said Payton.
Cops believe he was casing the place and saw his chance late Saturday night. Miller says his plane is in a swamp now.
"I know this from the Bahamian Police, he is alive and he's on the go," said Miller.
Local bounty hunter Mike Rocha was hoping to get his chance to catch him, but he says Colton Harris Moore may have outsmarted everyone this time.
"It's a great move he's out of U.S. Jurisdiction probably not extraditable at this juncture. So, why wouldn't he go sit in the Bahamas for 7 years and come back after the statute of limitations runs out," said Rocha.
John Miller says his plane was destroyed but believe it or not, he's not angry.
"Hell, I don't want him to get hurt, I hope he makes it, I don't want him to steal anyone else's, but I don't want him to be hurt either," said Miller.
Q13 Fox News also talked with John Miller's son Joe today. He says Police in the Bahamas told him they were looking for someone that stole an SUV on the island where the plane was ditched. Cops believe Colton Harris Moore took it.
Authorities across Western Washington have been hoping to catch the alleged bandit since his escape from a halfway house in April 2008.
Last fall, after a stolen small plane crash-landed at an airport, Harris-Moore was caught on surveillance video breaking into a grocery store. A hardware store, bar, coffee-shop and bank were also hit at that time.
A few weeks later, a Cessna was stolen from a rural airport in Idaho and crash-landed near Granite Falls, Wash., when it ran out of fuel.
Colton Harris-Moore is believed to be connected to several home and business burglaries since his disappearance in 2008. Harris-Moore is also believed to have stolen several cars, boats, and three small airplanes.
Check these surveillance pictures taken from Spencer's Landing marina on Lopez Island on May 15th. It is believed the 'barefoot bandit' stole a boat from the private marina:
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