Carl Alfred Eder - California - 1974

(Above photo credit: Napa Valley Register website)

Fugitive Profile as of August 24th, 2014 (Based on 2013 amw.com archive, internet research):

Sex: Male
Race: White
Current Age: 72
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 165 - 175 lbs.
Other Phys. Characteristics: Cops say Eder probably still has several moles on his cheeks and left eye. They say he has sunken eyes and hollow cheekbones.
Location information: Cops say Eder may be working as a lab technician. They say he is skilled with knives and woodwork. He is very good at making cabinets.
Last Seen: El Cajon , CA
Who to call if you've seem him: Cold Case Homicide Unit of the El Cajon Police Department. coldhomicideunit@ci.elcajon.ca.us or 619-441-5530.

Carl Alfred Eder is one of the longest-running AMW fugitives (if you count him being on the run since he broke out of prison) and one of the more interesting cases. AMW aired his case between 1991 and 2012, profiled him on Final Justice, put him on the original Most Wanted list in the mid 90s and added him to the 2003 Playing Card set. I bring this case up because he was recently featured on fugitive.com which mainly features cases out of Northern California along with some other ones.

Back all the way in 1958, 16-year old Carl Eder was a hitchhiker in El Cajon, California when a man named Thomas Pendergest picked him up and gave him a place to stay at his family's home. That turned out to be beyond disastrous because six weeks later, Eder killed Thomas's wife and killed and disemboweled their four young children. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but by 1974, he was only kept in a minimum-security prison. He easily escaped from custody and left a note saying he was tired of prison.

There have been updates on this case over the past several decades. An unidentified body found at the Pendergest property after Eder escaped from prison turned out not to be Eder according to amw.com. Then on the 2012 AMW Series Finale, they updated his story to say that Eder had ties to the Symbionese Liberation Army shortly after he escaped (The same group Kathleen Soliah was associated with). Aside from ties to extreme left-wing groups, Eder also had ties to motorcycle gangs. An informant said that Eder had threatened the life of then-president Gerald Ford. One theory is that Eder was killed because of his violent rhetoric.

However if that did happen then no body was ever identified. He had ties to California, New York, Kansas, Latin America, Canada and even Germany. He had experience as a cabinet maker, wood carver and lab technician. He was last seen in 1976 in Napa County, California. An interesting thing to note is that prior to his 1958 arrest he had made trips to Tijuana, Mexico to obtain false identification. It is believed that he had assistance in fleeing to Central or South America.

So the big question, where is Carl Alfred Eder?


www.fugitive.com/2013/05/20/carl-alfred-eder-wanted-for-50-years-for-murder-of-woman-and-her-four-children/
napavalleyregister.com/star/news/local/authorities-renew-search-for-prison-escapee/article_fd936830-553d-11e2-a5ad-001a4bcf887a.html
www.findthemissing.org/en/cases/show/14880

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