Rudolph Named a Suspect

February 26, 1998
Number of Agents Cut in Hunt for Bombing Suspect
The Associated Press
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. -- A government task force said Wednesday it had drastically reduced the number of agents searching in North Carolina for the man charged in the bombing of an Alabama abortion clinic. But the hunt for Eric Rudolph continues, as does a review to determine whether he may have been involved in earlier bombings in Atlanta.

March 9, 1998
Bombing Suspect's Brother Cuts Hand Off With Saw
U.S. News
CHARLESTON, South Carolina -- Daniel Rudolph, the brother of Birmingham clinic bombing suspect Eric Robert Rudolph, purposely cut off one of his hands with an electric saw Sunday, the FBI says. Sources at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms told CNN that Daniel Rudolph videotaped the amputation, stating that on the tape that the amputation was being done to "send a message to the FBI and the media." An FBI statement released Monday called the action "regrettable and totally unexpected."

April 19, 1998
Sympathizers Likely Helping Rudolph Stay Hidden
By Craig Whitlock / The News Observer
MURPHY -- He's the target of a nationwide manhunt and has been featured repeatedly on TV's "America's Most Wanted." There is a $100,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

May 1, 1998
Abortion Clinic Bombing Suspect Put on Most-Wanted List
By Michael J. Sniffen / The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The FBI offered a $1 million reward today for the suspect in the nation's first fatal bombing of an abortion clinic and said he is wanted for questioning in the 1996 Olympic bombing and two others in Atlanta.

May 6, 1998
FBI Director Says Rudolph Likely Still Alive, in U.S.
Michael Brumas and Peggy Sanford / The Birmingham News
WASHINGTON - Suspected Birmingham clinic bomber Eric Robert Rudolph likely is alive and still in the country, FBI Director Louis Freeh said Tuesday. ''I have a presumption he's still in the United States,'' Freeh said as he and Attorney General Janet Reno announced Rudolph's addition to the FBI's 10 Most Wanted fugitives list and a $1 million reward for his capture.

May 21, 1998
Feds Find No Sign of Rudolph in Search of Mountain Home
The Associated Press
MURPHY -- Federal investigators searched a secluded mountain vacation home, but found no evidence that it had been a hideout for the suspect in the nation's first fatal abortion clinic bombing. Eric Robert Rudolph, 31, the focus of an intensive manhunt for nearly four months, grew up in the area and is an adept outdoorsman familiar with the back country.

June 7, 1998
Bombing Suspect's Items to Go Up for Auction
The Associated Press
MURPHY -- Property left behind in a storage unit by the fugitive suspected of bombing an abortion clinic in Alabama is scheduled to go on the auction block Tuesday. According to a legal notice placed in the Cherokee Scout, a newspaper serving the community in far Western North Carolina, the sale of property belonging to Eric Robert Rudolph will be at Cal's Mini Storage, a self-storage facility about 3.5 miles east of Murphy.

July 13, 1998
Plenty of Rudolph Sightings, But No Arrest
The Associated Press
ATLANTA -- The team of federal agents still searching Western North Carolina for Eric Robert Rudolph has been there long enough to watch the seasons change and encounter a new set of obstacles: With freezing temperatures long gone, summer foliage makes mountain forests even denser.

July 14, 1998
Abortion Clinic Bomb Suspect Seen
By Paul Nowell / The Associated Press
ANDREWS, N.C. — Abortion clinic bombing suspect Eric Rudolph stole a pickup truck and food last week from a lakeside residence near here and is believed to still be in this mountainous area, authorities said today. The bomb task force that has been tracking the 31-year-old carpenter since the Jan. 29 bombing in Birmingham, Ala., converged on this area near the tip of western North Carolina with bloodhounds and extra manpower.

July 15, 1998
Mrs. Lyons Confident She'll Soon Look into Rudolph's Eyes
By Kathy Kemp / The Birmingham News
With her single, damaged eye, Emily Lyons took a long look at Eric Robert Rudolph's face when it popped up Tuesday on her new 52-inch-screen television. ''Look at his eyes,'' she said, staring at the man she blames for nearly blinding her in a Jan. 29 bomb attack at a Birmingham abortion clinic. ''His eyes are blank. It's like he's a dead man already. Now it's just a matter of bringing him in.''

July 15, 1998
Rudolph Seen in N. Carolina: Area of bombing suspect's hide-out confirmed; search intensifies
By Carol Robinson and Peggy Sanford / The Birmingham News
ANDREWS, N.C. -- Authorities swarmed into an area around Eric Robert Rudolph's childhood home Tuesday amid rising hopes that they were closing in on the prime suspect in Birmingham's deadly abortion clinic bombing.

July 16, 1998
Rudolph Witness Stays Out of Sight
By Peggy Sanford / The Birmingham News
ANDREWS, N.C. George Nordmann's home, several miles up the steep mountains east of here, is a place that attracted few visitors, says one lifelong resident of the remote community of Nantahala. ''I don't guess anybody in this community has ever been in his house,'' said Frances Solesbee, 78. But apparently it did attract bombing fugitive Eric Robert Rudolph.

July 16, 1998
Fugitive's Trail Cools
By Craig Whitlock and Bob Williams / The News Observer
ANDREWS -- After giving a hint of his whereabouts over the weekend, suspected bomber Eric Robert Rudolph has vanished once again, staying a step ahead of an army of federal agents who think he is holed up in the thickets of Nantahala National Forest.

July 17, 1998
Rudolph May Try to Thwart Dogs with Pepper
By Peggy Sanford and Carol Robinson / The Birmingham News
ANDREWS, N.C. -- A grocery list that Eric Robert Rudolph asked a Nantahala, N.C., man to fill last week included cayenne pepper, which some people think can throw search dogs off the track, federal sources said.

July 17, 1998
Solid Leads are Cited in Search for Fugitive
By Craig Whitlock / The News Observer
ANDREWS -- Suspected bomber Eric Robert Rudolph continued to elude a growing posse of law enforcement agents Thursday, but authorities said they had received "several solid leads" in the search.

July 18, 1998
Dog Sniffs Trace of Explosives in Vacant Home
By Carol Robinson / The Birmingham News
ANDREWS, N.C. -- A bomb-sniffing dog Friday indicated the presence of explosives residue in a vacant home near the last sighting of Birmingham bombing suspect Eric Robert Rudolph, authorities said.

July 18, 1998
Dogs Find, Lose Scent in Search
The Associated Press
ANDREWS -- Flak-jacketed agents, tracking dogs and a helicopter converged Friday on a rural area near where clinic bombing suspect Eric Rudolph resupplied a week ago, and dogs picked up a scent and followed it to a creek.

July 19, 1998
Agents Hunt Where Rudolph Reported Walking
By Carol Robinson / The Birmingham News
ANDREWS, N.C. Searchers with tracking dogs on Saturday converged in a valley at the foot of the Nantahala mountains and also searched an area near Eric Robert Rudolph's last known residence. Residents on West Road, at the foot of the mountain from where searchers believed they picked up Rudolph's tracks on Friday, said federal agents spent most of the pre-dawn hours searching an area known as The Flats, which is popular for four-wheeling.

July 19, 1998
Town divided over Eric Rudolph Some in Andrews Say They Would Not Turn the Bombing Suspect in
The Associated Press
ANDREWS -- To some residents of this close-knit mountain community, Alabama abortion clinic bombing suspect Eric Rudolph is an outlaw. To others, he's the protagonist of a long-running passion play, a rugged survivalist caught in a David-vs.-Goliath struggle with more than 200 heavily armed federal agents.

July 20, 1998
Search for Rudolph Continues Unabated
The Associated Press
ANDREWS -- The search for abortion clinic bombing suspect Eric Rudolph continued in full force Sunday with plans for new search crews and supplies to support the operation.

July 21, 1998
Clergy Split Over Fugitive
By Rachel Zoll / The Associated Press
ANDREWS -- As federal agents hunt the dense woods for Eric Rudolph, residents are divided over who deserves their support: the fugitive or his pursuers. Caught in the middle in this area dotted with churches is the clergy. Some pastors have urged church members to volunteer any information; others said they would not condemn anyone who helped the 31-year-old suspect in the bombing of an abortion clinic escape.

July 22, 1998
Bounty Hunt Not in Picture for Vacationer
By Larry Cheek / Fayetteville Observer-Times
I could have picked up a million dollars. There I was, vacationing in the North Carolina mountains, not far from where Eric Rudolph must have been hiding, but every time I knocked a golf ball out of the fairway and went looking for Rudolph under a bush, he wasn’t there. Coulda happened. I coulda claimed the reward.

July 23, 1998
Searchers Link Campsites to Fugitive
By Paul Nowell / The Associated Press
ANDREWS -- Searchers have found several campsites they think clinic bombing suspect Eric Rudolph used, including one where his fingerprint was found on buried trash, authorities said Wednesday.

July 26, 1998
Rudolph's Mom Fears Bomb Suspect May Be Shot on Sight
By Paul Nowell / The Associated Press
ANDREWS, N.C. — Eric Rudolph's mother is worried the accused clinic bomber may be shot on sight by federal agents searching western North Carolina for him, according to a statement issued on her behalf Saturday. Patricia Rudolph also is concerned for those scouring the forests for her son, Asheville attorney David Payne said in a statement sent to news organizations.

July 28, 1998
Local Aid Sought in Hunt for Rudolph
By Rachell Zoll / The Associated Press
ANDREWS -- Federal agents in the manhunt for Alabama clinic bombing suspect Eric Rudolph asked local residents Monday to help them find caves and old mines where the fugitive could be hiding.

Continue the story of the on-going search.