In March 1950 the FBI officially released a list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives designed to increase law enforcement’s ability to capture dangerous fugitives.
If fugitives were captured, died, had charges dropped or were no longer considered a dangerous menace to society, the FBI removed them from the Ten Most Wanted List and replaced them with a new entry.
As of 2018, the FBI had featured a total of 519 criminals in the 10 Most Wanted rundown. The Bureau says that 486 of those individuals were eventually captured, with the publicity of the list being a key reason. Of those 486, 162 were apprehended based on information shared by a tip.