How George Edward Wright Escaped From Prison and Eluded Capture for Over 40 Years

In 1962, George Edward Wright, a 19-year-old from New Jersey, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for fatally shooting a gas station owner during an armed robbery. But Wright had no intention of spending the rest of his youth behind bars.

After serving eight years, Wright executed a daring escape from New Jersey State Prison in 1970, slipping away without a trace. His disappearance baffled authorities — but his name would resurface in the most dramatic way possible just two years later.

In September 1972, Wright emerged as one of the leaders of a shocking airplane hijacking alongside four members of the Black Liberation Army. Boarding a Delta Airlines DC-8 with 86 passengers, the group took everyone on board hostage and demanded $1 million in ransom. In one of the most bizarre demands in U.S. law enforcement history, the hijackers insisted that the FBI agent delivering the money wear nothing but a swimsuit to prove he wasn’t armed. Authorities complied, creating an unforgettable and surreal moment in American crime history.

While Wright’s accomplices were eventually captured, he managed to remain one step ahead of the law. Over the next several decades, he traveled through multiple countries under a false identity, ultimately settling in Portugal. There, he married, raised a family, and lived a quiet suburban life in the Algarve — hiding in plain sight.

In 2011, after 40 years on the run, the FBI finally tracked Wright down. But his story took yet another unexpected turn: Portugal refused to extradite him, citing his citizenship and legal protections. This decision allowed Wright to remain a free man, securing his place as one of the longest-running fugitives in American history.

George Edward Wright’s life remains one of the most remarkable tales of escape, reinvention, and evasion ever recorded — a story blending crime, political unrest, and an almost cinematic level of audacity.

•