Radio's Bob Rivers owned 1 of 3 planes young burglar may have stolen

A Seattle radio personality says he's the owner of one of three small airplanes possibly stolen by a notorious 18-year-old Camano Island serial burglar.

Bob Rivers of KZOK-FM told his listeners Thursday that he owns a plane stolen last November from Orcas Island and found later on the Yakama Indian Reservation.

Colton Harris-Moore, a prolific burglar who's been a fugitive since April 2008, is suspected in the theft of the plane and two others as well as a string of residential burglaries.

"I don't buy this folk-hero stuff," Rivers said on the radio. "I was furious that something like this could happen. I really want him caught."

Rivers said the plane was stolen from a locked hangar about 6 a.m., and he didn't know about the theft until he got a call from the Yakima County Sheriff's Office, telling him the single-engine, four-seat Cessna 182 had been found crashed.

Rivers went to the Yakima area to see the plane, which was damaged beyond repair.

He said he hadn't talked about the theft on the air before because he was "scared and embarrassed." But he said the story was starting to emerge on blogs, so he decided to discuss it today.

An 18-hour search for Harris-Moore in the Granite Falls area was suspended Monday after three dozen officers, search dogs and a helicopter were unable to locate him.

At one point, a shot was fired in the area, but deputies said it's not known who fired the shot or whether it was fired at officers.

The forested area was searched about four miles from the spot where a stolen plane crash-landed.

Authorities speculate that Harris-Moore, who has been suspected at times of climbing onto roofs, unscrewing skylights and dropping through them, may have learned to fly from flight-training manuals and searching the Internet.

Jack Broom: 206-464-2222 or jbroom@seattletimes.com

Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this report.