I assume most of us have seen the Brad Bishop segment. He was the government employee who went crazy after he got passed over for a promotion and killed his mother, wife, and children. Police are all but certain he committed the murders but Bishop seems to have vanished.

On the segment, one of Bishop's work buddies said that while on a trip to Italy, he was in a bathroom somewhere and he actually saw Brad Bishop there. He said Bishop had long hair and a beard and he looked really scruffy. He said he tried to talk to Bishop, but Bishop got scared and ran off.

Now my question to you is, do you think this was a legitimate sighting? I personally don't believe it was. The odds of this actually happening are astronomically low, and I just can't believe that his friend would chance upon him at a bathroom in Italy. But I'm curious to get your feelings about the "sighting." Did Bishop's friend really run into him, or was he mistaken?

Although I would have to agree with you that the odds of such an encounter are extremely slim, I thought the sighting in Italy was probably legitimate. I mean, if you were in public, and someone approached you and accused you of being Brad Bishop, would you flake out like the guy in the re-enactment did? :)

The co-worker (was his last name Harrell?) came across as honest in his interview, in my opinion. I'm not sure what motive he would have to concoct a story like that.

On a different note, wasn't this sighting also re-enacted on AMW? I seem to remember it being slightly different, with Bishop running off and being pursued by the co-worker in the streets while it was raining heavily. Does anyone else remember this?

I don't think I've ever seen the AMW segment although I agree with Justin on the sighting. Normally you would really have to be skeptical but the co-worker seemed very credible to me and not the type to have just made it up for attention. If everything he said is accurate (which I believe it is) that is no doubt why Bishop took off running when the co-worker called him by name.

Well, here's the thing. I don't think the guy made up the story. I really think he thought he saw Brad. But I just believe he was mistaken. I think he probably saw somebody who looked like Brad there and started telling him, "You better go to the police, Brad. You better turn yourself in." The guy probably didn't understand English and got kinda freaked out by him and left. Then when Bishop's friend started following after him, he ran off.

One other thing I doubt is that Bishop would look haggardly, the way Bishop's friend described him. He may have a beard, and he may have changed his look a little, but they made him out to be a bum. I bet, wherever Bishop is, he's very prominent and has plenty of money.

Its definitely possible the guy is mistaken. However Bishop working for the State Department and having traveled extensively and speaking several different languages its very plausible that he would be hiding out in another country. I do wonder since UM usually leaves things out how extensive the conversation was between him and his former co-worker. I did read elsewhere on the net about Bishop that he has supposedly been sighted in quite a few different countries.

One other thing I doubt is that Bishop would look haggardly, the way Bishop's friend described him. He may have a beard, and he may have changed his look a little, but they made him out to be a bum.

Well, it wouldn't be unusual for a fugitive to change his appearance. Sometimes, a fugitive will go as far as looking like a bum, and become part of the homeless crowd, and thus making him less likely to stand out.

However, if you have worked with someone close enough and long enough, chances are you know them when you see them. Unless it can be proven otherwise, I remain convinced that the eyewitness saw Bishop.

^ Same here and although it might not mean much in the long run, the FBI/law enforcement agencies seem to regard the sighting as credible as they mention it on a few websites pertaining to the fugitive.

Parhaps many people react to the friend that way. That's what the UM skit failed to highlight or analyze, and it fogs my handicapping. We needed a line-up to see how many total strangers would repulsively bolt up the stairs.

Otherwise, it reminded me of a Monty Python skit, the way Bishop looked and how he ran. Based on appearance I would peg Graham Chapman for the role, although he's currently unavailable.

I was watching the Brad Bishop case a few days ago before this post and I kinda had the same thought as Fuji does. I mean that the odds of bumping into someone like that would be 1 in the population of earth 1978... 4.5 billion. I'm not meaning to say that co-worker guy doesn't sound genuine, just the odds of that happening are unbelieveable.

Hey,

Bumping this old thread. This is another case I remember from growing up and I was fascinated to recently see it now as an adult.

I find the sightings in Europe totally credible for a couple of reasons:

1. Bishop held a diplomatic passport at the time of his disappearance.

2. He knew really a lot of languages.

Also, as last year was the 30th anniversary of this case, I found a couple of good articles online updating the case, worth reading:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030102328.html

also

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.backstory14oct14,0,233566.column?coll=bal-howard-storyutil

Also, it appears that he has been seen not only by this former colleague but also in 1994 by an old neighbor from MD in Basel, Switzerland. This sighting is reported as “verified” but I couldn’t find more information about it.

Unbelievable.

I think he is still alive and has taken on a new life and identity living in Europe doing some type of work as a university instructor or advisor or, possibly, translation work.

I find the sighting by his co-worker totally credible (actually, as an aside, I once bumped into an old college friend I hadn’t seen in several years in Prague totally unexpectedly) and would like to have more information about this sighting. I think it is the real deal.

I don’t think Bishop will ever be caught.

I think a lot of us have neglected to take into consideration the fact that this gentleman KNEW Brad Bishop, was friends with Brad Bishop and therefore probably had a greater knowledge of what he looked like than any of us who know him only from the pictures we've seen on "Wanted" posters.

This in my mind makes this individual a bit more credible than the average person who might have seen a suspect/missing person from a "Wanted" poster or a "Missing Persons" poster and then was interviewed on UM.

For example I'm not sure how much credibility can be given to the scores of truck drivers who see missing persons flyers in their travels and then identify the person as Kristi Krebs or John Cheek. We know that in the cases of Kari Lynn Nixon and Gail DeLano, people who appeared to be credible ended up being totally wrong in their sightings of these individuals. So I would think there at least has to be some doubt cast on sightings like that.

But this sighting of Brad Bishop is different from 90% of the others because the person in fact knew Brad Bishop on a personal level prior to his disappearance, so I would say that would make him a lot more credible than the average person who would've reported a sighting, plus also the reaction of the stranger when he was made. A normal person would've just said "Sorry I think you have me confused with someone else", but the stranger realized he had been identified as Brad Bishop, obviously recognized his old friend and therefore darted out of the building as fast as he could to avoid the situation going any further.

I think these two paragraphs from the first link say a lot...

In the modern, digital, hyper-vigilant world of surveillance cameras and watch lists, high-speed computer networks and satellite monitoring, sneaking out of the country is a lot more difficult than it used to be. In 1976, Kight said, it wouldn't have been hard at all, if that is what Bishop did.

"Back in those days," he said, "people would buy a plane ticket, then they couldn't make the flight, they'd give it to someone else. And then that person would fly under the other person's name."

Naturally, I would think Bishop left the country and it would have been much easier to do it back in the 70's. Add to that all of the different languages Bishop could speak and his knowledge of world traveling and he could very easily have started a new life somewhere on the other side of the globe.

I too believe Roy Harrell's sighting. The odds aren't great obviously, but it's not all that uncommon to run into someone you know while visiting another country. I've heard many, many stories of where that has happened and I know several people that had that happen to them.

Harrell knew Bishop very well. This was a man he saw EVERY day for many years at work. He knew everything about the man, his history, his likes, his knowledge - he even knew him well enough to mention in the segment that Bishop was constantly made to feel inadequate in the working field by his wife and mother and once he lost that promotion, that finally caused him to snap and he "put them in their place," sadly.

I think Dark Dante's instinct and conclusion is correct. I mention low probability all the time but not in this case, for exactly that reason, the familiarity of the worker with Bishop.

My frustration with this case is it receives a fraction of the coverage it warrants.

The overlooked aspect is the dog. Find him and you find Bishop.

Yes, although the dog obviously has been dead for many, many years now I am sure. However I get what you are saying Awsi. Brad Bishop kind of sounds like Robert Fisher there. Killing the family but taking the dog. I think Bishop traveled around the eastern US for a while after the killings. He had a week head start before anyone would even know he was gone. I am sure he has been in Europe for a long time now like Ira Einhorn was for so long. I do find the sighting of his co-worker credible and do believe it was Bishop that his co-worker saw.

In my mind Brad Bishop is two things

1) One of the most sadistic, heartless men ever to be portrayed on UM.
2) Perhaps the least likely fugitive to be caught in the entire UM docket

The first statement while is certainly saying given the docket of sadistic and evil men and women profiled on the program is also quite arguable. While it is possible to say that Bishop would not be a threat to society (being that the people he murdered he knew on an intimate level and the motive for the murders was possibly found in the context of those relationships) and would be far more likely in my mind to lash out at a close acquaintance rather than a stranger therefore somewhat eliminating the possibility of him going on a similar spree against a houseful of strangers.

It should be noted however, that the amount of thought that Bishop put into this crime is apalling. It is possible that the murder spree was planned well in advance as a contingency plan hanging on whether or not he got that promotion at work. Bishop's friend Roy Harrell notes that Bishop's mother and wife had been chiding him about "being washed up and he would never amount to anything" so it is very possible when he did not recieve the promotion he decided to kill his family instead of facing more ridicule.

However as far as we know Bishop didn't even give his family the chance to respond to his misfortune at work as prior to arriving at the house he already had a weapon in hand and a murderous plan in mind which he carried out apparently killing his wife as soon as he entered the home that evening.

The most apalling act of all in this is the murder of his own three sons. While one could scratch out that once Bishop had murdered his wife and mother, his sons were killed to eliminate any witnesses to the crime (or perhaps to stage that a stranger had broken into the house and murdered his family) still killing three young boys who I doubt anyone believes held any ill will against there father for no reason to me displays what a complete sadist Brad Bishop is and he is truly a man without a soul.

However, I also think that Brad Bishop will never be caught. He is now in his early seventies and probably looks very different in comparision to a man at thirty nine. His knowledge of languages and the world at large would (as several others have pointed out) only benefit a man on the run from the law.

Brad Bishop undoubtedly knows all the places in the world he can hide and live a relatively quiet existence far away from law enforcement who have been after him for three decades. I'm sure we all remember the case of Joe Maloney who murdered his wife and then was sighted several years later in Ireland and has still yet to be brought to justice. Several countries in Europe and South America are havens to people on the run and Brad Bishop I'm sure is well aware of all of these places.

It should also be noted that the two sightings of Bishop (one in Italy and one in Prague) probably unnerved him to the point where he is being extra careful (or extra paranoid) as to not being spotted again. I think unless Bishop falls victim to another chance encounter OR to some technology that was not available back in the 70s, he will remain free until his natural death.

But if he is ever captured wow...if you thought the uproar on this forum after JJH was captured in Brazil after five years on the run was something...

Yes, although the dog obviously has been dead for many, many years now I am sure.

Well, that was supposed to be a joke. Kind of like the Saints run defense.

Congrats to the Bears, and basic physical I-formation football, which I always love as opposed to the airborne 5 WR garbage.

Now they've just gotta hope Rex Grossman doesn't turn into the joke in the Super Bowl. His numbers are very borderline for a Super Bowl QB, although Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson did manage a ring with great defenses and almost identical QB stats, the lowest in recent memory for championship QBs.

Somebody has updated the Wikipedia entry for Brad Bishop with some info not mentioned elsewhere; as with everything Wiki, I suppose it should be taken with a grain of salt but the author claims it is from the US Marshall's service and it seems like wholly credible info:

1. At the time he slaughtered his family, Bishop was addicted to a prescription drug called Serax. It is a mild sedative and can be used to battle both anxiety and depression.

2. According to witnesses at his last US sighting (buying tennis shoes in Jacksonville, NC), a dark-skinned woman MAY have been accompanying him. (Seems like a red herring to me but who knows?)

3. The US Marshalls claim three sightings which they consider to be "notable". One is the one already described at length here. However, 6 months prior to that, an acquaintance of the Bishop family claims to have seen him in Stockholm. How he gets from Stockholm to Italy is unknown but it is interesting that this predates the more commonly mentioned Harrell sighting by 6 months.

The third sighting is a much later sighting, 1994, where a former neighbor of the Bishop family claims to have seen Bishop from just a few feet away in Basel, Switzerland, as a train was pulling out. I really wish we had more info about the background of these sightings.

This webpage gives slightly more detail, claiming he was addicted to Serax and mentions only the third sighting, stating that he was well-groomed and well-dressed. This is in stark contrast to the Italy sighting where he appeared borderline homeless:

http://www.readersdigest.ca/mag/1999/10/specfeat_01.html/

Hmmm. Much food for thought. I still can't believe he hasn't slipped up or that time hasn't caught up with him yet. He'd be no kid at this point anymore, and all those years on the run can only be hard on him, in addition to the tremendous burden he must feel for having massacred his whole family.

As an aside, I really wish Roy Harrell would post on this board a more complete background than is given in the video. Would certainly make for interesting reading.

This is really odd. Some of these sightings have too be either false alarms or lies. The chances of multiple people you know from the U.S. accidentally running into you all over Europe are pretty astronomical. I don't doubt that this guy is still out there, though. The State Department only hires the cream of the crop...the guy is no dummy. And he probably knows exactly how/where to travel to avoid detection.

I have no reason to doubt that Bishop's friend spotted him in Italy. He seemed a hell of a lot more credible then most the witnesses on UM. He's a State Department employee (and not a crazy one like Bishop) and I don't see why he would lie about something like this. I agree, the chances of him running into Bishop are very, very low but stranger things have happened.

I don't think Bishop will be caught either. It's unfortuneate but he was able to hide during a time when it was a lot easier too. Given his knowledge of Europe and languages, as well as his advanced age, I don't see him being brought to justice. I hope I'm wrong though.

The odds aren't great obviously, but it's not all that uncommon to run into someone you know while visiting another country. I've heard many, many stories of where that has happened and I know several people that had that happen to them.

I can personally testify to the truth of this claim. I was reared in a small rural community of slightly more than 4,000 people. My wife and I once visited Washington, D.C., and ran into three people from my hometown during our trip -- two while we were visiting Robert E. Lee's home at Arlington National Cemetery, and another while we were on the District of Columbia subway. When we were studying in England a few years later, we ran into a couple from Oklahoma I knew while visiting Blenheim Palace, Winston Churchill's birthplace.

My uncle lives in New York and on a trip to California, he met a member of the United States Navy. After striking up a conversation with him, he was stunned to learn that they lived on the same street, just four houses away from each other.

I doubt it was him. The chances seem too slim to be sure of it. I'm sure it was just some hobo that resembled Brad a bit and he got freaked out and ran off. That seems much more likely.

I doubt it was him. The chances seem too slim to be sure of it. I'm sure it was just some hobo that resembled Brad a bit and he got freaked out and ran off. That seems much more likely.

While the chances may be slim, I think it was him. There a couple of things that give this credibility. The first being the reported sightings of Bishop all over the world, Bishop knows how to travel and be avoided by the authorities. And he was spotted by a guy that knew him.

The odds aren't as slim as some people think. Yes, the odds of a person running into a particular person they know in another country are very slim. But, the odds of running into any person they have ever met is much greater, combine that with the fact that he knew a very large number (at least hundreds, possibly thousands) of people who live overseas and lived in a new country ever few years and the odds are much, much better.

Something to keep in mind is that Brad Bishop may be being aided and abetted by people. These people might be in the same circles as Bishop was.

I wonder if that collegue he ran into in Italy was at first trying to help him escape but later reneged and decided to report the incident to the police.

Also, there may have been people who helped him overseas before word got around. There weren't 24 hour news stations then and news spread more slowly. Another possibility is that the people who may have helped him could have been handed some spook story... "The KGB murdered my family and framed me for it", etc.

I think the Italy sighting was legitimate as well. I don't believe he will ever be detained, and he'll probably pass away overseas. Someone will either dispose of his body so that it'll never be discovered (if he's being aided like Mastermind and Necco suggested), or it'll be a very public death with shady circumstances surrounding it; John Doe will be revealed as Brad Bishop.

The odds aren't as slim as some people think. Yes, the odds of a person running into a particular person they know in another country are very slim. But, the odds of running into any person they have ever met is much greater, combine that with the fact that he knew a very large number (at least hundreds, possibly thousands) of people who live overseas and lived in a new country ever few years and the odds are much, much better.

Yes, the odds of running into anyone at all you know in a foreign country are substantially better than running into a particular individual. The problem is that he didn't run into anyone at all - he ran into a particular individual. Brad Bishop. Pretty unlikely, if you ask me - I think I'm 60% sure it was a mistaken identity. But maybe not.

Yes, the odds of running into anyone at all you know in a foreign country are substantially better than running into a particular individual. The problem is that he didn't run into anyone at all - he ran into a particular individual. Brad Bishop. Pretty unlikely, if you ask me - I think I'm 60% sure it was a mistaken identity. But maybe not.

Ok, I was doing the odds of Brad Bishop running into someone he knew, not the guy who saw Brad Bishop, since I used nothing but pronouns in my post.

This is the problem with people who talk with their hands a lot, you can't see my gestures for clarity online. :)

I also wonder if Brad Bishop during his time in service actually knew some intelligence people like CIA or foreign intelligence.

He may have pulled a few favors from those people who would excel at hiding him.

While looking this case up online, I found several articles about it, but this one stood out the most because it was much more detailed not just about the crime, but about the kind of man William Bradford Bishop really was. Anyone who is wondering how a man who seemed to have everything could just snap one day may want to read this article. You'll find out that he was anything but the perfect man. Possibly the ultimate two-faced person.

From Family man to Running man.

For 33 years, a man indicted for the bizarre, inexplicable murders and mutilations of his mother, his wife and his three young sons has been playing cat-and-mouse with his pursuers. It's time to catch this rat.

By Stacey Hawkins

On the evening of March 3, 1976, one day after he allegedly bludgeoned his entire family to death in Bethesda, Maryland, William Bradford Bishop stopped at the Outdoor Sports Store in Jacksonville, North Carolina. The store owner remembers seeing Bishop walk in with a woman and a dog. Bishop spent $15.60 on what the owner believes was a pair of tennis shoes.

Fifteen days later and 600 miles away, Bishop's blood-soaked station wagon was found in Tennessee at the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Law enforcement agencies including the FBI, the National Park Service, local police and professional trackers conducted a massive search by land and air. The search continued for seven days, but the bloodhounds lost Bishop's scent in the parking lot where the car was found. Vanished.

Early in the investigation, police found evidence that Bishop may have had a female accomplice. Today, that phantom accomplice could provide the information that investigators seek. Twenty-three years later, despite a tremendous amount of national media coverage and an unceasing criminal investigation into his disappearance, Brad Bishop continues to elude those who want to ask him, "Why?"

"America's Most Wanted" has profiled Bishop six times over the years. As head of the lead investigating agency, Montgomery County Sheriff Raymond Kight has an office filled with leads, including a giant binder full of tips from AMW viewers. "Bishop was indicted a week after the murders and I've been looking for him ever since," Kight said.

AMW host John Walsh likens this case to that of John List, the infamous fugitive who murdered his wife, mother, and three children in Westfield, New Jersey. At the time, List was the oldest case ever profiled on "America's Most Wanted." The show used an aged forensic bust because no recent photographs of List existed. (AMW commissioned the same artist to sculpt an age-progressed bust of Bishop; see images accompanying article.) List was apprehended 18 years after the murders as a direct result of his profile on "America's Most Wanted." That success gives Walsh hope that AMW will announce Bishop's capture, too. "We're never going to give up on Brad Bishop," Walsh said. "The impossible cases just take longer."

To many, the Bishops seemed a picture-perfect family. Brad and Annette Bishop were high school sweethearts who met in California when Annette was a cheerleader and Brad was a football player. They had three boys, ages 14, 10 and 5 when they were killed, and they lived in an upscale community named Carderock Springs in Bethesda, Maryland, with Brad's 68-year-old mother, Lobelia.

Always on the go, the Bishops were jet-setters who liked nothing better than dashing off for a weekend of skiing. To casual acquaintances, Brad appeared to be good dad who was involved in his son's lives. He attended school functions and took the boys out for rafting trips.

But those who knew him well say Bishop was aloof and seemed to care more for his dog than he did for his own children. "Brad Bishop was not particularly close to his children," said Roy Harrell, a colleague of Bishop's. "He was a very strict disciplinarian and he believed in having control. He also believed in having the final word on anything affecting them." Constantly aware of Brad's need to be orderly, Annette and Lobelia Bishop tried to keep the house neat and keep the children's toys out of Brad's way.

As a U.S. foreign service officer, Bishop thrived on assignments to foreign posts. Co-workers describe Bishop as very bright and particularly gifted in languages. He loved learning about foreign cultures, and seemed more at ease when he was abroad. Brad and Annette had lived overseas for ten years in Ethiopia, Milan, Gaborone and Botswana. Bishop was always ecstatic when he received promotions, and wrote family and friends to tell them the news. He often commented that he dreaded the day he would have to sit behind a desk. In 1975 Bishop was assigned as assistant chief of the division of special trade activities and commercial treaties in the State Department's Washington office. He and Annette had been living in Maryland for three years, and though Brad was looking forward to another assignment overseas, his family had established a comfortable niche there. Annette planned to attend day classes at the University of Maryland and their sons had developed a familiar routine.

Annette Bishop was a talented sculptor and painter and is described by friends as "cheerful, energetic, pleasant, outgoing, and very pretty." Annette was a model foreign service wife dedicated to furthering her husband's career. Because she was also dedicated to their three children, she stayed home and raised the boys with the help of her mother-in-law. "It was a fantastic arrangement really," says Alvina Long. "Mrs. Bishop felt needed. She never criticized Annette, but was always very supportive." Lobelia Bishop was so supportive that she gave her son and daughter-in-law $30,000 for a down payment on their ranch-style home.

But by February 1976, Bishop was becoming increasingly frustrated with the State Department personnel system. According to Harrell, "A lot of us felt we were not getting good assignments, and if you don't get the good assignments, then you don't get promoted. If you don't get promoted you are selected out, which is a euphemism for being fired." Though Harrell was frustrated with the system, he felt Bishop was unduly concerned about his promotion rate. "I frequently told him, when you reach the higher grades, it takes longer to get promotions, they don't come as frequently as they do at a junior officer level." Harrell remembers seeing Bishop days before the murders and commenting that he looked like he had lost his best friend. Bishop was distraught about being passed up for yet another promotion.

Police say five days after being passed over, Bishop put a very calculated plan in motion. Police say Bishop left work early, withdrew $400 in cash, and purchased a small sledgehammer and a two-and-a-half gallon gas can. Police say Bishop filled his station wagon's gas tank and the gasoline can. Police believe it was late on March first or early on the second when Brad Bishop went to his wife in the study of their home and struck her over the head, then tried to cover her body with one of his son's ski jackets. Bishop's mother Lobelia, 68, was struck down in the bathroom adjacent to her bedroom after returning from walking the dog. Brad Bishop III, 14, was hit particularly hard, his face and skull beaten beyond easy recognition, and pieces of his bone lay on the carpet in the room. Police believe the oldest son was beaten worse than the rest of the family because he may have woken up during the attack and tried defending himself or getting away and that may have caused his dad to become more determined to kill him. That scenario is horrifying for obvious reasons as it implies that the kid suffered. The two younger Bishop boys, Brenton Germain Bishop, 10, and Geoffrey Corder Bishop, 5, were beaten to death while they lay sleeping in their bunk beds. Both died quickly of multiple blows with a blunt instrument — the same instrument that struck Lobelia Bishop, their brother and possibly their mother. A pair of men's pajama pants, splattered with blood, were later found on the upper closet shelf in the master bedroom. Detective Joe Sargent of the Montgomery County Sheriff's office says, "I remember the [crime] scene quite vividly. It was the worst scene I've ever been on."


Police say Bishop dragged his victims one by one down the corridor, into the foyer, and out through the door to the back of the Bishop's Chevy wagon. The back seat was folded down and the bloody bodies piled on top and covered with a bloody white sheet and blanket. According to the FBI, Bishop would have likely followed a course down I-95 and over to Suffolk, VA, down Rt. 32 and onto Hwy. 64 East. In this way, Bishop could have avoided the toll booths and possible detection along I-95 near Richmond.


On March 2, 1976, at about 12:40 p.m. Ranger Donald Brickhouse answered a radio call reporting a two-acre fire in Tyrrell County, North Carolina. There he discovered a shallow grave containing what appeared to be two bodies, a female lying on her left side, and a male lying on his right. The clothes were somewhat burned, and the hair bleached from the gasoline that had been poured over the bodies before they were lit on fire. Brickhouse theorizes that the murderer emptied half the gas can over the bodies, lit the bodies in the hole, and then panicked when the fire blew among the young pines. The sheriff arrived and three bodies were pulled from the grave at about 6 p.m. To the horror of all involved, there were two smaller bodies at the bottom of the grave, bringing the total body count to five. Authorities say that there was a tremendous amount of underbrush in the area. If the fire hadn't spread, the bodies may never been found.

North Carolina investigators traced Lobelia Bishop's coat and the shovel used to dig the graves back to Bethesda, Maryland. Ten days after the bodies were discovered, police determined that the fingerprints taken from the gas can and the bloody fingerprints found in the Bishop home belonged to Brad Bishop. On March 18, 1976, Bishop's car was discovered by Park Ranger Bill Burke while he was making rounds at the Elkmont Camping Ground in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The car had reportedly been parked in the campground lot for several days without a permit. The back seat of the vehicle was down and blood had seeped down into the spare tire compartment. Also recovered with the vehicle were an ax and a Bank Americard receipt for $15.60 from a sporting goods store in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Brad Bishop and his dog Leo were nowhere to be found.

Over the years many investigators have worked this case. Detectives, sheriff's deputies, and agents from the sheriff's office, the FBI, Interpol and the State Department continue to track Bishop in an effort to bring him to justice. Some theorize that the key to finding Bishop is trying to understand his mind frame and why he committed these horrible acts of violence. Joe Sargent is the detective who went out to investigate after neighbors reported a curious lack of activity from the Bishop household. He believes that Bishop had a very low stress threshold, but that the murders were definitely premeditated.

Forensic psychologist Richard Walter agrees. He believes that Bishop had rationalized the murders even before they had been committed. "A trigger activated the killing," says Walter. "He was ready, waiting for the opportunity, and the trigger came." Walter describes Bishop as a narcissist who operated at the level of image. That is why he married and had children. Bishop did what was professionally appropriate, but he did not form any real bonds with his family. Walter explains that Bishop's "perfect image" was shattered when he lost the State Department promotion. "He sees how well his family is doing and they become a threat to him," Walter said. "Now they are no longer any use to him. He can cash out. He gets rid of them, leaves a trail and then says, ‘Come catch me you fool!' He becomes a hero to himself for life. Now he has a purpose again."

Today, Bishop continues to be seen in the same cities he visited while in the foreign service: Stockholm and Sorrento, Italy. The most recent sighting was in Basel, Switzerland, in September 1994. A woman who was a member of Bishop's tennis club and knew the family well, saw Bishop on a train that was parallel to the one she and her husband had boarded. She says that when he saw her and her husband, Bishop hid behind a newspaper and as his train pulled away, Bishop lifted both hands in a gesture of relief. Unfortunately authorities unable to locate Bishop when the sightings were reported.

Investigators on this case believe that Bishop is living a new life overseas. Because he is not one to settle, Bishop, now in his early sixties, has probably acquired a very good job and an "ideal" family who knows nothing about his past. Police believe that Bishop now has salt and pepper hair and may be wearing a goatee or a beard and mustache. Bishop speaks fluent English, Spanish, French, Serbo-Croatian and Italian. He enjoys sports, especially tennis, swimming, camping, fishing, skiing. Bishop also enjoys motorcycle riding and flying.

However, Bob Keefer, the Montgomery County Police Department's now-retired chief deputy, believes that a "mystery woman" in North Carolina is the key to closing the case. In a letter to Bishop dated March 15, 1976, federal prison inmate Ken Bankston wrote, "Yes I am most sure she is in the North Carolina State penitentiary." The letter mentions an area known as Creswell — just four miles from the grave site. Keefer believes that the "she" in Bankston's letter is the accomplice who spirited Bishop away from the remote area. According to Keefer, the female accomplice probably drove Bishop away from his abandoned station wagon in the Smoky Mountains. Though he was in good physical condition, Bishop would have to be a survivalist to escape from the densely wooded and mountainous area on foot. Bankston died in prison shortly after the letter was mailed, and a check of all female inmates released by the state around the time of the murders turned up nothing. "Someone in North Carolina has the information we need," Keefer said. "The woman is the key. If we can find her, everything will fall into place."

Those left behind
Regardless of whether Bishop acted alone or what his motives were, the emotional fallout was far-reaching and enduring, as evidenced by comments from Brad III's classmates at the then-Thomas W. Pyle Junior High School in Bethesda.
Brad was in the ninth grade when he was killed. He had only been at Pyle a little more than a year, enrolling after his family returned from a State Department stint in Botswana, South Africa.
Former classmates said the teenager quickly made a place for himself. His sunny personality, good looks and sophistication from having spent most of his life overseas gave Bishop entry to the "in-crowd" without becoming part of the "in-crowd" cliques, classmates said.
"He was my boyfriend in the eighth grade," said Joanne Fitzgerald Bryant of Rockville. "He had a grace and worldliness about him. I remember him talking about Botswana and going on safari. It was exciting. In eighth grade, you're just starting to begin talking to boys. I was madly in love with him."
Bryant said Brad's home life appeared solid. She took gymnastics with him after school and said his mother and grandmother, who lived with the family, often came to watch. Family ski trips were frequent and Brad's father often brought his son to school, Bryant said.
"They were very nice," she said.
The boy's murder and that fact that his father allegedly committed it traumatized the school and left lasting scars, Bryant said.
"[We] were in denial when it was pointing to the father," Bryant said. "Everyone was like, 'No way. How could that be?' For a 15-year-old to process, this is so difficult. It was so brutal. I had nightmares for two years.. We'd drive by his house and just sit there and look at it. I can get choked up now."
Scott Matejik of Bethesda was in Bishop's science class when the killings occurred.
"I will never forget ... when the principal and vice principal walked down the hall and cleaned out his locker," Matejik said. "That memory of finality and death really made an impression that day and I can always picture that moment in time."
Bishop's murder was not the only tragedy to befall Pyle that year. Another ninth-grader died a few months earlier, the victim of a drunk driver. After Bishop's death, the school organized a fund-raiser to buy memorial plaques for both of the students.
The plaques, which today adorn a hallway wall near Pyle's main entrance, were initially placed in the school's courtyard, recalled Gary Clarke, a social studies teacher who is now an instructor at St. Albans School for Boys in Washington, D.C.
"We were shell-shocked. It was so tragic. I remember thinking it was almost like a cemetery out there," Clarke said.
Joyce Rinehart, at the time Pyle's attendance secretary, was one of the first at the school to realize something awful had happened to the attractive, well-mannered student who she recalled as being the image of his father. Brad had not come to school for several days, and his family had been uncharacteristically silent about the absences. When Rinehart called the home, a detective answered.
"I asked could he give any information and he said no. I immediately [went to the office] and said there's something drastically wrong at the Bishop house. It was on the news that night," Rinehart said.
Rinehart, who today works in the office of Bannockburn Elementary School in Bethesda, said she saw the Bishops regularly because the father frequently brought his son to school.
"You just couldn't believe that the father would do this. You never think of someone taking someone's life. It was such a shock, but I guess we had no idea who he really was and what he was really capeable of," Rinehart said.
She's also convinced she could spot him, even after all this time.
"He's very distinctive looking, a handsome gentleman. His manners are impeccable," Rinehart said.

Thanks again for great article. this case just got a lot more disturbing after reading that piece. I didn't realize the extent to which Brad went in killing his children... Apparently they suffered, and tried to defend themselves, and one was beaten beyond recognition... That is incredibly sick.

I was watching the Brad Bishop case a few days ago before this post and I kinda had the same thought as Fuji does. I mean that the odds of bumping into someone like that would be 1 in the population of earth 1978... 4.5 billion. I'm not meaning to say that co-worker guy doesn't sound genuine, just the odds of that happening are unbelieveable.
I've bumped into random people I knew from school or work in Europe on at least three occasions, so it's certainly not as improbable as it might appear at first.

My take on the sighting can be easily summed up by this meme:

https://i.imgflip.com/cy9p2.jpg

I think it was legit, if I ran into someone that I worked closely with on a day to day basis I'd like to think I'd recognize them.

Beard or no beard, dressed to impress or dressed like a homeless person.

When this segment originally aired, I remember watching it with my Dad, who is a commercial airline pilot. Immediately after the re-enactment with Harrell in Italy, my Dad recounted a story about being on a trip to Europe and just randomly bumping into a friend who was there on a completely unrelated trip. These kind of weird coincidences do happen, which is why I've always been inclined to believe Harrell really did run into Bishop.

My guess is the coworker saw some homeless dude who resembled Brad and was freaked out enough already not to stop and explain there was a mistake, but panicked on being yelled at addressed as "Brad"...so ran. I mean, many homeless people are paranoid as it is and he may have feared it was part of a plot or the other dude was just crazy. :crazy:

I believe in all 3 UFO sightings, oops I meant Brad sightings. Here is why. One lady said she saw him in Europe after he was wanted and she used to work with him while he was a gov employee and both were stationed in Egypt or some desert country. Thus it is not like its a friend of the family back home in his neighborhood. This is just simply some co-worker he may have worked with a few times overseas.

Also, since he worked for the government and travelled and lived overseas many times this increases the chances of seeing more familiar people. If one person only works in their home state their entire lives they may not be as likely to run into a few more friends or coworkers like someone in the military or civilian government who changes bases or cities every 2-3 years on average.

I used to be in the military and traveled a lot (keep in mind I was not a pilot or loadmaster therefore those people travel even more.. like on a weekly basis). 3.5 years after basic training I ran into a basic training guy from my class in Kuwait. We both went to basic in Texas and went our own ways only to be shockingly reunited in Kuwait 3.5 years later. Wow. Again with travel jobs you are more likely to run into someone else since you meet more people compared to a guy who never leaves his mommies basement :)

"PS: I never saw a UFO or Alien or Bigfoot before, but once I did see a shadowy spirit when awoken at night at 12:07 am".

Unless you think Harrell was lying, It wasn't just a random bum that he ran into in Italy. Why would he flee as if he was running for his life if it wasn't? Harrell also said when the guy, presumable Bishop, said "Oh god no" he spoke with a distinct American accent. It wasn't an Italian man speaking in English. If it was some other American in Italy why would they panic and run when asked "you're brad bishop?" Most would probably just say "No, I'm not." or maybe even give Harrell a strange look and just casually walk away. Not say "oh god no." and run at full speed. It is an amazing coincidence but it definitely can happen.

Unless you think Harrell was lying, It wasn't just a random bum that he ran into in Italy. Why would he flee as if he was running for his life if it wasn't? Harrell also said when the guy, presumable Bishop, said "Oh god no" he spoke with a distinct American accent. It wasn't an Italian man speaking in English. If it was some other American in Italy why would they panic and run when asked "you're brad bishop?" Most would probably just say "No, I'm not." or maybe even give Harrell a strange look and just casually walk away. Not say "oh god no." and run at full speed. It is an amazing coincidence but it definitely can happen.


i agree with LMK

He probably assumed a complete different ID and created new IDs under assumed name and has been living the good life for nearly 40 years. It was definitely easier in those days to fake IDs and social security numbers

I never believed the sighting to be real, although, I must say you run into people in the strangest of places! You hear it all the time, "We were on a cruise and you never guess who was there?!"...........a lot of people say he wouldn't run if he wasn't Brad. Um, if he was a bum who was off in the head, some strange man saying "BRAAAAD!" probably would send him running. OR he was a criminal running from the law and thought he was spotted. I don't know, I just didn't think Mr. Bowtie had it right.

Unless you think Harrell was lying, It wasn't just a random bum that he ran into in Italy. Why would he flee as if he was running for his life if it wasn't? Harrell also said when the guy, presumable Bishop, said "Oh god no" he spoke with a distinct American accent. It wasn't an Italian man speaking in English. If it was some other American in Italy why would they panic and run when asked "you're brad bishop?" Most would probably just say "No, I'm not." or maybe even give Harrell a strange look and just casually walk away. Not say "oh god no." and run at full speed. It is an amazing coincidence but it definitely can happen.

It could also turn out that the man was some bum severely addled by mental illness or drug abuse or something. People with mental illness don't always behave rationally.