FBI Most Wanted & Fugitive Search

Search the FBI's official Most Wanted database programmatically. This Apify actor queries the FBI's public Wanted Persons REST API to retrieve structured data on fugitives, missing persons, kidnapping victims, and individuals sought for information -- including physical descriptions, photographs, reward details, field office assignments, and case status. No API key required.

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Why use FBI Most Wanted Search?

The FBI maintains far more than just its famous "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list. The Wanted Persons database spans eight distinct poster classifications -- from standard fugitive warrants to seeking-information cases, missing persons, parental kidnappings, and ViCAP (Violent Criminal Apprehension Program) entries. Navigating this database manually through the FBI's website is slow and offers no structured export. This actor gives you fast, filterable, bulk access to the entire public database in clean JSON.

Accessing the FBI's API directly requires managing endpoint fallbacks (the API publishes at two different base URLs), pagination logic, HTML entity cleanup embedded in description fields, and the quirks of the query parameter format. This actor handles all of that. Provide your filters, click Start, and receive normalized camelCase JSON with 35 fields per record -- ready for analysis, compliance screening, or integration into downstream systems.

Running on Apify's cloud platform gives you scheduled runs for continuous monitoring, built-in dataset storage with export to JSON, CSV, and Excel, and integrations with Google Sheets, Slack, Zapier, Make, and hundreds of other services. For journalists tracking fugitive trends, researchers studying law enforcement patterns, or civic developers building public safety dashboards, this actor turns hours of manual browsing into seconds of automated extraction.

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Key features

• Eight poster classifications -- Filter across Ten Most Wanted, standard wanted, seeking information, law enforcement assistance, missing persons, kidnappings, parental kidnappings, and ViCAP cases
• Comprehensive person profiles -- Returns 35 structured fields per record including physical description, demographics, reward amounts, case details, warning messages, images, and files
• Automatic pagination -- Seamlessly fetches results across multiple API pages (50 per page), returning up to 500 records in a single run
• Endpoint fallback -- Tries two separate FBI API base URLs automatically, so if one endpoint is temporarily unavailable, the actor falls back to the alternative without intervention
• Clean text output -- Strips embedded HTML tags, character entities ( , &, <, >), and numeric entities from description, caution, reward, and detail fields
• No API key required -- The FBI's Wanted Persons API is publicly accessible and the actor calls it on your behalf without any authentication credentials
• Full image URLs -- Each record includes original, large, and thumbnail photograph URLs hosted on FBI servers
• Reward data -- Returns both human-readable reward text and structured minimum/maximum reward amounts for programmatic filtering
• Direct FBI links -- Every record includes a constructed fbiUrl linking directly to the person's official FBI poster page
• Multi-format export -- Output is available in JSON, CSV, JSONL, XML, or Excel format via the Apify dataset

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How to use FBI Most Wanted Search

Using Apify Console

1. Navigate to the FBI Most Wanted Search actor page on the Apify Store and click Try for free.
2. On the Input tab, configure your search filters. All fields are optional -- leave them blank to browse the most recent wanted persons across all classifications.
3. Set Max Results to control how many records to return (default is 20, maximum is 500).
4. Click Start to run the actor.
5. Once the run finishes, open the Dataset tab to view, filter, and export results as JSON, CSV, or Excel.

Using the API

Call the actor programmatically using the Apify REST API, official client libraries, or cURL:

curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/E1an0B0Syquyf8BXG/runs" \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -d '{
    "posterClassification": "ten",
    "maxResults": 10
  }'

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Input parameters

Example input

{
    "title": "cyber",
    "posterClassification": "default",
    "status": "na",
    "maxResults": 50
}

Tips

• All fields are optional. Running the actor with no input returns the most recent wanted persons across all classifications.
• Field office names are lowercase and concatenated. Enter newyork, losangeles, saltlakecity -- not New York or Los Angeles.
• Combine filters for precision. Setting posterClassification to ten and status to na returns only currently active Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.
• Poster classifications explained: ten = Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, default = standard wanted posters, information = seeking public tips, law = law enforcement assistance, missing = missing persons, kidnap = kidnappings and missing persons, parental = parental kidnappings, vicap = Violent Criminal Apprehension Program.
• Start small, then expand. Use maxResults of 20--50 for exploratory searches before scaling up to the full 500-record maximum.

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Output

Each record in the dataset contains a comprehensive profile with 35 fields. Here is a representative example:

{
    "uid": "a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1f2a3b4c5d6",
    "title": "JOHN DOE",
    "description": "John Doe is wanted for his alleged involvement in a multi-state wire fraud scheme...",
    "aliases": null,
    "dateOfBirth": ["January 15, 1975"],
    "placeOfBirth": "Houston, Texas",
    "race": "White",
    "sex": "Male",
    "hair": "Brown",
    "eyes": "Blue",
    "heightMin": 510,
    "heightMax": 510,
    "weightMin": 180,
    "weightMax": 200,
    "ageMin": 48,
    "ageMax": 52,
    "nationality": "American",
    "scarsAndMarks": "Tattoo on left forearm",
    "build": "Medium",
    "complexion": "Light",
    "warningMessage": "SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS",
    "rewardText": "The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest of John Doe.",
    "rewardMin": 0,
    "rewardMax": 100000,
    "details": "John Doe is wanted for allegedly orchestrating a multi-state wire fraud scheme...",
    "caution": "John Doe has been known to use multiple aliases and fraudulent identification documents.",
    "additionalInformation": null,
    "remarks": null,
    "status": "na",
    "personClassification": "Main",
    "posterClassification": "default",
    "fieldOffices": ["houston"],
    "subjects": ["White-Collar Crime"],
    "occupations": "Financial Advisor",
    "possibleCountries": null,
    "possibleStates": "Texas, California",
    "images": [
        {
            "caption": "Photograph of John Doe",
            "original": "https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/fugitives/@@images/image/original",
            "large": "https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/fugitives/@@images/image/large",
            "thumb": "https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/fugitives/@@images/image/thumb"
        }
    ],
    "files": [],
    "fbiUrl": "https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/fugitives/john-doe",
    "modified": "2024-11-20T14:30:00+00:00",
    "publication": "2023-06-15T10:00:00+00:00",
    "extractedAt": "2025-01-15T08:45:12.345Z"
}

Output fields

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Use cases

• Journalism and investigations -- Research fugitives, missing persons, and crime patterns across FBI classifications for investigative reporting and data journalism projects
• Compliance screening -- Screen individuals against FBI wanted lists as part of KYC (Know Your Customer), AML (Anti-Money Laundering), or enhanced due diligence workflows
• Public safety applications -- Build alerting systems, dashboards, or notification tools that surface newly added or updated FBI wanted persons for community awareness
• Academic research -- Study law enforcement trends, crime demographics, reward structures, or regional patterns using structured bulk data from an authoritative source
• Open-source intelligence (OSINT) -- Integrate FBI wanted person data into OSINT workflows for threat analysis, investigations, or intelligence aggregation
• Cross-referencing watchlists -- Combine FBI data with Interpol Red Notices, OFAC sanctions, OpenSanctions, and other watchlists for comprehensive person screening
• Missing persons awareness -- Extract missing persons and kidnapping cases to power community alert systems, social media campaigns, or non-profit outreach platforms
• Continuous monitoring -- Schedule daily or weekly runs to detect newly added wanted persons, status changes (captures, recoveries), or updated case details over time
• Reward tracking -- Filter and monitor cases with monetary rewards to build reward aggregation tools or track high-value fugitive cases
• Law enforcement technology -- Feed structured FBI data into intelligence platforms, case management systems, or inter-agency data sharing tools

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API & Integration

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_API_TOKEN")

run_input = {
    "posterClassification": "ten",
    "status": "na",
    "maxResults": 20,
}

run = client.actor("E1an0B0Syquyf8BXG").call(run_input=run_input)

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    reward = f"${item['rewardMax']:,}" if item.get("rewardMax") else "None"
    print(f"{item['title']} -- Status: {item['status']} -- Reward: {reward}")

JavaScript

import { ApifyClient } from "apify-client";

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: "YOUR_API_TOKEN" });

const run = await client.actor("E1an0B0Syquyf8BXG").call({
    posterClassification: "ten",
    status: "na",
    maxResults: 20,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
for (const item of items) {
    const reward = item.rewardMax ? `$${item.rewardMax.toLocaleString()}` : "None";
    console.log(`${item.title} -- Status: ${item.status} -- Reward: ${reward}`);
}

cURL

# Start a run
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/E1an0B0Syquyf8BXG/runs" \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"posterClassification": "ten", "maxResults": 10}'

# Fetch dataset results (use defaultDatasetId from the run response)
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/DATASET_ID/items?format=json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN"

Integrations

Connect FBI Most Wanted Search to your existing tools and workflows:

• Google Sheets -- Automatically export results to a spreadsheet for team review and record-keeping
• Slack / Email -- Get notified when new wanted persons match your criteria using Apify webhooks
• Zapier / Make -- Route data to CRMs, databases, case management systems, or hundreds of other third-party apps
• REST API -- Fetch results programmatically from any language or platform using the Apify dataset API
• Scheduled runs -- Set up Apify schedules to run daily, weekly, or monthly screenings automatically
• Webhooks -- Trigger downstream actions (notifications, database writes, alerts) whenever a run completes

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How it works

The actor follows a streamlined pipeline to retrieve wanted person data from the FBI's public API:

1. Input parsing -- Reads search filters (title, poster classification, field office, status, race, sex, max results) and validates them.
2. Query construction -- Builds URL query parameters from the input, converting field office and race values to lowercase as required by the FBI API.
3. Paginated fetch with fallback -- Sends requests to the primary FBI API endpoint (api.fbi.gov/@wanted). If it fails, automatically falls back to the secondary endpoint (api.fbi.gov/wanted/v1/list). Pages through results 50 at a time until the requested maxResults count is reached.
4. HTML cleanup -- Strips HTML tags, character entities, and numeric entities from text fields (description, caution, warning, reward, details, remarks, additional information).
5. Data transformation -- Converts raw FBI API responses (snake_case) into normalized camelCase output. Constructs the fbiUrl from each record's path field. Adds an extractedAt timestamp.
6. Dataset push -- Pushes each transformed record to the Apify dataset for export and integration.

Input Filters (title, classification, office, status, race, sex)
     |
     v
[Build Query Params] ---> pageSize=50, page=N, filters
     |
     v
[Fetch with Fallback] ---> Try api.fbi.gov/@wanted, fallback to /wanted/v1/list
     |
     v
[Paginate] ---> Repeat until maxResults reached or no more pages
     |
     v
[Strip HTML & Entities] ---> Clean description, caution, reward, details fields
     |
     v
[Transform to camelCase] ---> Normalize fields, build fbiUrl, add timestamp
     |
     v
[Push to Apify Dataset] ---> JSON, CSV, Excel export

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Performance & cost

• The actor makes lightweight JSON API calls only -- no browser rendering, no proxy required, no heavy crawling.
• Apify's free tier includes $5/month of platform credits, which covers thousands of typical runs.
• Even daily scheduled monitoring of the Ten Most Wanted list costs less than $0.05 per month.
• Cost scales linearly with pagination -- more results means more API pages, but each page is a single HTTP request.
• This is one of the most economical actors on the Apify platform due to its minimal compute footprint.

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Limitations

• Maximum 500 results per run -- The actor caps output at 500 records per execution. For broader coverage, run multiple searches with different filter combinations.
• FBI API availability -- Results depend on the FBI's public API being accessible. The actor tries two endpoints with automatic fallback, but prolonged API outages will cause the run to fail.
• Public data only -- The actor retrieves only information the FBI makes publicly available through their API. Some records may have limited detail or redacted fields.
• Height encoding -- Height values use the FBI's integer encoding (e.g., 510 means 5 feet 10 inches). You may need to parse this format in downstream processing.
• No real-time push notifications -- The FBI API does not support webhooks or streaming. To detect changes, schedule recurring runs and compare datasets over time.
• Cloud IP restrictions -- The FBI API may occasionally block cloud provider IP ranges. If this occurs, the actor will report the error in the run log.
• Field office naming -- Field office names must be entered as lowercase concatenated strings (e.g., newyork, losangeles). There is no published list of valid values -- consult the FBI's website for current field office names.

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Responsible use

This actor provides access to publicly available law enforcement data. The FBI's Wanted Persons database contains information about individuals who are wanted, missing, or sought for information -- not necessarily convicted of any crime. Use this data responsibly.

• Do not treat wanted status as a conviction. A person listed as wanted by the FBI has been charged or is sought in connection with an investigation. This does not constitute a finding of guilt. Always consider the legal context and presumption of innocence.
• Human review is essential. Do not use FBI wanted person data as the sole input for automated decisions that affect individuals -- such as denying services, blocking accounts, or taking employment actions. Human review should always be part of any decision process involving this data.
• Handle personal data responsibly. Although this information is published by the FBI for public awareness, it pertains to identified individuals. Comply with applicable privacy laws and regulations in your jurisdiction (including GDPR where applicable) when storing, processing, or redistributing this data.
• Use for legitimate purposes. This actor is intended for journalism, academic research, public safety, compliance screening, and civic technology. Do not use it for harassment, discrimination, vigilantism, or any purpose that could endanger individuals.
• Verify through official channels. For any law enforcement, legal, or high-stakes compliance action, verify information directly through the FBI's official website or by contacting the relevant field office. This actor provides a data access layer, not an authoritative legal determination.

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FAQ

Does this actor require an API key? No. The FBI's Wanted Persons API is publicly accessible and does not require authentication. The actor handles all API communication for you.

Is this actor free to use? Yes. The actor runs within the Apify Free Plan limits. You receive $5 in free platform credits monthly, which is enough for thousands of runs of this lightweight actor.

How current is the data? The actor queries the FBI's live API in real time, so results are always as current as the FBI's own database. Each record includes a modified timestamp showing when the FBI last updated it, and an extractedAt timestamp showing when this actor retrieved it.

Can I search for a specific person by name? Yes. Use the title input parameter to search by name or case title. The FBI API performs a partial match, so entering a last name is usually sufficient.

What is the difference between poster classifications? ten = Ten Most Wanted Fugitives (the highest-profile cases), default = standard wanted posters, information = seeking public tips, law = law enforcement assistance requests, missing = missing persons, kidnap = kidnappings and missing persons, parental = parental kidnapping cases, vicap = Violent Criminal Apprehension Program cases involving unsolved violent crimes.

What does the status field mean? na = not yet captured/at large, captured = arrested, recovered = found (for missing persons), located = found alive, surrendered = turned themselves in, deceased = the person has died.

Can I get photographs of wanted persons? Yes. Each record includes an images array with URLs for original, large, and thumbnail versions of the person's photograph hosted on FBI servers. Not all records include images.

How do I read the height values? The FBI encodes height as an integer -- for example, 510 means 5 feet 10 inches, 602 means 6 feet 2 inches. The first digit(s) represent feet and the last two digits represent inches.

Can I filter by geographic region? Yes. Use the fieldOffice parameter to focus on a specific FBI field office. For example, miami returns cases handled by the FBI's Miami field office. Enter the field office name as a single lowercase string.

Can I combine multiple filters? Yes. All input parameters can be combined. For example, set posterClassification to default, status to na, and fieldOffice to newyork to find currently wanted persons handled by the New York field office.

Can I schedule recurring runs? Yes. Use Apify's built-in scheduler to run the actor daily, weekly, or at any custom interval. Combine with webhooks or integrations to get notified when new results appear or statuses change.

What happens if the FBI API is down? The actor tries two separate API endpoints with automatic fallback. If both endpoints are unavailable, the run will fail with an error message. You can retry the run later or set up Apify's automatic retry feature.

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