Catherine Marie Kerkow
Catherine Marie Kerkow (born 1951) is an American fugitive and former member of the Black Panther Party who is alleged to have participated in the hijacking of Western Airlines Flight 701 in 1972. She has remained a wanted fugitive for more than five decades and is listed by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as wanted on charges of air piracy. Her current whereabouts are unknown.
Early life According to the FBI, Kerkow was born in Coos Bay, Oregon, although some contemporary reports identified her birthplace as nearby North Bend. She has been associated with several dates of birth, including 6 October 1951, 7 October 1951, and 23 April 1946, reflecting the use of multiple identities over the years. The FBI states that she is an American citizen who speaks both English and French and has used the aliases Janice Ann Forte, Odile Ann Pesse, Odile Pesse, and Katherine Marie Kerkow.
Western Airlines Flight 701 hijacking Kerkow is alleged to have participated in the hijacking of Western Airlines Flight 701 on 3 June 1972 alongside fellow Black Panther member Willie Roger Holder. The Boeing 720 had departed Los Angeles, California, bound for Seattle, Washington, carrying 97 passengers.
According to federal authorities, the pair claimed they possessed a bomb concealed in an attaché case and demanded US$500,000. After the aircraft landed in San Francisco, all passengers were released unharmed. The hijackers then directed the crew to continue the flight, eventually travelling via New York before flying to Algiers, Algeria.
The hijacking occurred during a period in the late 1960s and early 1970s when aircraft hijackings were relatively common in the United States. Algeria, which maintained ties with a number of revolutionary movements, granted political asylum to the pair after their arrival. Algerian authorities subsequently returned most of the ransom money—reported to be approximately US$488,000—to the United States, while allowing the hijackers to remain in the country.
Arrest in France In January 1975, Kerkow and Holder were arrested in France after allegedly entering the country using false passports. The arrests renewed efforts by the United States to secure their extradition.
Holder was eventually extradited to the United States to face prosecution. Kerkow, however, was not returned to the United States. The circumstances surrounding her subsequent disappearance remain unclear, and public records do not establish where she travelled after the French proceedings. Since that time, her whereabouts have remained unknown.
Fugitive status A federal arrest warrant for Kerkow was issued on 5 June 1972 by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York on charges of air piracy. The FBI continues to list her as a wanted fugitive and advises that she should be considered armed and dangerous. The Bureau believes she may have ties to Oregon, France, Switzerland, Algeria, Jordan, and Cuba.
Despite the passage of more than fifty years, there has been no verified public information regarding Kerkow's location or whether she is still alive. She remains one of the longest-wanted fugitives connected to the wave of politically motivated aircraft hijackings that occurred during the early 1970s. Her case continues to attract interest from historians and true crime researchers as one of the few major American airline hijacking cases from that era that remains unresolved.
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