‘Barefoot Bandit’: Colton Harris-Moore Breaks Silence From Jail Cell

It’s been years since we heard from the “Barefoot Bandit,” Colton Harris-Moore. The infamous teen who earned the nickname “Barefoot Bandit” after he reportedly committed his crimes barefoot has ignored media requests for interviews… until now.

Harris-Moore recently broke his silence and reached out to KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don to speak out about a few things on his mind. One in particular, his mother. Harris-Moore’s mother, Pamela Kohler, is dying of Cancer. Harris-Moore wants to cryogenically freeze his mother in order to revive her in the future once a cure is found.

Colton Harris-Moore spoke of how compassionate he is about his mother’s chances of living in the KIRO radio interview posted by My Northwest.

“She has a very incomplete life and she is going to die decades before she should. I feel a tremendous sense of guilt because I went on the run and then jail and I haven’t been there,” Harris-Moore said over the phone while at the Stafford Creek Correctional Center near Aberdeen.

Kohler was diagnosed with metastatic lung cancer. Harris-Moore noticed something was wrong with Kohler but felt he couldn’t do anything about the situation, as he was behind bars.

“I noticed small things like her coughing. If I was out, she would have immediately gone to the doctor. We would have gotten it at stage one, not when it spread to the rest of the body. If I wasn’t in jail, it wouldn’t be happening the way it is happening right now.

In fact, Colton Harris-Moore has set up a GoFundMe account in order to raise the money. Harris-Moore told CBS News in an interview from his jail cell, “I am all she has and I spent years on the run and now I’ve been in here for five and a half years.” Harris-Moore is attempting to raise almost $300,00.00 that will cover the cost of the cryopreservation.

Colton Harris-Moore plans to hire Alcor, a foundation dedicated to cryogenically freezing people’s bodies as they die, with hopes of unfreezing them in the future once a cure for their disease is found. Though, the plan might be difficult for Harris-Moore to successfully conquer. His GoFundMe page has only raised $2,170.00 of the acquired goal. According to My Northwest, Harris-Moore explained that the money is for his mother, not himself.

“I don’t get any of this money. My family doesn’t get any of the money. Pam doesn’t get any of this money. It goes straight to Alcor. And it goes to saving someone’s life. I think people are willing to support that. They are happy to support saving someone’s life.”

In regards to the “Barefoot Bandit” nickname that he was given while on the run, Harris-Moore dislikes the name. In fact, according to My Northwest, Harris-Moore was remorseful for the crimes he committed in his youth.

“If it was up to me, nobody would know who I am. I really do not enjoy the notoriety or the publicity. I do not go by the name ‘Barefoot Bandit.’ The past is the past. I made a lot of mistakes in my youth and I’m all grown up now.”

Colton-Harris Moore gained notoriety in the media when he went on a crime spree as a teenager. Harris-Moore burglarized more than 100 homes throughout the Northwest, which included parts of Canada. Harris-Moore also stole a handful of small airplanes, a boat, and a couple of cars. One of the planes stolen belonged to legendary radio jock Bob Rivers. Harris-Moore was finally caught in the Bahamas and extradited back to the United States to face his crimes.

Recently, Colton Harris-Moore has ignored requests to speak to the media. He has been keeping a blog tracking his thoughts on what’s going on in the world today.

[Header photo by AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File]