< Back to front page Text size – +

FBI turns to plastic surgery newsletter in search for Bulger

E-mail|Link|Comments () May 12, 2010 03:40 PM

A portion of the FBI's advertisement in Plastic Surgery News.

By Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff

The FBI is hoping that during her 15 years on the run with fugitive gangster James "Whitey" Bulger, his girlfriend might have felt the need for a little makeover.

The bureau took out a full-page ad in the April-May edition of Plastic Surgery News, a newsletter circulated to more than 6,000 plastic surgeons worldwide, with photos of Bulger's gal pal, Catherine Greig, asking, "Have you treated this woman?"

Greig, a dental hygienist who turned 59 in April, is apparently a big fan of plastic surgery. According to the FBI, she had breast implants, a face lift, a nose job, liposuction, and eyelid surgery before she went on the run with Bulger, and so it's possible she sought a touch-up while on the lam.

"This is one of many techniques that we are employing currently to locate Mr. Bulger and Miss Greig,'' said Gail Marcinkiewicz, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Boston office.

The ad, which features photos of Greig before and after her surgery, asks anyone who may recognize her to contact findwhitey@ic.fbi gov or call the FBI at 617-742-5533.

"We're always happy to help," said Mike Stokes, the managing editor of Plastic Surgery News. He said the FBI was probably interested in placing the ad because the newsletter has an international reach. Its subscribers include plastic surgeons in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.

Bulger, a long-time FBI informant, fled just before his January 1995 federal racketeering indictment in Boston and is wanted for 19 murders in the 1970s and 1980s. The 80-year-old has been a fixture on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list and the bureau is offering a $2 million reward for information leading to his capture.

"I bet that's got some people going through their old files,'' said Stokes, referring to the reward.

Greig, who like Bulger, was raised in South Boston, had been living in Quincy before she fled. She's wanted for harboring a federal fugitive.

The last confirmed sighting of Bulger was in London in 2002, according to the FBI. Last month, agents from the multi-agency Bulger Task Force were on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, urging book store employees to be on the lookout for Bulger, who is an avid reader.

Allure magazine first reported the news about the FBI's ad, with the headline: "Nip/Tuck Meets America's Most Wanted."