LA wildfires rekindle ‘eco-terror’ arson manhunt after fake firefighter arrests

The FBI has rekindled a decades-long manhunt for a serial arson suspect accused of operating a domestic “eco-terror” cell that lit off more than a half-dozen fires in the 1990s and early 2000s shortly after Los Angeles authorities announced the arrests of a pair of fake firefighters from Oregon – one of whom has a criminal history of arson.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told Fox News Digital Sunday that Dustin Nehl, 31, and Jennifer Nehl, 44, were arrested after allegedly impersonating firefighters and driving into a restricted zone in a fake firetruck from a fake department.

The FBI is offering $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Josephine Sunshine Overaker, a suspected domestic terrorist accused of setting arson fires to spread an animal rights message alongside a group of fellow radicals. She, too, has been accused of posing as a firefighter.

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The Vail Ski Resort arson fire in 1998 that authorities say was the work of Josephine Sunshine Overaker and her alleged domestic terror cell known as “The Family.” (FBI/YouTube)

Overaker was indicted 24 years ago Sunday on charges including arson, destruction of an energy facility and domestic terrorism. Her exact age is unknown, but she is believed to have been born between October 1971 and November 1974.

The incidents she is alleged to have been involved with were linked to extremist groups known as the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front. The alleged attacks took place in Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado and Wyoming beginning in 1996. 

Several hours after L.A. authorities announced the couple’s arrest, the FBI’s Most Wanted account on X reposted a flyer seeking information on Overaker, a longtime fugitive. 

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A split image shows fugitive Josephine Sunshine Overaker’s distinctive back tattoo and an age-progressed sketch of what she may look like now. She is the last remaining fugitive suspect in the 1998 firebombing at the Vail Ski Resort that caused millions of dollars in damage, one of the most devastating ecoterrorism attacks in U.S. history. (FBI)

It was not clear that the Nehls had any connection to Overaker or the radical groups she is accused of working with. The FBI re-shared her wanted poster on the 24th anniversary of her federal indictment. 

Dustin Nehl has a criminal record that includes prior arson charges, according to authorities, who found him dressed up in firefighting gear, carrying radios and riding with his wife in a decommissioned firetruck that had been purchased at auction. 

The vehicle was emblazoned with the name of a fake Oregon agency, the “Roaring River Fire Department.” Under their firefighting gear, according to authorities, they were wearing CAL-Fire T-shirts, California’s state firefighting agency.

Dustin Nehl served five years in prison for a series of vandalizations that culminated in an arson attack at a country club and at other locations, LA Magazine reported. 

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The rebuilt Two Elk Lodge in the Vail ski area at Vail, Colorado, in October 1999. It was built to replace the original building, destroyed in an arson attack by an eco-terrorist group known as The Family, which had ties to the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front. (John Epperson/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

Overaker is the last remaining suspect out of 17 in a catastrophic 1998 fire at the Vail Ski Resort in Colorado that has not been captured, according to federal prosecutors. In 2018, fellow longtime fugitive Joseph Mahmoud Dibee was arrested in Cuba for his role in the plot. He pleaded guilty in 2022 in exchange for an 87-month prison sentence.

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The FBI calls it the “largest eco-related arson in history.” The fire destroyed the luxe Two Elk Lodge restaurant, which was later rebuilt, disabled chair lifts and leveled other buildings, according to authorities. 

Other targets were the Cavel West Meat Packing Plant in Redmond, Oregon, and a barn that belonged to the Bureau of Land Management in Litchfield, California.

Overaker allegedly led an cell of domestic terrorists known as “The Family,” blamed for between $45 million and $80 million worth of damage across 25 arson attacks. To avoid detection, she allegedly shoplifted her bombmaking materials rather than buy them.

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Overaker, a Canadian-born American citizen, has a large bird tattoo across her back and may be posing as a firefighter, a midwife, a sheep tender or a masseuse, according to the FBI. She has brown hair, brown eyes, stands 5 feet, 3 inches tall and weighs an estimated 130 pounds. Agents have said she has facial hair on her upper lip.

She has used a number of aliases over the years, including Lisa Quintana, China, Jo and Osha, according to the FBI. She is fluent in Spanish and may have relocated to Spain.

She faces up to life in prison if convicted. 

Fox News’ Stepheny Price contributed to this report.