FBI Posts $10K Reward in Search for Pipe Bomb Suspect

A $10,000 reward was posted today for a fugitive accused of planting pipe bombs near his ex-girlfriend's Palm Springs home.

Edward Allen Costa, 48, was indicted last month on six counts of possessing unregistered destructive devices in connection with the discovery of homemade bombs in early May 2012. The U.S. Attorney's Office has also charged him with fleeing federal custody.

The FBI announced the reward for information leading to Costa's capture. A wanted poster describing the case has been posted online: http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/seeking-info/edward-allen-costa/view

Costa has not been seen since he walked away from a Jurupa Valley halfway house in August, during a scheduled visit to a state employment office, according to federal investigators.

He pleaded guilty last fall to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was charged with that crime during an investigation into the pipe bombs.

Explosives charges were filed against Costa in June 2012, but were dropped for lack of evidence. FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents continued to investigate the case while prosecutors and Costa's defense team reached a plea deal on the gun charge, which stemmed from the seizure of a .357 Magnum revolver and 105 rounds of shotgun and pistol ammunition from his Desert Hot Springs property.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips sentenced the defendant in January to a year in federal prison. He served less than eight months and was placed in the halfway house in August to begin his re-integration into society, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

According to Palm Springs police, the first pipe bomb was found May 8, 2012, with four more discovered May 10 and another on May 12, most of them in the vicinity of North Indian Canyon and San Rafael drives.

BATFE Agent Adam Rudolph testified during a June 2012 detention hearing for Costa that while searching the convicted felon's residence, federal agents discovered four marijuana plants, a flare gun, 20 to 30 12-gauge shotgun shells, gunpowder and a metal end-cap. Costa also had a small quantity of methamphetamine in his pocket, Rudolph said.

The agent testified some of the material was similar to that used in the pipe bombs.

A Palm Springs woman told police that Costa -- her daughter's ex- boyfriend -- "was manufacturing the devices because she had seen PVC piping at his residence on numerous occasions," according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed by Clinton Kehr, a BATFE agent.

When authorities went to Costa's house on Pomelo Drive on May 11 last year, they saw blue pipe glue near the front door, according to Kehr.

Costa told authorities that he worked for a construction company, laying pipe and doing plumbing work, explaining why some of the suspicious items were kept at the house, according to court papers, which state that he has two prior convictions in the 1990s for receiving stolen property.

If convicted of the charges for which he was indicted, Costa could face 10 years in federal prison.

The defendant is white, about 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds. He has brown eyes, brown-and-gray medium-length hair and a goatee.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts was asked to call the the FBI's 24-hour fugitive apprehension hotline at 888-226-8443.

—City News Service