And a focus on viewers of daytime television programs may have been the key.
On Monday, the Bulger Task Force, an FBI-led team that includes State Police investigators and other federal and state authorities, launched a new media campaign. To those who had followed the fruitless search for Bulger, it seemed no more likely to succeed than earlier efforts.
The $50,000 media blitz featured, among other things, a 30-second television spot publicizing the worldwide hunt for the couple. It aired during commercial breaks of daytime shows such as “The View,’’ “Ellen,’’ and “Live with Regis & Kelly.’’
The ads were to run in 350 time slots in 14 cities, including Boston. They were aimed at viewers who would have been more likely to encounter Bulger’s girlfriend — 21 years his junior — than Bulger himself. The bureau, which had offered a $2 million reward for information leading to Bulger’s capture, also doubled the reward for Greig, who was wanted for harboring a fugitive, from $50,000 to $100,000.
The commercials did not air in Los Angeles, but the campaign quickly bore fruit, according to the FBI.
Shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday, someone called the Los Angeles field office as a “direct result’’ of the blitz, Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston field office, said yesterday at a news conference at the US attorney’s office. He declined to identify the caller or provide details.
FBI agents in Los Angeles relayed the tip to the task force, whose agents and analysts were in a command post in Boston that had been operating round-the-clock since the spots began airing.
According to law enforcement officials, more than 200 tips landed at the Boston office. The tip that would eventually lead to Bulger was initially placed in the low-priority pile. But as Neil Sullivan, a deputy US marshal, sifted through all the potential leads, he settled on one that described a couple living in Santa Monica. Put this one at the top, he said.
