Richard Reid, the infamous terrorist known globally as the 'Shoe Bomber', has been pictured looking utterly transformed as he serves a life sentence in a US maximum-security prison.
Now 51, Reid's appearance is a far cry from the menacing figure who attempted to detonate explosives hidden in his trainers aboard American Airlines Flight 63 in December 2001. Recent images show an older man with a thick, greying beard, wearing spectacles and sporting a significantly receded hairline.
A Chilling Plot That Shook The World
Reid's name became synonymous with one of the most audacious terrorist plots in recent history. On December 22, 2001, he boarded the Paris to Miami flight with 197 other people. His plan: to ignite explosives concealed within the hollowed-out soles of his shoes using a simple match.
His plot was foiled not by sophisticated security, but by the quick thinking of flight attendants and passengers who smelled sulphur from his matches and wrestled him to the ground. He was subdued using makeshift restraints—seatbelt extenders and headphone wires—as the flight was urgently diverted to Boston.
Life Behind Bars: A Radical New Look
Now incarcerated at the supermax ADX Florence facility in Colorado—often called the 'Alcatraz of the Rockies'—Reid's radical new look has sparked discussion. Some have dubbed his changed appearance a 'midlife crisis makeover,' a stark and unsettling contrast to the reasons for his imprisonment.
His transformation is so complete that he is barely recognisable from the clean-shaven, intense young man whose mugshot was plastered across front pages worldwide over two decades ago.
A Permanent Home For A Notorious Criminal
ADX Florence is designed to house the most dangerous prisoners in the US federal system. Inmates, including other high-profile terrorists like Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, spend up to 23 hours a day in solitary confinement.
With three life sentences without the possibility of parole, this confined existence is all Richard Reid can expect for the remainder of his days, a permanent consequence for a plot that could have ended hundreds of lives.
