WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1995 JAN 26 (NB)—The U.S. Marshals Service is on the trail of a computer hacker who disappeared after being convicted of one electronic crime and charged with another. Authorities say they are trying to locate Kevin David Mitnick, 31, originally from Sepulveda, California. Deputy U.S. Marshal Kathleen Cunningham told Newsbytes the Marshals Service had a probation violation warrant for Mitnick since November 1992, and almost caught up with him in Seattle last October. Cunningham said Mitnick is a ham radio enthusiast and is believed to use a scanner to keep track of police in the area where he is hiding. "[Local police] didn’t use radio security so as soon as his address was mentioned he was out of there. He just left everything." Mitnick is considered an expert at gaining control of computers to monitor or use communications systems and knows how to manufacture false identities using computers.