Capturing Whitey Bulger: How the FBI finally caught up with the country's No.1 most wanted... and it was all thanks to a boob job and a stray cat Boston crime lord tracked down in LA suburb after 16 years on the run Neighbours noticed how his moll Catherine Greig always fed an alley cat FBI contacted cosmetic surgeons after reports that she had implants One physician rang to say he had her file and, crucially, her photographs A public appeal focussing on Greig then yielded call from a neighbour Bulger jailed for life this month after 40-year career of murder, extortion and drug dealing Tracked down: A new documentary has heard from FBI agents who have revealed how Boston mobster James 'Whitey' Bulger was finally captured thanks to a stray cat and a boob job For 14 years, America's most-wanted criminal James 'Whitey' Bulger and his moll Catherine Greig evaded capture by posing as any other elderly couple in a low-key suburb of LA. Now the FBI has revealed for the first time how the pair were finally tracked down when two vastly different pieces of the jigsaw came together to out them - her love of a stray cat and her vanity as a younger woman when she opted for a boob job. Bulger, a notorious Boston underworld kingpin was jailed for life earlier this month after a 40-year career of murder, extortion, money-laundering, arms trafficking and drug dealing. The 84-year-old was arrested in 2011 after years on the run at the apartment he shared with Greig in Santa Barbara, where residents told how the couple blended in like all the other retired couples. Speaking to 60 Minutes on CBS News, neighbour Barbara Gluck remembered how Greig always fed a stray cat after its owner had died. She said: 'She would pet it, you know, and be sweet to it and she put a plate of food like out here. She loved the cat. Bulger had been a great source of embarrassment for the FBI after he had infiltrated the Boston office of the bureau and bought off agents who protected him. They gave him the tip that allowed Bulger to flee just days before he was to be indicted in 1995. Some feared he would never been caught. The film heard from FBI agents who told how they had struggled to find a workable lead for ten years - nor did they have any good photographs of the pair. They were aware of the couple's love of animals, but appeals to veterinarians proved unsuccessful. There had also been reports that Greig had once had breast implants and other plastic surgery in Boston before they fled the city, and, grasping at straws, they turned to cosmetics surgeons in the hope of a clue. Posing as any other retired couple: Whitey Bulger spent 16 years on the run with his girlfriend Catherine Greig (pictured together here in an undated photo) Spotted: Greig and Bulger were captured in 2011 in their then-apartment in Santa Monica, California To their astonishment, one came from Dr Matthias Donelan, who not only found her file in storage - but crucially, photographs. Agent Tommy MacDonald, who joined the Bulger taskforce in 2009, told the programme called The Gaskos: 'I was trying to leave the office a little early to catch one of my kids' ballgames. 'And I said, "Well, listen - I'm gonna swing by in the morning and pick those up." And they said to me - "Do you want the photos too?" And I said "You have photos?" And they said, "Yeah, we have photos." I said, "We'll be there in 15 minutes."' Armed with the picture, the FBI decided to switch strategy to focus on finding Greig and created public service announcements on daytime talk shows aimed at women. Then they got a call from a neighbour. Deputy U.S. Marshall Neil Sullivan, who took the lead, said: 'The tipster specifically described that they were caring for this cat and their love for this cat. 'So that was just one piece of the puzzle on the tip that added up to saying "if this isn't them it's something we better check out immediately because it sure sounds like them."' Bulger disappeared in 1995 as law enforcement agencies were about to arrest him When officers closed in, more than $822,000 and 30 guns were found hidden in the walls of the couple's rent-controlled apartment, where they had been living there under assumed identities with Grieg running errands, buying her aging lover's medication and paying bills. Bulger was sentenced to life in prison earlier this month for his murderous reign of terror in the 1970s and '80s, bringing to a close a case that exposed FBI corruption so deep that many people across the city thought he would never be brought to justice. He was defiant to the end, calling his trial on racketeering charges a sham and refusing to testify or provide information to probation officials preparing a sentencing report for the judge. The jury convicted Bulger in 11 of the 19 killings he was charged with participating in, but acquitted him of seven and could not reach a conclusion on an eighth. Greig was sentenced separately to eight years for aiding and abetting him.