Following the incident, Bingham fled the country and lived in Europe for 13 years. He was reported to have traveled to France at least twice. In 1974, Bingham was interviewed for "The New York Times" in an unknown Canadian city by a law school classmate. Afterwards, the FBI worked with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in an attempt to locate him. In 1984, he returned to the United States and surrendered in San Francisco. He claimed that he was framed due to his activism in prison reform. He was reported to have "lived quietly in San Jose, California for six months" prior to surrendering.