Investigators monitor down Cleveland financial institution teller who stuffed $215Ok right into a paper bag after his shift 52 years in the past — and vanished
Now greater than 5 a long time later, the federal legislation enforcement company introduced Friday that it is recognized the person thought of one of many nation’s most needed fugitives.
Conrad had been dwelling in Boston since 1970 beneath the title Thomas Randele, authorities stated. In yet one more dramatic twist, his house was near the place the film « The Thomas Crown Affair » was filmed. Within the unique film, the primary character steals greater than $2 million from a Boston financial institution.
« A 12 months earlier than the Cleveland financial institution theft, Conrad turned obsessive about the 1968 Steve McQueen movie, » the US Marshals Service stated in an announcement. « The film was based mostly on the financial institution theft for sport by a millionaire businessman, and Conrad … bragged to his pals about how simple it will be to take cash from the financial institution. »
Many years of chasing leads nationwide
Conrad’s alleged heist befell on a Friday. The financial institution didn’t know the cash was lacking from the vault till Monday, when he failed to indicate up for work. Then the case went chilly.
For many years, investigators have chased recommendations on Conrad’s whereabouts in numerous states, together with California, Hawaii, Texas and Oregon. His case was spotlighted on « America’s Most Needed » and « Unsolved Mysteries. »
After years of investigation, federal authorities traveled to Massachusetts final week and confirmed he’d been dwelling a quiet life beneath a fictitious title in Boston. As a part of their investigation, they in contrast his 1960s paperwork to paperwork he’d accomplished beneath the title Randele, together with a 2014 chapter submitting at a Boston federal court docket.
He died of lung most cancers in Could of this 12 months in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, the US Marshals Service stated. He was 71.
A father and son helped resolve the thriller
One of many case’s key investigators was Peter J. Elliott, a US marshal from northern Ohio, whose household lived close to Conrad within the late 1960s.
« It is a case I do know all too properly. My father, John Ok. Elliott, was a devoted profession deputy United States marshal in Cleveland from 1969 till his retirement in 1990, » he stated. « My father by no means stopped trying to find Conrad and all the time needed closure up till his demise in 2020. »
A few of the paperwork uncovered by the elder Elliott performed a job in confirming Conrad’s identification, the son stated.
« I hope my father is resting a bit of simpler right this moment understanding his investigation … introduced closure to this decades-long thriller, » the youthful Elliott stated. « All the things in actual life does not all the time finish like within the motion pictures. »
