Ohio Bank Robber Wanted for 50 Years ID'd as Mass. Man

[mahatmakanejeeves]

16. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Crime

Mystery solved: Theodore Conrad vanished after robbing Cleveland bank where he worked in 1969; marshals traced him to Boston suburb

Updated: Nov. 12, 2021, 3:53 p.m. | Published: Nov. 12, 2021, 11:21 a.m.

By John Caniglia, cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Fifty-two years ago, a young teller left his job at Society National Bank on Public Square with $215,000 in stolen cash. Within hours, he vanished.

Theodore Conrad, just 20, had pulled off one of the biggest bank heists in Cleveland history. His disappearance became one of the city’s greatest mysteries.

Federal agents from across the country tried to track down the graduate of Lakewood High School, class of 1967. Some believed he had bolted for the beaches of California, hoping to ride waves and escape Cleveland winters. Others thought he had settled in Europe. The missing cash, adjusted for inflation, would be worth about $1.7 million today.

On Friday, U.S. Marshal Peter Elliott said his office solved the mystery his father, John, had investigated decades ago: Theodore Conrad died in a suburb north of Boston in May. He was 71.

He had changed his name, and became known to many as Thomas Randele. He also changed his lifestyle and the details of his past.

He had a family, became a local golf pro and sold luxury cars. He was a fixture in a small town. The stolen money didn’t last, as he had struggled financially in recent years, records show.

In his final days, as lung cancer drained him, he admitted to his lifelong secret.

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