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Theodore John Conrad confirmed up for work as a financial institution teller in Cleveland. On the finish of his shift, the then 20-year-old stole US$215,000 ($293,000) stuffed it right into a paper bag — and vanished, authorities stated.
Now greater than 5 many years later, the federal legislation enforcement company introduced it had recognized the person thought of one of many America’s most needed fugitives.
Conrad had been dwelling in Boston since 1970 underneath the identify Thomas Randele, authorities stated.
In one more dramatic twist, his residence was near the place the film “The Thomas Crown Affair” was filmed. Within the unique film, the principle character steals greater than US$2 million ($2.7 million) from a Boston financial institution.
“A 12 months earlier than the Cleveland financial institution theft, Conrad grew to become obsessive about the 1968 Steve McQueen movie,” the US Marshals Service stated in a press release.
“The film was based mostly on the financial institution theft for sport by a millionaire businessman, and Conrad … bragged to his pals about how straightforward it will be to take cash from the financial institution.”
A long time of chasing leads nationwide
Conrad’s alleged heist happened 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 tips about Conrad’s whereabouts in varied 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 underneath a fictitious identify in Boston.
As a part of their investigation, they in contrast his Sixties paperwork to paperwork he’d accomplished underneath the identify 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 Sixties.
“It is a case I do know all too effectively. 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.”
Among the paperwork uncovered by the elder Elliott performed a task in confirming Conrad’s identification, the son stated.
“I hope my father is resting a bit simpler right now understanding his investigation … introduced closure to this decades-long thriller,” the youthful Elliott stated.
“The whole lot in actual life does not all the time finish like within the motion pictures.”
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