The search for a serial bank robber dubbed the “Too Tall Bandit,” who has eluded law enforcement for at least 11 years, has heated up again after he struck twice in November following an apparent two-year hiatus, according to the FBI.
The menacing criminal, who FBI officials suspect is responsible for holding up 16 banks and a pharmacy since 2009 in South Carolina, Tennessee and, most recently, western North Carolina, has been described by terrorized victims as being up to 6-foot-8-inches tall, weighing 250 pounds, and has a collection of Halloween-type masks.
Shelley Lynch, spokesperson for the FBI field office in Charlotte, North Carolina, told ABC News that the prolific bank robber last struck on Friday, hitting the United Community Bank in Etowah, North Carolina.
The FBI released security camera footage of the take-over style armed hold up in hopes someone recognizes the robber.
Like in other robberies, the man, who authorities believe to be white and in his 40s, entered the bank holding a dark handgun and vaults the teller counter.
Lynch said it remains a mystery why the bandit apparently took a nearly two-year break. She said FBI agents are probing a theory that the robber was incarcerated during that time.