Location: Cleveland, Ohio, USA (1969) & Lynnfield, Massachusetts, USA (1969–2021) 🇯🇵 / 🇺🇸
Story: On July 11, 1969, 20-year-old bank teller Ted Conrad, inspired by the heist film The Thomas Crown Affair, calmly stole $215,000 from the vault of Society National Bank on a Friday afternoon and vanished. The case became one of the U.S. Marshals' longest and most frustrating cold cases. Despite a nationwide manhunt and media frenzy, Conrad disappeared without a trace.🌪
Twist: Conrad had assumed a new identity as "Thomas Randall" and built an ordinary life in the suburbs of Boston. He married, had a daughter, worked steady jobs, and was a beloved neighbor and friend, all while hiding in plain sight. The Marshals pursued countless leads for over five decades but never found him. The secret held until May 2021, when Conrad, dying of lung cancer at 71, confessed to his family on his deathbed. The U.S. Marshals only confirmed his identity days after his death, when an investigator noticed similarities between his obituary and their cold case file. He had evaded one of the world's top fugitive-hunting agencies for 52 years by living a quiet, law-abiding life, the perfect disguise. The whereabouts of the stolen money remain a mystery. 🤫