Read more: Local, Crime, Winigan, Bank Robbery, Robbery, Suspect, Citizen's Bank, Loot, Money
WINIGAN, MO. -- There's still no sign of the two suspects who held up the bank in Winigan, Missouri last week.
We've learned Thursday's armed robbery was the second one at that same bank.
The other happened almost 64 years ago.
Lifelong Winigan-area resident Gail Martin was eight or nine years old back then.
He remembers when three men robbed the Citizen’s Bank on December 19, 1945.
At that time, word got around town that the robbery was taking place, so a few citizens got their guns to try and stop the robbers.
A local businessman had another idea about how to stop them in their tracks.
"Ivan Cable, a storekeeper there at that time, went and let the air out of one of the tires of the robbery car. And so, they intended to go north up (Highway) 129 as they left, and they couldn't make the grade that went up there, so they had to turn and go the wrong way," said Martin.
The men were able to drive off, but ended up getting stranded because of the flat tire and slick conditions created by snowfall.
They then set the car on fire and took off on foot.
The three suspects in the 1945 robbery were caught at a farmhouse late that same night. Law enforcement officers and volunteers were able to track their footprints in the snow.
Two of the men were arrested. The third died of a gunshot to the head. The men told investigators he had shot himself.
According to a history book about Winigan, the robbers had hidden their loot in a snowdrift. They stole more than $6,000 in the 1945 robber. All but $31.46 was recovered by investigators.
No one was injured in last Thursday's bank robbery in Winigan.
