Transcript
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The views and opinions expressed in Cold and Missing are exclusively those of the hosts.
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All parties mentioned are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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Cold and Missing also contains adult themes and languages.
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Listener discretion is advised.
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I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin-Sulkowski.
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And I'm your co-host, Eli Sulkowski.
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And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover cold cases and missing person cases.
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Hello and welcome back to Cold and Missing.
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I'm Ali.
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And I'm Eli.
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Welcome back, everyone.
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As always, a quick shout out at the top.
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Again, we've had lots of very kind reviews coming in this week.
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It feels like every time I go to the Apple podcast page, we have another new review,
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which is awesome.
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Thank you so much for doing that.
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And we appreciate it so much.
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Well, we are on episode 101 this week.
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So do you want to just get to it?
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Yeah, let's go ahead and get into it.
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And just as a quick content warning at the top, there is a brief mention of death by
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suicide.
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Today, we're going to be talking about the Blue Ridge Savings Bank murders.
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And this takes place May 16, 2003, in Greer, South Carolina.
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But first, a little bit about the victims.
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Sylvia Holtzclaw.
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Sylvia is 56 years old in 2003.
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Sylvia was a staple of the Greer community.
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Those that loved her and knew her said she could talk to anyone for at least 30 minutes.
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She had been a single mother and had two adult sons.
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She was a fixture of her church and young folks in the youth group seemed to flock to
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her.
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She was always working in the background, making sure things got done, cooking for potlucks
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and fundraisers or showing up with a surprise meal.
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She was also trustworthy.
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All of these characteristics combined made her a perfect bank teller.
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In fact, she was the lead bank teller.
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She was able to talk to anyone and had the knowhow to handle delicate situations.
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Dr. James Eb Barnes.
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Dr. Barnes went by his nickname, Eb, E-B.
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He was 60 years old in 2003 and was a physics professor at the University of South Carolina
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Upstate.
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Not only was he a professor, but he was also the director of programs on campus, so he
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was well known by both staff and students.
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They described him as an amazing teacher and a fair administrator.
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During the winter graduation, he was known to wear a Santa Claus hat with his robes.
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She had quite the collection of Santa Claus hats.
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He had been married to his wife, Maggie Barnes, for 38 years.
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Maggie Barnes was 58 years old in 2003.
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With Eb, the two of them had raised three children who were all adults.
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Maggie was an artist.
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She got into weaving and making tapestries when she found a flax spinning wheel in the
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attic of her great-grandparents' farmhouse in Alabama.
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Her and Eb would also host talks on historical clothing and weaving techniques.
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Many of the tapestries she wove hung in buildings around campus.
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She worked for the National Beta Club and loved working with high schoolers and volunteering
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her time at church.
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All in all, these three were amazing people.
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Now before we get into the timeline, I just want to give a quick rundown of the Blue Ridge
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Savings Bank.
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This was a new bank in the area.
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It had only opened in the last 18 months.
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It was right off of Interstate 85 at the end of a dead-end road, East Frontage Road.
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The road actually ended at the bank at that time.
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The bank was also not a typical brick and mortar building.
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It was a double-wide trailer that had been turned into a bank.
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This bank was also not a place where you would do your day-to-day banking.
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It was more of a bank where you would go for loans or mortgages or to open a CD account.
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And now, a timeline of events.
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On Friday, May 16, 2003, Sylvia was only scheduled to work a half-day that Friday.
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One of her sons was visiting from out of town and she and both of her sons planned to spend
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the weekend together.
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They were celebrating a belated Mother's Day since her son had to work the previous
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weekend.
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Sylvia went about her morning.
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She had to call upper management about the front door being broken.
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Normally, they would have to buzz people into the bank, but the buzzer had been broken and
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anyone could just open the door.
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As the time ticked closer to Sylvia getting off work, the person who was scheduled to
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come in and relieve her called in sick.
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Sylvia had to stay at work.
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She was the only person working that afternoon.
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At around 12.50 p.m., Sylvia's son arrived at the bank to bring her lunch since she anticipated
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getting off and didn't bring one to work.
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Sylvia's son believes that he was at the bank for around 10 minutes.
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Him and his mother chatted.
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She walked him to the door and then she said, I'll see you after work.
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Sylvia was alone when he got there and she was alone when he left.
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After her son left, a regular customer came to the bank to do a wire transfer.
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He stayed for about 10 minutes and left after the wire transfer was complete.
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Sometime between 1.28 and 1.36 p.m., a bill trap alarm is triggered at the bank.
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Initially, newspapers reported that the time of the alarm was 1.36.
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However, over the years, that time has been pushed back to around 1.30 and even a few
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reports of 1.28 more recently.
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But sometime in those eight minutes, the bill trap alarm was triggered.
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A bill trap alarm, if you are not aware of what one is, because I really wasn't, is a
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silent alarm that when money is removed from it, it will trigger.
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Now police are unsure or haven't said when exactly the Barnes entered the bank.
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They needed to go to the bank that afternoon to transfer money to their IRA.
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Police are unsure if they entered the bank right before the robbery took place or if
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they walked in while the robbery was happening.
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After the bill trap alarm is set off, the security company calls the bank.
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They say that the phone was answered but immediately disconnected again.
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Several more attempts were made to call the bank, but when those go unanswered, the police
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are dispatched to the bank.
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Sylvia, Eb, and Maggie are led down a hallway to a break room.
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In the hallway leading to the back room was a device that would have been flashing bill
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trap, bill trap, bill trap.
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When police arrived 10 minutes after the alarm is tripped, they believe they are walking
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into a bank robbery.
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But there are only two cars in the parking lot, Sylvia's and the Barnes's car.
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And police say they did not pass any cars going to the bank since it sits on a dead
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end road.
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The car would have had to come the way the police were coming in.
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When police walk into the bank, they instead find a triple homicide.
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In the back break room were the bodies of Sylvia, Eb, and Maggie.
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All three had been shot with a.40 caliber Glock.
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Police have never confirmed, but a source told a local paper that Sylvia and Maggie
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were each shot in the head and Eb was shot in the chest.
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Police begin to secure the crime scene and the FBI are on their way since a big robbery
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is a federal crime.
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Cash is missing from the drawer.
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Police never confirm exactly how much was taken, but again that source told the local
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paper that only $2,000 to $3,000 was stolen from the bank.
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Also missing was the bank security tape.
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The security camera would have caught the suspect or suspects at some point after they
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entered the bank.
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With the missing tape, police are unsure if the robbers stole that before leaving or if
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Sylvia had forgotten to load the tape that morning.
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I want to mention here that Sylvia was very, very security cautious.
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She didn't like working at the bank alone and she even kept a notebook in her pocket
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of all the security procedures.
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In my opinion, it seems very unlikely that Sylvia would have forgotten this step in the
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morning.
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Looking at the scene, police and the FBI are baffled as to why this turned into a homicide.
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Typically bank robberies do not end with murder.
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Robbers are looking to get the money and get out.
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They're not there to kill.
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According to special agent Carol Allison, quote, we can tell from the crime scene that
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the people inside were compliant and the murders were not necessary, end quote.
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Police begin to fan out from the bank to look at other businesses in the area that might
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have a security camera.
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And they're in luck.
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A gas station had a camera pointed toward the road that led to the bank.
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During the time frame of the crime, there is a red car that can be seen driving towards
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the bank and then driving back towards the highway a few minutes later.
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Due to the angle and camera quality, police are unable to pull a license plate, but they
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believe it's either an Oldsmobile Alero or a Chevy Impala.
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A later 90 to early 2000s model also caught on camera is the Barnes's car driving right
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behind the red car towards the bank.
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There was also construction going on in the area and construction workers are questioned
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by police.
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They say they also saw a red car leaving the bank just a few minutes before the police
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show up.
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They believe there were at least two people in the car.
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The community is shocked by the triple homicide.
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Things like this just didn't happen in their town.
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The bank where the murders took place offers a $50,000 reward for information leading to
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the arrest.
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Even America's most wanted fly out that same weekend to shoot a segment to air the
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following week.
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Over the weekend, the FBI are confident that the case will be solved soon.
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Tips are pouring in from the public and the FBI is sure they'll be able to pinpoint the
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suspect.
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Quote, there are things unique to the crime scene that only the persons in there who committed
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the crime know.
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End quote.
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On Monday, May 19th, just three days after the murder, Sylvia is laid to rest.
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Over 900 people come out to pay their respects.
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A friend speaking at the funeral said, quote, she was Greer.
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Sylvia was Greer, South Carolina.
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End quote.
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The next day, police search the roadside leading up to the bank.
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When media asks what they're looking for, FBI Special Agent Allison says, quote, anything,
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any evidence of value that may have been tossed out of the vehicle.
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End quote.
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Police are sure they're closing in.
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Quote, we'd like to give you what it is.
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We're much closer than farther.
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End quote.
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On Wednesday, May 21st, five days after the murder, Eb and Maggie Barnes are laid to rest.
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Over 400 people come out to pay their respects.
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Maggie's brother says, quote, I'm sure their last thoughts were of each other.
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End quote.
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On Sunday, May 25th, so it's been nine days since the murder, police are asking for two
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truck drivers to come forward.
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These two trucks were getting off of the interstate at the same time as the red car, one just
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in front of the car and the other truck pulls up behind the red car.
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Police never confirm if they're able to find the drivers and question them, but they got
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a lot of tips on who these truck drivers could be.
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So they're hoping the truck drivers might have noticed something about the passengers
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inside.
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Police acknowledge that most bank robberies are solved in a few days, but they don't
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have any witnesses to the actual bank robbery with Sylvia, Eb and Maggie dead.
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They keep running into dead ends with lead after lead.
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On June 12th, 2003, so it's approaching one month since the murders, the FBI released
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a profile to the public.
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They say the culprit likely took work off unexpectedly around the time of the murders.
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Police say to watch for nervous behavior, changes in drinking or smoking, possibly doing
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more or stopping those things altogether.
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Police also say that there could be cuts and scrapes to the face and arms that are unexplained.
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Police say that the suspect could be trying to grow a beard or maybe have gotten a new
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haircut after the murders.
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Perhaps their faith has changed, either starting to go to church or stopping.
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Maybe they stopped driving their car and have gotten access to a new one recently.
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However, after this, there are few updates from the police.
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The murders stay in the news with the community holding vigils and prayer services, but no
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new information is released.
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In April of 2004, just a month before the one-year anniversary, the Blue Ridge Savings
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Bank is robbed again.
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Well, attempted robbery at least.
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The bank employee was walking into the bank when a man pulled up in a green Chevrolet,
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pointed a gun and ordered the man stop at the front door.
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The employee ran for it and the would-be robber drove off.
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I wasn't able to find an update on if this particular robbery was solved or attempted
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robbery.
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Now, from this point forward, basically at the one-year mark, there are small pieces
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of information that come out through the media over the years, but most of those details
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I've already mentioned in the timeline.
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So I thought I would just take a few minutes here to talk about suspects that have emerged
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in the case.
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The first two strong suspects in the case were arrested just days after the murders.
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However, police ultimately let them go.
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They're never even named publicly.
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Another suspect was brought in for questioning after he was caught robbing another bank.
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He confesses to robbing banks for over six years.
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His particular MO was to strike on Friday afternoon, the same time the Blue Ridge Savings
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Bank murders happened.
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However, he has a rock-solid alibi and he is also eliminated.
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Another suspect is Todd Kohlhepp.
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He is a convicted serial killer and he's tied to this case because he shot four people
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dead inside of a shop called Superbike Motorsports.
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Kohlhepp has denied being involved in the Blue Ridge Savings Bank murders and police
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have never been able to tie him to Greer during May of 2003.
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So that brings me to the final two suspects.
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One is a man named Emerson Wright.
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He had stolen a red Oldsmobile Alero from an airport rental car agency at the beginning
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of May 2003, just weeks before the murder.
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After the murder, when he is driving the stolen car, he gets pulled over, but he runs from
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the cops on foot and escapes in a wooded area.
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About a year and a half later, he'll get pulled over by police again.
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This time, he'll step out of the car and take his own life with a.40 caliber gun, the same
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type of weapon used in the murders.
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Police have eliminated his gun as being the murder weapon.
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But because he died, police have never been able to question him fully about the Blue
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Ridge Savings Bank murders.
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And the final suspect or person of interest came to our attention in May of 2013, 10 years
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after the murder.
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The FBI announced that they're trying to track down a man that was seen at the bank
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just prior to the robbery.
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He would have been 50 to 53 years of age in 2003, between 5'6 and 5'8 and around 230
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pounds.
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He's white with blonde hair and touches of gray.
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Police say he was a very clean cut.
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This suspect that the FBI are looking for is who they have on their poster for this
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case.
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So this is still somebody that they appear to be actively looking for.
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But that is really all we know about the Blue Ridge Savings Bank murders.
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So if you know anything about the murder of Sylvia Haltzclaw, Ed Barnes, and Maggie Barnes
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in May of 2003, please call the FBI office in Greenville at 803-551-4200 or the Greer
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Police Department at 864-848-2151.
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So that is the case of the Blue Ridge Savings Bank murders.
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I think with cold cases like these, it's very easy to lump three people together.
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At least to me, it seems like the story can be less personal in that way.
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And I really appreciate how personal you make it.
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It was delightful to learn about who each of these people were, Sylvia, Ed, and Maggie,
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equally as heartbreaking because they are no longer with us.
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And in this case, it felt very important to highlight the lives that they lived before
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they were taken.
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Thank you.
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That's something I'm very conscious of.
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And when we first started the podcast, we wanted it to be very centered on the victims
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in these crimes or the person missing.
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So it's always very intentional, all those details I give about the person and the life
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they lived.
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Yeah.
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And with that, I really just wanted to say that I love the name, Eb.
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In my mind, when you said it, I immediately countered with Eb and Flo.
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And that's just kind of how I saw him.
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And when you described him, he seemed like that kind of guy that just had a good time
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in life and enjoyed himself, enjoyed his marriage and his kids.
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And I don't know, again, he was delightful to learn about.
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Eb and Maggie really led a very enriching and beautiful life together.
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Had been married for so long and had raised three children together.
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And then they did this historical clothing thing together.
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The pictures of them are so sweet.
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And I can just imagine what their lecture was like on historical clothing or the talk
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they gave.
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I'd love to listen to that or see that.
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I know I haven't seen any pictures of Maggie's art, but she just sounded awesome, like a
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creative artistic spirit that I really enjoyed hearing about.
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Weaving Tapestry seems like a very difficult artistic adventure.
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So it's so impressive to me.
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And Sylvia, of course, was the greer community, as her friend said during her funeral.
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She really was a figure around town and knew everybody.
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Everybody knew her.
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Everybody loved her.
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Like she was, it felt like the matriarch of Greer.
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She was everybody's mom.
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And you hit the nail on the head, matriarch of the community.
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I love that she was well known and well respected.
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Absolutely.
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And she was in this leadership position at the bank.
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I think it's incredible.
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I think she was incredible.
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With that being said, though, and focusing more on what happened during the robbery,
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it still baffles my mind that people are allowed to close any establishment, any store, restaurant,
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bank, what have you, alone.
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I know I said closing, but I just mean as far as operations go, at least for me, there
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should always be two people there in a business establishment.
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I wholeheartedly agree with that.
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And it's something that I talk about a lot, actually, with people whenever I see that
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they're working alone.
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I never think anyone should be working alone, not only for safety reasons, but also what
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if somebody trips and hits their head or chokes on something?
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It's just safety.
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And it's just like, you should always have two people working in your establishment.
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Exactly.
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I couldn't agree more.
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This is more just a comment.
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I think it's wild that the crime happening and the cops showing up.
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It's such a small amount of time.
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The police response time was 10 minutes from the time the alarm was triggered to when they
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roll up to the bank.
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The robbers got in, got out within 10 minutes, essentially, or just a little under since
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the cops didn't run into them coming up that road.
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A question that I did write down, and I know that it's one that really no one can answer
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at this time, but my question is, is it possible that the person came and left on foot and
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the search for the car is maybe obsolete?
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That is something that I have also considered.
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Did the person maybe approach on foot and leave on foot?
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The bank, as I mentioned, it does sit right on an interstate.
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You can see it from the interstate.
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There is like open land around it, but I don't think that it's impossible that someone came
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on foot and got away on foot.
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Something that I wrote down about Sylvia was that Sylvia didn't forget the step.
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A step like that is automatic in opening duties or when you're running the shift.
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I wholeheartedly believe that she remembered to put that tape in and it was taken by the
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person who ended her life.
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I think that suggests something in and of itself as a clue.
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I can talk myself in circles on it.
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On the one hand, it seems like you would have to kind of have knowledge of where the tape
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is kept in order to get it as quickly as the robbers did getting in and getting out.
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But then on the other hand, the bank was just a double wide trailer.
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There's really not that many places to go and you could search the place pretty quickly.
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I go back and forward on if it was taken because they knew and it was planned or if it was
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just spur of the moment, they weren't expecting to do a murder and now they have to take this
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tape.
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The small amount, not that $2,000 to $3,000 is a small amount of money, but I think for
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a robbery, it's not much.
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I guess for me, in my mind, I think if someone is committing a robbery at a bank, you're
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trying to take upwards of $10,000.
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I agree with you that for a bank robbery, $2,000 to $3,000 seems very minimal and it's
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not that you can ever put a price on a human life, but it's like you're doing all of this
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for $2,000 to $3,000.
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Come on.
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People often when they are making large mistakes in their life, you will find that that mistake
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is tied to money.
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People will make the most stupid and most vicious decisions surrounding money.
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Moving forward for this case, I really hope that there's more evidence that the police
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and FBI have, whether that be DNA, whether that be other security footage that they're
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just not releasing to the public.
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I hope that this case gets solved because it's solvable.
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It's all right there in those 10 minutes, essentially.
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All the answers are right there and it's so frustrating that they're just out of reach
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for so many people, so many families affected by this, two major families.
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But then you think about all of the cousins, the uncles, the aunts, the friends, the families,
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community devastated by this senseless act.
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So I really hope that the families get the answers they're looking for, they get justice,
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and the community gets justice.
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They get to know that this person is no longer walking around with them.
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Yeah.
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You know, from the sounds of that community, as much sadness and sorrow and unfairness
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that they have experienced, because the community is so big and beautiful and connected, the
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healing can be there as well, and they deserve it.
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The loved ones, the friends, the family, the community.
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Absolutely.
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And again, if you know anything about the Blue Ridge Saving Bank murders, please call
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the FBI office in Greenville at 803-551-4200 or the Greer Police Department at 864-848-2151.
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And of course, we will have pictures of Sylvia, Eb, and Maggie up on our Instagram, as well
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as pictures from the surveillance footage of that red car and the suspect sketch, the
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most recent one from 2013 that the FBI are actively seeking.
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This is the man that was seen right before the robberies took place at the bank.
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If you're not following us on Instagram where we're posting those pictures, you can find
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us at Cold and Missing.
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We'll pop right up.
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And if you have a minute today, if you could take the time to leave us a review, you can
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do that on whatever platform you're listening on.
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But if you're on Apple Podcasts, leaving us a written review really helps other people
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find the podcast, try out the podcast, and get these cases out there.
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So many of the reviews we get is that these are cases that you've never heard of or that
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are not covered as often.
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So just by you reviewing, you're getting these cases out there to more people.
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So you're doing the work too, just by supporting the pod.
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So thank you so much if you do it today or if you've already done it.
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And you can also review us on our website, www.coldandmissing.com, where we also have
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transcripts of all of our episodes.
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So if you or someone you love is hard of hearing, you can follow along there.
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That is all I have for this week, though.
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Thank you so much for listening to Cold and Missing.
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I'm your host, Allie.
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And I'm your co-host, Eli.
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Have a good week and stay safe, y'all.
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Stay safe, y'all.
