FBI in Search of the Vehicle Spotted in the Vicinity of the SmartBank Kidnapping/Extortion

FBI in Search of the Vehicle Spotted in the Vicinity of the SmartBank Kidnapping/Extortion

Topics: Ford Taurus

FBI in Search of the Vehicle Spotted in the Vicinity of the SmartBank Kidnapping/Extortion

FBI Knoxville
2 September 2015

Special Agent Jason Pack
(865) 544-0751

Investigative agencies have developed additional information about the vehicle associated with a person of interest, depicted in the composite sketch below. The vehicle is described as an early 2000s, powder blue/grey Ford Taurus, with damage on the front passenger-side bumper. The person of interest was observed in the front passenger seat of this vehicle on July 1, 2015, in the vicinity of Swathmore Court and Dunwoody Drive, Knoxville. The vehicle depicted in the below photo is of a similar make, model, and color of the vehicle that was observed. Authorities are seeking information to help identify the Person of Interest. The previously released composite sketches also include two subjects involved in the Y-12 kidnapping.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of the subjects who committed these violent crimes.

On April 28, 2015, at approximately 8:15 a.m., a Y-12 Federal Credit Union employee and his family were kidnapped from their residence and held hostage at gunpoint. While the family was held hostage, the employee was coerced to attempt to remove money from the Y-12 Federal Credit Union, located at 501 Lafayette Drive in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. After the robbery, the employee’s family members were released unharmed at the Gettysvue Country Club parking lot in Knoxville, Tennessee. The suspects fled and remain at large.

On Tuesday, July 7, 2015, at approximately 8:00 a.m., a SmartBank employee and his family were kidnapped from their residence and held hostage at gunpoint. The employee and his family were taken to the SmartBank branch located at 202 Advantage Place in Knoxville, Tennessee. While at the bank, the employee was coerced to remove money from the bank, which was provided to the robbers. The employee was then left at the bank, and his family was released unharmed a short time later at the end of Pipkin Lane in West Knox County. The suspects fled and remain at large.

The investigative agencies are exploring the possibility that these two events are related, based on similar subject descriptions and a similar method of operation.

This matter is being investigated jointly by the FBI, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) and the Knoxville Police Department (KPD) as part of the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, as well as the KPD Violent Crimes Unit, the KCSO Major Crimes Unit and the Oak Ridge Police Department.

Anyone with information that may lead to the identification or location of the individuals depicted in the composite sketches, or any information that may be pertinent to these two crimes, should contact the Knoxville FBI Office at (865) 544-0751.