CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.–The FBI is now offering up to $20,000 for any information leading to the identification and location of individuals responsible for the kidnapping and extortion of a Y-12 FCU executive, as well as a similar crime against a local bank executive.
The FBI, the Knoxville Police Department, the Knox County Sheriff's Office and the Oak Ridge Police Department continue to investigate the crimes and are all seeking any assistance they can get from the public.
On April 28, 2015, at about 8:15 a.m., a Y-12 Federal Credit Union CEO Mark Ziegler and his family were kidnapped from their residence and held hostage at gunpoint. While the family was held hostage, Ziegler was ordered by the robbers to remove money from the credit union. After doing so, his family was released unharmed at the Gettysvue Country Club parking lot in Knoxville. The suspects fled and remain at large. CUToday.info’s earlier reporting with additional details can be found here http://www.cutoday.info/Fresh-Today/Y-12-CEO-Back-To-Work-Following-Kidnapping.
On July 7, 2015, at about 8:00 a.m., Tanner Harris, first VP with SmartBank and his family were also kidnapped from their residence and held hostage at gunpoint. The employee and his family were taken to SmartBank, where the executive was ordered to get money and turn it over to the robbers. Similarly, the employee was then left at the bank and his family was released unharmed a short time later. The suspects fled and remain at large.
It is not known at this point whether there is any connection between the two crimes.
According to the FBI, one of the suspects is described as a white man in his late twenties to mid-thirties with possibly salt-and-pepper hair, bearing an orange tattoo on his neck and standing about five-feet, eleven inches to six feet, three inches. He seemed to be about 160 pounds with a lean build wearing black clothing, black face mask dark baseball hat and dark sunglasses, according to witnesses
The other suspect is described as a white, possibly mid-twenties, with a shaved head, standing about five-feet, ten inches to six-feet, weighing 200 to 220 pounds with a stocky build and wearing a black face mask, dark pants and shirt and dark sunglasses.
The two Tennessee cases are among four abduction/robbery attempts at financial institutions so far this year, including three at credit unions. Executives at Achieve Financial Credit Union and FAA Credit Union have also allegedly been confronted in their homes by robbers. No arrests have been made in those cases, either.