Serial Bank Robber Suspected In 3 More Robberies

** Update 8/19/09 **
According to the Henderson County Sheriff's Office, the man may have robbed two banks yesterday in Morristown, TN, and Jefferson City, TN. Authorities are still trying to confirm this. Meanwhile, they say they have officially linked him to a bank robbery that occurred on May 5th in Louisville, KY.

**Update 1:00 p.m.**
America's Most Wanted is featuring an article of the serial bank robber who has robbed several banks in North and South Carolina.
Click here to view the America's Most Wanted article on the "Unknown Palmetto Bandit."

Thursday

Detectives believe a man who has robbed seven banks in the past three months has a partner on the outside.

Surveillance footage from his first robbery on May 15th shows him talking to someone on a two-way radio outside the bank in Fletcher, NC. That took place about ten minutes before the robbery.

"He was most likely testing the radio to make sure it worked at that range," said Sgt. Andrew Anderson of the Henderson County Sheriff's Office. "His partner was probably in a vehicle behind the bank because there were no surveillance cameras back there."

Anderson believes when the robber goes inside the bank, his partner uses the radio to alert him should anyone walk into the bank. In all seven robberies, no customers have been present.

"We don't think that's just coincidence," said Anderson. "He has clearly done his homework."

Investigators in North and South Carolina are searching for the brazen robber and his accomplice. The robber never covers his face and always uses a handgun. His robberies range all the way from Mount Pleasant, SC, to Fayetteville, NC. The most recent happened on Monday in Myrtle Beach, SC. Each time he has carried away cash without getting caught. He has also never fired a shot or hurt anyone, though investigators fear that could change.

"He appears to have lost a signifcant amount of weight since the first robbery," said Capt. Charles McDonald of the Henderson County Sheriff's Office. "This may mean he's using drugs, and drugs and handguns are never a good combination."

He says the fact that the robber does nothing to hide his identity may mean that he is not from this area.

"We've had a good amount of publicity in all of the areas where he has committed a robbery, and no one has called us to say they recognize him," said McDonald.

The suspect is a white male, 30 to 35 years old, with short, dark hair, a pronounced widow's peak, and a goattee. He stands between 5'9" and 6'1" inches tall and weighs between 180 to 200 pounds. He tends to wear athletic-themed shirts. In his last robbery, he was wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey. In three robberies, he was wearing military "dog tags' around his neck. His arms are covered in tattoos. Investigators have shown the photos to local tattoo artists, but none of them recognized the suspect or the tattoos.

Detectives have also run surveillance photos of the robber through facial recognition programs in the FBI and Department of Motor Vehicles - but came back with nothing.

"It's very frustrating," said Anderson. "It's like he doesn't exist."

He hopes national publicity will help them identify the robber. He has contacted America's Most Wanted and CNN. Our coverage partners at the Hendersonville Times News report America's Most Wanted will feature the case on their website. The photos are currently being featured on North Carolina's Most Wanted website.

The man has also robbed banks in Hendersonville and Edenton, NC, and Forest Acres, SC.

Click on the video tab above to see pictures of the robber and surveillance footage of him outside the bank.

If you have any information on his identity, call Henderson County Sheriff's Office at 828-697-4911 or the coastal South Carolina office of the FBI at 843-881-0194.