Bank exec, family kidnapped, forced to rob own branch

It sounds like something out of a Hollywood script: A bank worker, his wife and young child are abducted by armed men, then he is forced by the perps to rob his employer while they bad guys keep his family for collateral.

Tanner Harris, first vice president of SmartBank, was held alongside his family inside their home in Knoxville.

The agency said the employee was left at the bank while his wife and infant son were taken to another location and left unharmed.

Mr Harris was made to take an undisclosed sum of money from the bank as his wife and child remained in the auto.

Abbey Harris makes a phone call while cradling her infant outside Knoxville Dermatology Group at 123 Fox Road in Knoxville on Tuesday, July 7, 2015.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is searching for the suspects, who they describe as white males. One was between 6-foot-1 and 6-foot-2 with a thin build, and the other was between 5-foot-9 and 5-foot-10 with a stockier build. They both spoke clear English and wore masks. They’re a great family, wonderful people. Authorities did not release any new details Tuesday about the Ziegler case, which remains unsolved. The suspects may have been watching the family for quite some time, investigators believe according to the report.

“There’s a good possibility there was some type of surveillance done on this employee prior to the robbery”, Reinhold said.

Law enforcement officials advised bank employees to pay attention to unfamiliar vehicles parked in their neighborhoods or driving around their vicinity repeatedly.

The extortion-style bank robberies also are reminiscent of the three violent “love connection” heists in the mid-1990s, which targeted female bank managers in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Clarksville.

“They were hooded and restrained and placed in their own vehicle and driven to SmartBank where the employee was instructed to go in and retrieve money”.