FBI investigating kidnapping of bank executive, family
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The FBI says a Tennessee bank executive and his family were kidnapped at gunpoint Tuesday, and then released, after the man was forced to withdraw money from his bank.
Officials say the armed group forced SmartBank first vice president Tanner Harris to withdraw an undisclosed amount of money Tuesday morning at a SmartBank branch in Knoxville while his wife, Abbey Harris, and 5-month-old son were held hostage, reports the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Ed Reinhold, the FBI special agent in charge of the Knoxville office, said it's possible the kidnappers are the same people who kidnapped a credit union CEO's family three months ago.
In that case, the family of Mark Ziegler, CEO of the Y-12 Credit Union in Oak Ridge, Tenn., said they were kidnapped from their West Knox County home by two men and a woman in an apparent attempt to extort money from the bank, reports the paper. No arrests were made in that case.