Tanner Harris, first vice president and commercial lending officer at SmartBank, was kidnapped along with his wife and their infant son from their residence in Knoxville, Tenn. and forced to rob the bank where he worked.
The kidnappers, who were carrying what was described as two handguns and a long gun, blindfolded and handcuffed Harris and his wife Abbey at 8 a.m. on Tuesday and herded them into Harris' car along with their son, according to ABC News.
Subsequently, the kidnappers drove the family up to a local SmartBank branch and ordered the bank executive to enter his place of work and retrieve cash while the gunmen held his wife and 5-month-old son hostage in the vehicle, according to The Knoxville News Sentinel.
Harris did what he was asked to and handed over the money to the suspects. As soon as the two men got the cash, they drove off with his wife and kid still inside the car. Harris' family was taken to an abandoned dirt road in West Knox County, where they were left unharmed in the car. Abbey then called 911 from a construction site nearby, according to Fox News.
Local law enforcement was able to locate Abbey and her son, who were then reunited with Tanner. Officials did reveal how much money that was stolen.
Ed Reinhold, the FBI special agent heading the Knoxville office, said that there is a possibility that the incident may be connected to the kidnapping of a credit union CEO's family three months ago and that the kidnappers could be the same people.
"There are very strong similarities between the two robberies," Reinhold said. "We haven't determined that positively, but it is a good possibility."
The FBI said the suspects are still at large, describing them as two white males, one who was six-foot-one with a thin build and another who was five-foot-nine with a stocky build. Authorities believe that there is a chance that the two men could be related.
