Few clues in Essex bank robbery

By NOREEN HYSLOP

Managing Editor

ESSEX, Mo. -- Police are looking for two suspects following the robbery Monday morning of the First Commercial Bank branch at Essex, Mo.

According to Stoddard County Sheriff Carl Hefner, two subjects described only as black males, entered the bank at 11:25 Monday morning and demanded money.

Details were sketchy as of early afternoon Monday, but it was confirmed that two employees -- the branch manager and a teller -- were in the bank when it was robbed and were overtaken by the subjects. Both employees were reportedly taken to SoutheastHEALTH Center of Stoddard County in Dexter following the incident. Early reports stated a teller sustained minor injuries during the robbery, and that both were taken to the hospital for a well being check.

Law enforcement from the Stoddard County Sheriff's Office, Essex Police, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the office of the FBI from Cape Girardeau remained at the scene Monday afternoon. Crime tape surrounded the bank facility and its parking areas.

"We are looking at the bank's surveillance footage," Hefner stated, "and hope to know more once we see that."

FBI officials, Hefner noted, are automatically called in when a bank robbery occurs.

A news release from the Sheriff's Office late Monday afternoon provided a description of the subjects' clothing. One subject was described as wearing blue coveralls with a high visibility vest over the top and had a brown back pack. That subject was also wearing a black ball cap. The second subject was wearing what appeared to be denim pants with a high visibility yellow sweatshirt and a red sock cap with white stripes.

No approximate ages were listed in the descriptions of the two males.The pair left on foot and were possibly picked up by a third party in a vehicle that may have been parked nearby, but their direction upon leaving the bank was unknown.

It was not revealed Monday how much money had been taken in the robbery or if robbers gained access to the bank's safe.

Details of the crime will be published as they are released from authorities.

Essex is a city of 472 located in eastern Stoddard County, accessible by Highway 60 one mile to its north.

The Essex branch of First Commercial Bank was established in 2007. It is the final acquisition of First Commercial banks in Southeast Missouri, each owned by Norman Harty of Dexter. The robbery marks the second time a Harty-owned bank has been robbed within the past six months. The FCB branch at Morley, Mo. was held up at gunpoint on Oct. 11, 2013. Two individuals were later charged with that crime.