Crime

FBI billboards target female jewelry thief

CrimeMar 03, 2016

FBI billboards target female jewelry thief

The FBI has activated multiple digital billboards in an attempt to catch the female suspect wanted in a string of jewelry store robberies.

Washington--The Federal Bureau of Investigation has activated digital billboards in 10 southern states in an attempt to catch the individuals wanted in a series of armed robberies in jewelry stores in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina this year.


The FBI is using this advertisement, which has been loaded into digital billboards in 10 southern states, to help nab the young woman wanted in a string of armed robberies and her alleged accomplice.The billboard creative (pictured right) features two individuals. One of them is the armed female robber who is believed by authorities to have hit multiple jewelry stores since Aug. 5, binding the wrists of store employees with zip ties at gunpoint before opening showcases and stealing jewelry.

The second pictured individual is described as a black male in his late 30s or early 40s, approximately 6 feet tall and 250-plus pounds. He is believed to be involved with the female robber, possibly assisting her with the stores’ doors so they close and she can lock herself in from the inside.

Although not pictured on the billboard, a page on the FBI’s website states that the male suspect is believed to drive a red 2009/2010 Honda Civic LX with tinted windows.

Susan McKee, the acting unit chief at the FBI Office of Public Affairs, told National Jeweler the FBI’s use of digital billboards has directly led to the capture of 53 fugitives.

The Outdoor Advertising Association of America, which operates the billboards activated by the FBI, said the location of these boards are in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia.

Editor's note: This article was updated on Oct. 28 to list the states the FBI's digital billboards are being shown in.

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