Real Name: Cynthia Wismiller
Nicknames: Cindy Wismiller
Location: South Bend, Indiana
Date: November 27, 2000
Bio[]
Occupation: Courier
Date of Birth: 1958
Height: 5'8
Weight: 130-150 pounds
Marital Status: Dating
Characteristics: Caucasian female with Brown hair and green eyes.
Case[]
Details: Forty-two-year-old courier Cindy Wismiller replenished ATM machines with cash. On Friday, November 24, 2000, president of Kokomo, Indiana's Armored Services Jay Chodok called Cindy into his office. He told her that Brinks was taking over the company, but that they were giving her a new position. He also told her that on Monday, she would not have to get up early and tend to her accounts. All she had to do was meet the new Brinks employee at 9:30AM. This employee would take over her route.
However, for some unknown reason, Cindy got up early on Monday, November 27. She and her boyfriend Billy Hawkins had their morning coffee together and then Cindy left for work, not appearing to be under any duress. However, authorities know that Cindy removed $300,000 from six different machines on her route between 5:50 and 7:15AM that morning. Only one ATM had a surveillance tape; the video showed Cindy alone, removing money from the machine. She did not appear to be under duress. At 8AM, a witness saw Cindy moving bags from her Armored Services truck into a beat-up Chevy Sprint. She was helped by an unidentified person. Cindy Wismiller was never seen again.
When Cindy did not show up at 9:30AM to meet with the new Brinks employee, she was paged, but she didn't answer. Jay Chodok dispatched someone to trace Cindy's route and it was discovered that money was missing from the six different ATM machines. Police were called and Cindy's family was shocked as to what had happened. Billy was certain that she had been forced to take the money. Her son Richard Munoz said that his mother could not have taken off with the money; she was in no financial difficulty, and she would have told her family if she was.
Even police think of Cindy as a dedicated family woman. She lived with her daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter and always helped them with their financial needs. Police suspect that she had a generous soul but lacked funds to meet with it. An investigation soon revealed that $15,000 was missing from company machines. The money was taken prior to the day she vanished. However, Cindy's family believed that she was the victim of foul play, especially because of the eyewitness sighting of the individual helping Cindy in the theft. The police believe that he was working with Cindy, but her family believes that he abducted her, murdered her, and then took the money.
This theory is further supported by the fact that nobody has heard from her since she vanished. However, the theory is weakened by the fact that there may have not been an accomplice at all, as the eyewitness could not positively identify the woman as Cindy. Also, she did not appear under any stress on the videotape. Finally, she did not type in the secret distress code on the ATM. As for Billy Hawkins, Cindy's boyfriend, he continues to worry about Cindy and hopes that she will be found. Authorities have not charged Cindy with any crime but would like to question her. A $25,000 reward is being offered in this case.
Suspects: The person seen with Cindy the morning she vanished has never been identified.
The witness claimed that the person was wearing a hat that made it difficult to determine the person's race or gender.
Extra Notes:
- This case originally ran on the October 17, 2001 episode.
- It was also profiled on America's Most Wanted as a fugitive, not a missing person.
Results: Solved. In December of 2006, investigators examined Cindy's family's phone records and learned that they had made phone calls to Walton County, Florida. They soon located her in Walton County where she had been living since she vanished. She had been living on a house boat under the name Cindy Blanchard.
After learning that the police were going to arrest her, Cindy left her home and drove to the Kokomo Police Department in Kokomo, Indiana to turn herself in. She pleaded guilty to theft and served two years in prison before being released. She also repaid most of the stolen money. She denied having an accomplice and it is not believed that anyone else was involved in the crime.
Links:
- Cindy Wismiller on Unsolved Archive
- Fugitive or victim? (Page 1) (Page 2) - November 26, 2002
- Search ends for woman accused in ATM thefts - December 5, 2006
- Fugitive Caught After Six Years on the Run - December 5, 2006
- Woman surrenders 6 years after $500,000 theft - December 5, 2006
- Sentencing in bank machine heist continued - May 17, 2007
- Wismiller may name accomplice - June 7, 2007
- Peru woman to name accomplices in ATM thefts - June 7, 2007
- Howard Co. woman sentenced in ATM thefts - June 13, 2007
- Wismiller denies having accomplice - September 6, 2007
- Websleuths Discussion thread