In April of 1955, the Woodside branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank in Queens, New York, was the site of a $205,000 robbery.
Thomas “Duke” Connelly served as the lookout and getaway driver on that day. Since robbing a bank is a Federal crime, Connelly gathered his wife and kids and sought safer confines in May of that year on the Isle of Palms, outside of Charleston, South Carolina.
Connelly was officially an FBI Most Wanted fugitive, peaking at Number 13 on that list. While in South Carolina, the family rented a beach house under the alias “Mr. Kelly,” and soon, an old friend, Elmer Francis “Trigger” Burke, joined him.
At the time, Burke was also wanted for questioning in New York for allegedly knocking off Edward “Poochy” Walsh and for a possible six other murders in New York and Massachusetts. The two, Burke and Connelly, made numerous trips to Charleston and even rubbed elbows with some prominent and influential citizens while in town. But it seemed like overnight, when Connelly and his wife moved from their beach house and vanished into thin air.
About a month later, in late August, the two Connelly children were found abandoned, and no one ever saw the elder Connelly or his wife again. Trigger Burke was later arrested in August by FBI agents on Folly Beach.
Some suspect that Burke was the responsible party for Connelly and his wife’s disappearance due to the $90,000 that Connelly allegedly received during the bank heist. To the best of anyone’s present knowledge, the missing loot has never been found, and some believe it very well could still be on the Isle of Palms.
Written By: John G. Clark Jr.