Bad Hair Bandit suspect worked at jail

A series of bank robberies involving a woman wearing a variety of unattractive wigs may be the work of a nurse employed at the Kootenai County Jail until just last week.

 The FBI announced Wednesday that Cynthia Lynn Van Holland, 47, is believed to be the serial robber nicknamed the Bad Hair Bandit, who’s been on the FBI’s most-wanted list since June and is suspected in at least 20 robberies in three states.

Van Holland, of Hayden, Idaho, was arrested Monday after a bank robbery northeast of Sacramento. Her husband, 26-year-old Christopher S. Alonzo, also was taken into custody. The two remain in the Placer County Jail in Auburn, Calif.

 A family member said Van Holland met Alonzo while working as a nurse at a prison in Southern Idaho.

Read the rest of my story here.

Past coverage:

May 12: Was the Bad Hair Bandit here last year?

Robberies attributed to the Bad Hair Bandit, not including the two in Spokane last year:

• US Bank, Tacoma, WA—12/22/2010 
• Key Bank, Tumwater, WA—01/05/2011 
• Key Bank, Tacoma, WA—01/12/2011 
• Wells Fargo Bank, Spanaway, WA—01/14/2011 
• Heritage Bank, Tacoma, WA—01/21/2011 
• Cathay Bank, Kent, WA—01/26/2011 
• First Security Bank, Redmond, WA—01/27/2011 
• US Bank, Auburn, WA—02/10/2011 
• Wells Fargo Bank, University Place, WA—02/19/2011 
• Sound Community Bank, Tacoma, WA—03/25/2011 
• Wells Fargo Bank, University Place, WA—04/09/2011 
• Cathay Bank, Bellevue, WA—04/21/2011 
• Wheatland Bank, Ellensburg, WA—04/26/2011 
• Key Bank, Moses Lake, WA—04/27/2011 
• Chase Bank, Spokane, WA—05/09/2011 
• Sterling Bank, Moses Lake, WA—06/07/2011 
• Key Bank, Lake Oswego, OR—07/01/2011 
• Yakima Federal, Richland, WA—07/18/2011 
• Bank of Butte, Butte, MT—08/11/2011 
• Bank of the West, Auburn, CA—08/15/2011