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An enigmatic image -

The FBI named the mysterious man "Cowboy Bob" because he wore a 10-gallon hat during his robberies... which was also always backwards.

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Near-perfect execution -

Cowboy Bob's first five bank robberies, which he carried out with remarkable calm and without the use of weapons, have puzzled the authorities.

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Thinking ahead -

Bob knew the locations of the cameras and skillfully avoided them. He also knew how to check the bills for dye packs – remote-controlled devices that cover both the money and the thief with a bright red smoke.

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A man of few words -

Evidently, there was no dramatic entrance! Instead, Bob discreetly handed the cashier a note announcing the robbery. Once he had the money, he calmly walked out and drove away in his 1975 Pontiac Grand Prix with stolen license plates.

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FBI gets more and more frustrated -

The beard, the hat and the silence made it difficult to identify this mysterious cowboy and left the agents baffled. Out of sheer frustration, former agent Steve Powell stated in 2005, "he was making me start to pull my hair out. How could this thin, little dried-up cowboy be defeating us repeatedly?" 

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Smooth operator -

No shouting, no screeching tires, so no chance of a car chase, no hostages, and no eyewitnesses!

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Until he got careless -

In his sixth try, though, he overlooked an important detail. Maybe it was laziness or cockiness, but when Cowboy Bob calmly drove away from the First Interstate Bank in Mesquite, his Grand Prix had its real license plates on.

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The FBI seized the opportunity -

Powell and his team were able to track down the license plate with the help of a witness. The number led them to Pete Tallas, an employee at a nearby Ford factory. However, Tallas claimed to have given the car to his sister Peggy Jo.

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They went straight to Peggy Jo’s -

The FBI came to the apartment where Peggy and her mother lived, expecting to find a bearded boyfriend in a cowboy hat. But they found a middle-aged Peggy devotedly caring for her debilitated mother.

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Tight-lipped -

When the women were questioned about a robbery, they didn't say much, even after the agents discovered a mannequin with a fake beard in the wardrobe and a bag full of money in the bedroom.

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They asked Peggy Jo about her boyfriend... again -

Powell stated that she simply said, "There isn’t any man. I promise you that.” Then he noticed a small piece of glue on her upper lip and traces of gray dye in her hair...

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Who was Peggy Jo Tallas? -

Tallas grew up in Texas in the 1960s listening to rock 'n' roll, and apparently she also had a wild side. In her twenties, she stole a car with the key carelessly left in the ignition. So why not take it for a ride?

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Sentenced for stealing -

She was caught for stealing the car and sentenced to five years’ probation. Maybe this was the catalyst for her dream of living on a beach in Mexico. But before she could fulfill her wish, her mother fell ill.

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Nothing seemed to work -

In the 1980s, in addition to her mother’s illness, which cost her a lot of time and money, Peggy Jo had no luck in love, didn't get along with her siblings, had no career and no stable home.

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Anxiety kicked in -

Peggy Jo started taking medication, and eventually Cowboy Bob 'stepped up,' possibly because she could no longer cope with the overwhelming pile of bills.

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She was always quiet about it -

The media were eager to hear her story, and numerous book and movie offers came her way, but she remained silent. Some speculate that the crime was initially just to pay her mother’s medical bills, but it soon became something of a thrill.

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She pleaded guilty -

Although her lawyer presented Peggy Jo as a mentally drained and devoted daughter who could not understand her own actions, she pleaded guilty and spent almost three years in prison.

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A new beggining -

After her release, Peggy Jo found a job at a marina. She soon won the affection of the community for the attention she gave the children and gradually overcame her troubled past.

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New chapter, same story -

After the death of her mother in the 90s, the kindly old lady with the straw hat returned to her restless habits. She once again became the young woman who yearns for freedom.

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She left everything -

After leaving the marina, Peggy Jo bought an RV from a neighbor and disappeared from the scene for about a year. She rarely contacted her friends and when she did, she talked about fleeing back to Mexico.

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But she needed money -

She planned one last theft. But it wasn't going to be the kind of blockbuster heist you'd expect from an experienced thief. Instead, it was exactly the opposite.

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Cowboy Bob was no more -

On May 5, 2005, Peggy Jo walked into Guaranty Bank in Tyler, Texas, wearing a floppy hat and sunglasses, opting for a simpler disguise.

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Sloppy Jo -

For some reason, she spoke aloud to the cashier instead of handing over a note (as she used to), and she also forgot to check the money for a dye pack. It got messy...

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Did she forget? -

Maybe. Who knows? The pack exploded and sprayed red, inky smoke in all directions. Peggy Jo hurried to her RV and crossed several lanes of traffic in full view of the bystanders, who quickly called the police.

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Their first car chase -

The RV was driving at a high speed and finally came to a halt in a residential area. Peggy Jo remained in the vehicle for quite a while, but her thoughts during this time are still unknown.

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She finally dared -

The once so calm woman held something dark in her hands and dared the cops to shoot. But they hesitated. After all, she was a woman in her sixties who had never committed any acts of violence in all her years of robbing banks without weapons.

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But she’d made up her mind -

According to witnesses, she picked up the dark object and said, "You mean to tell me if I come out of here with a gun and point it at y’all, you’re not going to shoot me?" She landed on the ground with four bullets in her body.

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Police took their shot -

However, the police soon discovered that the dark object in Peggy Jo's hands was actually a toy gun. Intriguingly, they found a real .357 Magnum revolver inside the RV.

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Why? -

Was it just for the sake of excitement? Peggy Jo Tallas, AKA Cowboy Bob, was an anomoly: she worked alone and as a woman, robbed banks with no debt from gambling or drugs, and showed a distinct natural talent for crime. She was an exciting challenge for the FBI, and Agent Powell was reportedly saddened by her fate, reacting to her death by saying, "Say it ain’t so."

Sources: (Texas Monthly)

See also: History's scariest female criminals

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