A man who slipped off the map after allegedly walking away with $1.3 million from an armored-car company vault in Riviera Beach back in April 1988 has finally been unmasked, and it only happened after he died. Authorities now say the late North Carolina resident was longtime fugitive John Anthony Quinn, identified through fingerprints taken after his death.
Fingerprint Match Ends a Nearly 40-Year Hunt
In a March 24, 2026 release, the FBI Miami Office reported that a fingerprint card taken at a hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, following the man’s December death, was sent to the FBI Laboratory’s Latent Prints Unit. Analysts compared the prints to existing records and got a match: the man was identified as John Anthony Quinn.
According to the FBI, Quinn had been wanted for decades under a state first-degree grand theft charge and a federal warrant for Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution.
Armored-Car Manager and a Vanished $1.3 Million
Investigators say Quinn was working as a manager at Federal Protection Service in Riviera Beach when he allegedly helped himself to $1.3 million in cash from the company’s vault in April 1988, at age 48, as reported by CBS12. Despite flurries of media coverage and periodic appeals to the public over the years, authorities say Quinn managed to stay a step ahead of anyone looking for him.
TV Spotlights, Airport Trail, Then Silence
The heist turned into a true-crime staple, landing on national programs such as Unsolved Mysteries and "America's Most Wanted." The shows stirred up plenty of tips but no confirmed arrest. Case files and archival reports indicate investigators tracked Quinn’s trail as far as Palm Beach International Airport, where it went cold and stayed that way for decades.
Case Closed, But No Courtroom Finale
With Quinn identified only after his death, authorities say the criminal case effectively ends here. He remained under a federal warrant and still faced the Florida grand theft charge at the time he died, but there will be no prosecution.
In its statement, the FBI credited the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Asheville Police Department for securing the fingerprint card that ultimately cracked the mystery.
For Riviera Beach and anyone who followed the saga over the years, the identification closes a long-running chapter, even if the missing cash is still unaccounted for and no jury will ever hear the case. CBS12 notes that investigators have not said whether any of the $1.3 million was ever recovered. The FBI is still asking anyone with information to contact its Miami Field Office.
