Jon Shirek 11 Alive News

ATLANTA, Ga. — We all know about Superman and his alter-ego, Clark Kent. But in real life there’s a criminal side to that kind of dual personality. And on Friday, the FBI put up wanted posters on electronic billboards across Metro Atlanta, asking for help catching the “Granddad Bandit,” an older, kindly man who, agents say, robs banks. In multiple states. Again and again and again. And, obviously, gets away with it, every time.

“At least on one occasion he has shown a gun,” FBI Special Agent Ray Johnson told 11Alive News on Friday. “It IS a bank robbery, it’s a violent crime by nature.”

According to the FBI, Granddad is outwardly gentle when he approaches each teller. He quietly demands cash, then leaves before anyone else besides the teller knows what he’s done.

So far, the FBI says Granddad has robbed twenty banks in twelve states, since January, 2009. That’s an average of one to two a month.

“He has a very low-key, sort of granddad appearance about him,” Johnson said. “And he sort of uses that as a deceptive way to approach and leave the bank almost undetected.”

Johnson said Granddad has robbed four banks in Metro Atlanta, and that his most recent job was robbing a Bank of America on West Paces Ferry, on April 2.

FBI agents in Atlanta e-mailed bank photos of that robbery to an electronic billboard company.

And within thirty minutes a “wanted poster” was on multiple billboards next to Interstate highways in Metro Atlanta and the rest of the country.

“There’s an access point that this particular individual uses to get from place to place undetected,” Johnson said. “And with quality pictures like this, it’s difficult to believe that [in] a local area like Metro Atlanta, somebody doesn’t know who he is.”

Johnson said FBI profilers have theories about who Granddad is.

“From a construction worker that comes to different locations across the Southeast, to an over the road truck driver, any of those can be in play.”

And there’s a reward now of $10,000 for Granddad.