THIS IS THE FAMILY I WAS BORN INTO.

     My cousin Herman was a man on the make.  He was handsome, intelligent and married a beautiful woman from a prominent family.
Everything was working for him. 
     He started out as a teller working for Otto Metchler at the Industrial Bank & Trust and by the time he was in his mid forties he was cashier.  The world was his.  
     Then came the 4th of July weekend when the bank was closed for a four day holiday.  When the bank was opened for business again Herman did not show up.  Nor did one of the lady tellers.  And furthermore, the vault door was open and the vault was empty.  Like cleaned out.
     Herman had apparently, fled with his lover.  They surfaced in sunny California far from the Indiana winters and Herman's wife and family.  
     Herman's father reportedly mortgaged all of his farmland to pay off the bank to keep it out of the press and keep Herman out of jail.
     Herman much later died in obscurity in South Carolina.