When folks think of Indiana, they probably don't envision a history filled with more than a few outlaws. They probably should, though, considering that Indiana has been home to not one (John Dillinger, anyone?) but several infamous criminals and outlaws well known to history for their criminal shenanigans. A few of those outlaws were even said to have buried loot from their robberies and various crimes throughout Indiana. Let's take a closer look at some of this alleged buried treasure in Indiana: the loot of the Reno Brothers. What are some other notorious crimes in Indiana you know about? Let us know!
The Reno brothers (plus their sister and another brother who was not involved in the crime spree later on) were born in Rockford, Indiana.
Franklin, Simeon, John, and William Reno got into plenty of trouble quite early on. There were petty thefts (including that of a horse) and unexplained fires around town starting in 1851.
The brothers were heavily suspected, though nothing was ever proven.
It came as no surprise, then, that later in life they would get themselves embroiled in the criminal spree of the century. During the Civil War, Frank, Simeon and John allegedly went AWOL; they signed up for duty in the Union Army and then simply never showed up.
In 1864, Frank and John would return to Rockford, where they'd eventually be joined by Simeon, William, and a couple of local men unrelated to the brothers.
Nevertheless, the Reno gang was the first known "brotherhood" of outlaws in the United States, inspiring other gangs in the Midwest to do the same.
What they would really make their name for, however, was train robberies - namely, the first three peacetime train robberies in American history.
The fourth train robbery, however, would be the most infamous. Amazingly, they got away with $96,000. In today's money, this would be about $2,022,557. It was not to stay in their possession, however - nor was it ever to be recovered by anyone else.
It was during the fifth robbery that the gang was finally caught by a Posse and arrested, but three of them never made it to trial.
On July 10, 1868, armed vigilantes calling themselves Jackson County Vigilance Committee took John Reno, Sim Reno, and Frank Sparkes off the train they were being transported on and hanged them all. In the next few months, the same fate would befall the other Reno brothers, as well as other gang members. In all, ten members would be lynched, effectively putting the reign of terror by the Reno Gang to an end.
But still, a mystery remains: where is that safe - the one allegedly containing up to $96,000 in stolen train robbery loot?
To this day, many have tried to find it, but none have succeeded. It is currently thought that, if it exists at all, it's likely stashed somewhere they knew well, between Rockford and Seymour near State Highway 31A in Jackson County.
Have you ever heard of the notorious Reno Gang? What about their loot? Where do YOU think it's hiding? Is it even real? Let us know!
Subscribe to our newsletter
Get the latest updates and news
Thank you for subscribing!
