'Bad Hair Bandit': 18 Bank Robberies in 9 Months

Aug. 15, 2011— -- A woman known as the "bad hair bandit" for the assortment of ill-fitting wigs she wears while robbing at least 18 banks since December 2010 may have struck again, authorities say.

After a spree that had apparently been confined to Washington and Oregon, the FBI is investigating whether the same bandit robbed a bank in Montana last week.

On Thursday an unidentified woman wearing a short, dark-haired wig walked into the Bank of Butte in Butte, Mo., passed a note to the teller, and walked out with over $1,000 in cash.

Butte-Silver Bow County Sheriff John Walsh told The Montana Standard that the FBI is now investigating whether the Butte robber was the infamous "bad hair bandit."

"I couldn't confirm she [the bad hair bandit] is involved, but it certainly has potential," Walsh told the newspaper.

Witnesses described the woman at the Butte robbery as a white female, 40, 5 foot 8 to 5 foot 10 inches tall and with a heavy build.

According to the FBI website, the woman typically enters the bank and passes a note to a teller in which she demands cash and states that she is armed. She tends to wear a zippered hoodie, eyeglasses, a baseball cap, and some type of wig, and appears to flee by car, which the bureau describes as possibly a newer silver or gold sedan similar to a Honda Accord.

Seattle police told ABC News that they believe she may not be from the region.

"There is a strong probability she may be from out of the area which is why no one has recognized her … she needs to turn herself in," a Seattle police spokesperson said.

The "bad hair bandit" earned her nickname for the arsenal of odd wigs that she has used in her spree. She wore a curly blonde wig while robbing a bank in January and a month later sported a wavy red weave while robbing another. In July, she hid her blonde locks under a black baseball cap.