GUILTY NC - William “Andy” Banks, 39, Raleigh, met someone about selling his car, 12 Sept 2020 *ARREST*

[holsen]

Raleigh police units arrive in Pittsylvania County; Banks case now a homicide

"Police reportedly found Merritt in possession of the SUV, along with an illegally-obtained handgun, ammunition, three cell phones and two spent shell casings"

 

[sloothseeker]

about the 3:30 mark on this WRAL raw video of the bond hearing eludes to foul play with dangerous weapon.
Raw: Court appearance for theft of missing Raleigh man's SUV :: WRAL.com

 

[sloothseeker]

Raleigh police units arrive in Pittsylvania County; Banks case now a homicide

"Police reportedly found Merritt in possession of the SUV, along with an illegally-obtained handgun, ammunition, three cell phones and two spent shell casings"

Note it's a different church - not the one where RR was found.
"This afternoon, a Star-Tribune reporter located five Raleigh Police Department vehicles in the parking lot of Vandola Baptist Church in Pittsylvania County.
The Raleigh Police Department could not confirm why the officers were in this location, but could confirm that investigation of the Banks case remains ongoing."

 

[CLGM]

You guys might have covered this already, but how did JM get down to Raleigh from Danville? Did he leave his vehicle in Raleigh somewhere so he could drive the RR? (probably not) He had to have somebody with him, so that one of them could drive that car back and the other would drive the RR with AB. Would they have incapacitated AB right off the bat so that only one of them needed to be in the RR with him? Or would they have pretended it was a test drive (still with only one of them in the RR with AB or they would have had to circle back to pick up the first car). If they were pretending it was a test drive, was the other guy following in the first car? That would have seemed weird to AB wouldn't it (if he noticed)? At what point did the person doing the test drive do something to incapacitate AB? That would seem hard to do while driving on the highway and trying to maintain control of the RR. If you were doing a test drive, would you stop somewhere along the way to check out the car some more or would the possible buyer ask to stop by a bank to get the money for the purchase? ("sorry, didn't have time to go by the bank on my way down to meet you, running behind" -- something like that)

It's just such a brazen crime.

 

[steff13]

My understanding is that robbery is taking something from a person by force, intimidation, etc., and larceny is taking another person's property and carrying it away with the intent to deprive them of it permanently. So, I think the robbery and larceny charges could both be to do with the vehicle.

 

[Boodles]

Raleigh police units arrive in Pittsylvania County; Banks case now a homicide

"Police reportedly found Merritt in possession of the SUV, along with an illegally-obtained handgun, ammunition, three cell phones and two spent shell casings"

Two spent shell casings...ugh.

 

[Jeepguy]

Note it's a different church - not the one where RR was found.
"This afternoon, a Star-Tribune reporter located five Raleigh Police Department vehicles in the parking lot of Vandola Baptist Church in Pittsylvania County.
The Raleigh Police Department could not confirm why the officers were in this location, but could confirm that investigation of the Banks case remains ongoing."

Which church was the RR found at?

 

[CLGM]

Which church was the RR found at?

It was on the same street that JM lived on:

NC - NC - William “Andy” Banks, 39, Raleigh, went to meet someone about selling his car, 12 Sept 2020

this link goes to an earlier post with photos and info about the location ^^^^

 

[SteveP]

Raleigh police units arrive in Pittsylvania County; Banks case now a homicide

"Police reportedly found Merritt in possession of the SUV, along with an illegally-obtained handgun, ammunition, three cell phones and two spent shell casings"

This article does not make it clear whether these items were found during a search of the car, or a search of the suspect's home, but WRAL stated they were taken during a search of the home, and also mentioned that LE took a pair of cargo pants. Makes me wonder if perhaps the pants had blood on them that has been tested and that, along with the spent shell casings, is why the case is now being investigated as a homicide. JMO

 

[oviedo]

Missing Raleigh man's car, phone spotted around Pittsylvania County

SABBM:

"He met two people from Craigslist to try and sell his car," friend Amanda Finch told the Star-Tribune this morning. "He hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
<snip>
A respondent to Finch's Facebook post about Banks's disappearance reported seeing his silver 2012 Range Rover off the U.S. 29 bypass in Blairs, by the stop sign, with the lights turned off. <snip>

The last sighting of his car was last night around 8:30 p.m.

Banks's cell phone was also found on North Carolina interstate 440 heading west from Raleigh toward Danville.

"We have friends that are tech people," Finch said. "They were able to look through Andy's messages through a cloud on his laptop that was at home. They were able to find out that the phone number they were using to text Andy was a burner phone."
______________________

So, his vehicle hasn't been located.

Burner phone used to text AB about the Craigslist ad = Flag.

His cell phone tossed off the side of the road = Flag.

This isn't sounding good.

At all.

JMO.

The friends that are "tech people" may have been able to access his bank account and the ATM's would show up if withdrawals were made - from there they could develop a firm timeline and then possible locations where AM might be - although the two casings are very troublesome IMO
ETA:
Raleigh police units arrive in Pittsylvania County; Banks case now a homicide

"Police reportedly found Merritt in possession of the SUV, along with an illegally-obtained handgun, ammunition, three cell phones and two spent shell casings"

 

[oceanblueeyes]

You guys might have covered this already, but how did JM get down to Raleigh from Danville? Did he leave his vehicle in Raleigh somewhere so he could drive the RR? (probably not) He had to have somebody with him, so that one of them could drive that car back and the other would drive the RR with AB. Would they have incapacitated AB right off the bat so that only one of them needed to be in the RR with him? Or would they have pretended it was a test drive (still with only one of them in the RR with AB or they would have had to circle back to pick up the first car). If they were pretending it was a test drive, was the other guy following in the first car? That would have seemed weird to AB wouldn't it (if he noticed)? At what point did the person doing the test drive do something to incapacitate AB? That would seem hard to do while driving on the highway and trying to maintain control of the RR. If you were doing a test drive, would you stop somewhere along the way to check out the car some more or would the possible buyer ask to stop by a bank to get the money for the purchase? ("sorry, didn't have time to go by the bank on my way down to meet you, running behind" -- something like that)

It's just such a brazen crime.

Unfortunately for law abiding citizens no matter where they live ...violent heinous crimes like this the suspects have been very brazen for quite some time now.

Imo, we will continue to see more, and more emboldened violent offenders.

Many crimes like this one are being done in broad daylight ....whether it's cases like Andy's, children being abducted/murdered or it happening to adults of both genders, and even very violent home invasions are happening during daylight hours now.

It seems like many of the offenders no longer fear the police or even someone seeing them when they are preying on their innocent victims.

So I'm not shocked this tragic case was committed by another brazened offender.

Sadly, this will not be the last monster we will see who feels emboldened to target more innocent victims.... who will also not care what time of day it is nor cares if it's on a busy street or area.

God be with Andy's family. The pain, and suffering they must feel has to be beyond heartbreaking for all of them.

Jmho

 

[DenverJack92]

Damn. WRAL reporting "Body of missing Raleigh man may have been found in Virginia — Raleigh police said a body found Thursday in rural Virginia may be that of William Andy Banks, a Raleigh man who has been missing since last weekend. The body has been sent to a medical examiner for positive identification and to determine the cause of death"

Modnote/adding link
Body found in Virginia may be that of missing Raleigh man :: WRAL.com

 

[gorealtors]

Body found in Virginia that might be Andy Banks.

 

[Ontario Mom]

"Body of missing Raleigh man may have been found in Virginia — Raleigh police said a body found Thursday in rural Virginia may be that of William Andy Banks, a Raleigh man who has been missing since last weekend. The body has been sent to a medical examiner for positive identification and to determine the cause of death." Raleigh, NC Breaking News, Weather, Traffic - WRAL NBC affiliate

 

[Steph8angels]

Body of missing Raleigh man found in Virginia, police say | CBS 17

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – The body of a 39-year-old man missing since Saturday afternoon has been located in Virginia, Raleigh police said.

William “Andy” Banks’ body was discovered in Virginia with help from the Pittsylvania County Sheriff’s Office.

Bank’s body will be sent to the coroner in Roanoke, Virginia for an autopsy.

More @ link WS /TOS

 

[stormymama]

Body believed to be missing Raleigh man Andy Banks located in Virginia, police say

Oh my goodness.

 

[Gardenista]

Body of missing Raleigh man found in Virginia, police say | CBS 17

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – The body of a 39-year-old man missing since Saturday afternoon has been located in Virginia, Raleigh police said.

William “Andy” Banks’ body was discovered in Virginia with help from the Pittsylvania County Sheriff’s Office.

Bank’s body will be sent to the coroner in Roanoke, Virginia for an autopsy.

More @ link WS /TOS

 

[Tracey4AU]

Body of missing Raleigh man found in Virginia, police say | CBS 17

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – The body of a 39-year-old man missing since Saturday afternoon has been located in Virginia, Raleigh police said.

William “Andy” Banks’ body was discovered in Virginia with help from the Pittsylvania County Sheriff’s Office.

Bank’s body will be sent to the coroner in Roanoke, Virginia for an autopsy.

More @ link WS /TOS

I’m glad this search didn’t drag on any longer.

 

[oviedo]

Body believed to be missing Raleigh man Andy Banks located in Virginia, police say

Oh my goodness.

I'm so sorry @Jeepguy

 

[steff13]

Oh I hate that. Prayers to his family and friends. I hope they throw the book at JM.