Body found at home of 78-year-old bank robbery suspect after she failed to show up for court

PLEASANT HILL, Mo. -- A 78-year-old Missouri woman charged with robbing a bank in April didn't show up to a court date, and police found a woman dead at her home when they checked on her last week.

Police in Pleasant Hill, a community of about 8,000 southeast of Kansas City, have not said whether they think the body found Wednesday is defendant Bonnie Gooch's, but they did say they don't suspect foul play and an autopsy is scheduled. The police department didn't immediately reply to messages seeking further information left Friday.

Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Gooch when she missed the July 24 hearing. When police went to her home, they found the door unlocked and the body of a woman in a bedroom.

Gooch, who had two previous bank robbery convictions, was charged in April in a holdup in Pleasant Hill. In court documents, Cass County prosecutors allege she passed a note to a teller demanding "13,000 small bills," adding "thank you sorry I didn't mean to scare you." Surveillance video also captured her banging on the counter, asking the teller to hurry.

Gooch's earlier robbery convictions were in 1977 in California and in 2020 in the Kansas City suburb of Lee's Summit. Her probation in the second heist ended in November 2021.