Police: Woman with Pittsburgh roots recruited teenage boys to help rob Georgia banks

ATLANTA — A teenager claims a Pittsburgh woman forced him to rob banks in Georgia.

Police in metro Atlanta are working hard to track her down.

Investigators said the woman is a 'criminal mastermind' who recruited teenage boys to help her rob banks.

Nilsa Marie Urena, 25, is suspected in at least three bank robberies, plus an attempted bank robbery: four total crimes spread out across Atlanta.

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"We want her bad," said Sheriff Tim Pounds of Douglas County in Georgia.

Investigators there said surveillance video captured Urena entering the Bank of the Ozarks in Douglasville on Nov. 3.

"She told them she had a explosive device that she will detonate If they didn't give her the money," said Gary Sparks with Douglasville police.

The same day, she robbed a credit union in Grayson, according to police.

They believe she also hit a Wells Fargo in Stone Mountain Oct. 30 and another credit union in Ellenwood the same day.

Investigators said she got away with money after threatening to have an explosive device.

Police have arrested two 17-year-olds who helped her and after those arrests, Urena bought a plane ticket to Panama from New Jersey, but did not use it.

"She born in Pittsburgh, raised in Pittsburgh, but for some unknown reason she booked a flight to Panama the same night the guys were arrested,"

Channel 11 also conducted searches into Urena's background, but our information shows she has strong ties to Philadelphia.

Cox Media Group