River of Fate Foils Bank Robbery Escape

In the early morning of June 26, 1958, two masked men stormed into the Royal Bank of Canada branch on Lakelse Avenue in Terrace. The bank's employees were taken aback by the sudden intrusion, but they quickly complied with the robbers' demands to fill their bags with cash.

The alarm was triggered during the robbery, alerting the Terrace police, who soon arrived at the scene. However, the robbers had already made their escape through the back entrance and were making a quick getaway down the Skeena River in a small boat.

But their flight was short-lived as the rough river conditions caused the boat to capsize, leaving one of the robbers drowning in the water while the other managed to swim ashore. The surviving robber, desperate to evade capture, abandoned his attempt to escape and eventually returned to Terrace to surrender to the police.