One of the four thieves, later identified as then 21-year-old Alvin Bernard Ford, shot him twice in the chest and, when Ilyankoff was helpless on the ground, once in the head. He was quickly caught, along with 25-year-old George Angelo Decosta and 21-year-old Alvin Ray Lewis. The fourth robber, Henry Robinson, 26, was tracked down in Guatemala three months later.