On the morning of September 22, 1992, William John Brennan, a 34-year-old cashier at the Stardust Resort and Casino sportsbook in Las Vegas, walked out of the building with approximately $507,000 in cash and casino chips—and vanished without a trace. Brennan was a long-trusted employee who had worked in the sportsbook for four years, handling large amounts of money daily. When he failed to show up for work the next day, casino security went to his apartment and found it completely emptied out—no cat, no personal items, and no sign of struggle. Investigators also discovered books on how to change one’s identity, suggesting that the heist had been meticulously planned in advance. What stunned authorities most was that despite extensive camera coverage throughout the casino, no surveillance footage ever captured Brennan leaving the building.


The FBI later determined that Brennan likely acted alone, though some investigators believe he may have partnered with or been double-crossed by a bettor with organized-crime ties. He was placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, but no evidence of his whereabouts—or of the missing half-million dollars—was ever found. The case became one of Las Vegas’s most enduring unsolved casino heists and remains legendary in gambling circles for both its simplicity and success. Brennan’s disappearance, often referred to as “The Stardust Bandit” mystery, has fueled decades of speculation about whether he managed to escape with the money or was killed soon after the job. To this day, not a single chip has ever been recovered.




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