Investigators believe the people charged with the abduction of a St. Mary's County bank manager and her two children as part of a plot to rob the bank had spent hours surveilling their victims.

William Johnson, 28, and Joseph Brown, 25, followed the bank manger and learned her routine, police said.  The men abducted her along with her two small children -- ages 5 and 1 -- Sept. 24 when the family left its Calvert County home in the early morning, police said. Investigators said the men used her little boy as leverage to get the woman to drain the vault of cash, handing over $168,000.

"The suspect had detailed knowledge of bank operation and threatened the victim safety along with her children," said Saint Mary's County Sheriff Timothy Cameron. 

The case came together when investigators noticed the ground behind Joe Brown's house looked like someone had been digging. They found four safes contained a total of $110,000 under a couple inches of earth, police said.

Investigators say Johnson, Bown, Edwin Jones and Quinita Ennis all went on a massive spending spree in the days after the robbery, blowing through $58,000 in a matter of days.

"All four went on a spending spree, gambling in Atlantic City and planning to go to Las Vegas," said Sheriff Cameron.

Ennis is charged with driving the getaway car. Jones was charged with planning the heist. They are jailed in Saint Mary's County. 

Brown and Johnson were arrested in Raleigh, N.C., early Saturday morning after Maryland investigators received a tip they might be in the area. They are still being held in North Carolina, pending extradition.

Investigators say the bank manager had no forknowledge of the robbery.

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