After leaving the bank, the outlaws' car sped through Okabena, spraying the town with machine-gun fire.

[9] Three other people (Tony, Floyd and Mildred Strain) were sent to prison for the crime, and it was not recognized for many years that the real robbers were the infamous Bonnie and Clyde Gang.

The FBI did not investigate bank robberies until 1934,[10] so the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) and the Jackson County Sheriff were responsible for solving the crime.

Agent William Conly of the Minnesota BCA was provided with eyewitness descriptions matching the appearances of Tony and Floyd Strain.

Mildred insisted she was framed for the Okabena robbery until the day she was released from Shakopee Women’s Prison in 1942.

Moreover, two officers of the Sioux City, Iowa police department later claimed they were watching her at her residence on the day of the robbery.

[11] Shortly before the Okabena robbery, police in Joplin, Missouri raided a house used by Bonnie and Clyde as a hide-out.

The town of Okabena now recognizes the real robbers, and re-enacts the bank heist every year as part of their Fourth of July festival.

Cloud State University, “Bonnie and Clyde, along with Buck and Blanche Barrow, robbed the bank at Okabena.

The residents of Jackson County who helped convict the Strains no doubt acted in good faith; vital information had been concealed from them.

At Okabena, over-zealous, dishonest investigators placed a higher value on clearing the rash of cases than on getting at the truth, and the Strains paid the price.

Only history can clear their names now.” [13] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.21 square miles (0.54 km2), all land.