CARBONDALE - Two men who robbed the First Southern Bank branch in west Carbondale on Thursday morning remained at large as of late that afternoon, police said.

Lt. Paul Echols with the Carbondale Police Department said officers had not apprehended anyone from a manhunt that took place throughout the day on the ground and from the air.

"We're looking wherever we can, with assistance locally and federally," Echols said.

The suspects were last seen traveling west on Chautauqua Road near the Tower Road intersection on a forest green and black mixed sports-style motorcycle during the late morning hours.

The robbery at 2500 W. Murphysboro Road occurred minutes before the bank's alarm sounded at 9:50 a.m.

Both suspects entered the bank with their helmets on. One of them was armed with a black, semi-automatic handgun, police said. He held up bank employees at gunpoint while the other man took money from the cash drawers.

Both suspects are described as white males of medium build. One suspect was wearing a hunter green hooded sweatshirt, dark pants, red shoes and black gloves; the other was wearing a beige Carhart-style jacket, black pants with cargo pockets and blue gloves. Both men were wearing helmets, one black and one silver, with flip-down face shields. Each wore a backpack, as well, said Carbondale Police Chief Bob Ledbetter.

No injuries were reported in the incident and police said no bank customers were inside at the time of the robbery. Police, with assistance from officials with the Illinois State Police Forensic Sciences Services, were on the scene late Thursday morning interviewing witnesses and searching for evidence.

Carbondale police officers were responding to a report of a stabbing in the trailer courts on South Illinois Avenue near Arnold's Market when the bank robbery alarm sounded. The call, placed from a cell phone just after 9:30 a.m., reportedly came from a female claiming she had been stabbed three times, according to scanner reports from Carbondale police.

The alleged victim was never found.

Ledbetter said police are investigating whether the call was meant to divert attention when the robbery began.

"The call, with it's proximity to other calls that came in at the time, certainly makes it something we are investigating," Ledbetter said. "We haven't ruled it out, but we haven't really connected it."

The branch bank remained closed for the remainder of Thursday. It will reopen today for regular business hours, said First Southern president John Dosier.

Dosier declined along with police investigators to reveal how much money the robbers took.

- Caleb Hale contributed to this report

scott.fitzgerald@thesouthern.com / 351-5076.@thesouthern.com / 351-5076.

Have info?

Carbondale police have asked anyone with information about Thursday morning's armed robbery of First Southern Bank at 2500 W. Murphysboro Road to call the Carbondale Police Department at 457-3200 or the Crime Stoppers tip line at 549-2677.