LARGO - Car salesman Nick Morel didn't recognize the man.
But he noticed that Steven Michael Aitken looked 20 to 30 pounds lighter in person than on his driver's license.
"I said, "Hey, it looks like you lost some weight here,' and he said, "Yeah, I have,"' Morel, the 47-year-old owner of Gulf Coast Auto Mart in Largo, said Thursday.
Morel made a photocopy of Aitken's license, then handed him the keys to the brownish gold 2000 Chevy S10 truck with splash designs on the side.
Aitken never returned.
About 11/2 hours after Aitken drove off the used car lot Wednesday, he robbed SunTrust Bank at 13075 Walsingham Road, sheriff's detectives said.
Investigators with the sheriff's office and St. Petersburg police checked a half dozen tips Thursday, but neither the pickup nor Aitken have been found.
"I think this guy's got the ability to just blend in with the woodwork," Pinellas sheriff's Sgt. Tony Vinson said Thursday. "He is the next-door neighbor kind of guy."
Aitken, 36, a St. Petersburg native, is suspected of robbing six banks since January. All but one have been in St. Petersburg. Before each robbery, investigators said, Aitken has stolen a vehicle.
About 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Aitken walked into Gulf Coast Auto Mart, 12199 Seminole Blvd.
"He came in the door and asked me about the 2000 S10," said Morel, the salesman and owner.
Morel grabbed a magnetic license plate, MF991C, and walked to the lot with Aitken. He asked Aitken what he was driving. Aitken told him he walked from a strip of businesses across the street.
Aitken asked Morel if he wanted to join him for the test drive. Since he was alone at the business, Morel told Aitken to go ahead. "He asked me if he paid me cash, if I would come down in the price," Morel said.
Morel told Aitken they could talk about lowering the $8,500 price on the Chevy S10, an extended cab with tinted windows, when he got back.
"He left, and I never saw him again," Morel said.
At 1:05 p.m., the SunTrust was robbed. Tellers identified Aitken as the robber from police photos.
Anyone with information about Aitken's whereabouts is asked to call the St. Petersburg Police Department at (727) 893-7780, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office at (727) 582-6200, or CrimeStoppers at 800-873-8477.
