MARYVILLE, Mo. (AP) — Three men who allegedly robbed a bank in northwest Missouri went to great lengths to hide their loot.

But witness statements and some luck led Nodaway County authorities to about $12,000 hidden in a tree in southern Iowa, in a location the sheriff calls the “middle of nowhere.”

The St. Joseph News-Press reports the money was stolen last Friday from the Citizens Bank & Trust in Burlington Junction, Mo. One man followed the suspects’ vehicle across the state line into Iowa and other citizens reported a possible location for the money.

The suspects from Iowa apparently hid the money in the tree, concealed their vehicle and then fled on foot back into Missouri. They were captured and are being held on first-degree robbery and armed criminal action charges.