LENEXA, Kan. (AP) - Police in Kansas thought they had cornered a North Dakota couple previously convicted of conspiring to rob a Pisek, N.D., bank.

But officers looking to arrest Anthony and Sally Rappold on probation violation charges busted into their Lenexa, Kan., hotel room on Friday to find only their coats, a cell phone and a cat. They also left behind their car, said Police Capt. Steve Smith.

"All we have left now is a room with a bunch of the people's property," Smith told the Kansas City Star. "When they left here in a hurry, they didn't have time to get Fluffy."

The Grand Forks couple had pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to rob First United Bank in Pisek, N.D., in 2002.

Anthony Rappold was sentenced to 15 months in prison and Sally Rappold received a sentence of 21 months. Both were out of prison on supervised release when they left North Dakota.

The couple are wanted on probation violation charges, said Myron McDaniel, supervisor of the U.S. Marshals Service in Kansas City, Kan.

Authorities said the 2002 plan was for Anthony Rappold and another man to get to the bank on stolen snowmobiles and go inside with guns, while Sally Rappold was stationed 15 miles away in a getaway car.

They said the third man's conscience got the best of him, and he turned informant.

The three planned to launder some of the money in a Devils Lake casino before going to Las Vegas and splitting it, authorities said.

Police set up surveillance on the couple after receiving the tip. They said the informant wore a recorder while he was with the Rappolds when they cased the bank on Dec. 20, 2002.

Pisek is located 20 miles southwest of Grafton.