Tropical islands seem to be on the minds of most people.

Tropical islands seem to be on the minds of most people.

By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — A trunk filled with more than $7 million can take most people, or at least the average imagination, on a trip around the world.

While traveling, throw in exotic cars, expensive clothes and fascinating people.

That same amount of stolen loot took Roger Dillon, 22, and his girlfriend Nicole Boyd, 24, as far as a trailer in Pipestem, W.Va.

Extravagance?

The couple did manage to buy an 18-year-old van along the way — before the FBI came knocking at the trailer door.

Dillon and Boyd are charged in the theft of more than $7 million in cash and checks from an armored car company in Liberty Township.

On the run, their heist spawned local pondering of where were they and what would you do had you done the deed.

When they were arrested, you could almost hear the chorus back home:

“West Virginia?”

Piling on were the details of their plan. One cop called them stupid.

So ....

We wondered what others would do with more than $7 million and the world to explore?

Some, such as Boardman resident Sheila Leach, could not imagine what to do or where to go with a ton of stolen cash. Really, she simply cannot imagine having a ton of stolen cash. She said her internal moral compass blocks any thought of actually trying to get away with such a large amount.

Carole Bopp of Canfield also said the plan should not be contemplated and certainly not carried out — but for a different reason.

“What would happen in your brain to make you think you could actually get away with something like this?” she said. “It wouldn’t even occur to me to do something that foolish.”

Still, Bopp, speaking strictly from “what if,” could pick out a little spot on the tiny island of Bimini with her name on it. She said heading directly to Mexico would also be an option.

Matt Katouch of Struthers said he would be headed for the U.S./Canadian border.

“I would have gone to Canada because if you take the money and get on a plane, they will catch you. So you might as well just drive into Canada. That will at least get you out of the United States,” he said.

It is not yet clear why Dillon and Boyd chose Pipestem as their destination.

According to the Web site www.bestplaces.net, the town has a population of merely 633 people and an unemployment rate of 5.5 percent, which is slightly above the national average of 4.6 percent.

With more than $7 million to burn, the couple could have been looking for an affordable place to set up shop. The cost of living in Pipestem, the Web site said, is about 24 percent below the national average.

Even with the lower cost of living and small population in mind, Donn DeLuca of Warren and Dana Hendricks of Canfield, while eating sandwiches in a cafe at Youngstown State University, both agreed that Pipestem would not be their place of choice with $7 million in hand.

DeLuca said she would try to put the money into some type of offshore banking account then travel, but Hendricks said she would be thinking for the future.

“If I would have taken the money, I would have buried about half of it so you can have it when you get out [of jail] because you know you are going to get caught,” she said.

If she were able to escape the snare of law enforcement, Hendricks said she would travel to a distant island or visit islands while on the lam.

There is no doubt in the mind of Coviello Salinas, a YSU student from New York, about where he would spend the money — and who would be at his side in the process.

“I would probably be in Brazil right now on a beach with a bunch of girls and a Mai Tai in my hand,” he said.

jgoodwin@vindy.com