FBI Makes New Bid to Recover Art Stolen From Gardner Museum
The FBI believes it knows the identities of the thieves who stole art valued at up to $500 million from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 23 years ago Monday.
Richard DesLauriers, the FBI's special agent in charge in Boston, says the thieves belong to a criminal organization based in New England and the mid-Atlantic states. He says authorities believe the art was taken to Connecticut and the Philadelphia region in the years after the theft, and offered for sale in Philadelphia about a decade ago.
The FBI has a new website aimed at getting help cracking the case at www.FBI.gov/gardner. In a video, DesLauriers says the statute of limitations has passed for the crime of art theft and authorities are focused on recovering the art.
There's a $5 million reward in the case involving 13 stolen works, including masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas and Manet.
In the early morning hours after Boston's St. Patrick's Day celebrations, two men disguised as policemen gained entry to the museum and made off with the works. No one has ever been arrested.
