It was half past midnight on St. Patrick’s Day 1990 when the headlights of a small vehicle pierced the darkness outside the rear entrance of Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, according to a grainy black-and-white video released Thursday by investigators of one of the greatest art heists in history. But now that investigators have identified the thieves, the “focus of the investigation is the recovery of the art”.
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Now Peter Kowenhoven, the FBI’s assistant special agent in charge in Boston, has settled the lingering mystery of why no one was ever charged: the suspects are dead.
(NECN) Law enforcement officials are seeking the public’s help in identifying an unauthorized visitor to Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum the night before a notorious burglary.
The video has renewed attention on Richard Abath, the security guard who said he let the two men into the museum because he believed they were police officers. Robbers stole more than a dozen works of art at the museum about 24 hours later.
The auto seen in the footage matches the description of a vehicle that was reportedly parked outside the museum moments prior to the theft on March 18, 1990, authorities said.
The FBI has chased thousands of leads around the world in the investigation into the theft of works worth an estimated $500 million, including Rembrandt’s “Storm on the Sea of Galilee.” The 13 pieces of art also included paintings by Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas and Johannes Vermeer. Our aim has been to ensure that all avenues have been explored in the continuing quest to recover these artworks.
The case was reopened in 2013, and a $5 million reward is being offered for any leads that result in the artwork being returned in good condition. A red flag considering that letting the man in would have been against the museum’s policy, according to the NYT.
“With the public’s help, we may be able to develop new information that could lead to the recovery of these invaluable works of art”, she said.
Authorities have said that on March 18, 1990, two men dressed in Boston police uniforms gained entrance to the museum by telling the security guard at the watch desk that they were responding to a report of a disturbance.
Officials say it shows Abath, while on guard duty the previous day, opening the same side doors entered by the thieves and admitting a man in a waist-length coat and upturned collar.
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