This man says he can recover the missing Gardner paintings — this year
It’s still regarded as the greatest unsolved art heist of all time: $500 million of art — including works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas, and Manet — plucked from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum on March 18, 1990, by two men posing as police.
The museum had offered a $5 million reward for the return of all 13 pieces in good condition. Last month, the bounty was suddenly and unexpectedly doubled to $10 million.
For such a long-unsolved case, the investigation into the disappearance of the artworks — which include paintings, a Chinese vase, and a 19th century finial of an eagle — is surprisingly active.
Anthony Amore, the museum’s director of security, says he works on the case every day and is in “almost constant contact” with FBI investigators. Tipsters still call all the time, with leads that range from the vaguely interesting to the downright bizarre. Among them: a psychic who offered to contact the late Mrs. Gardner’s spirit, and a few self-styled sleuths who reckon the paintings can be found with metal dowsing rods.
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