In 1990, two thieves disguised as Boston police officers broke into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in the middle of the night and made off with 13 pieces of art. The art theft is one of the greatest in history, as it is estimated that the pieces stolen were worth over $500 million. The two thieves entered the museum at around 1 AM on March 18, 1990.
They claimed to be responding to a call about a disturbance in the area and convinced the museum guards to let them in. Once inside, they restrained and handcuffed both guards and proceeded to search through the museum for valuable artwork. In total, they stole 13 pieces of artwork including Rembrandt’s “Storm on the Sea of Galilee” and Johannes Vermeer’s “The Concert.”
The Gardner Museum has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the recovery of any or all of the stolen artwork. Despite this reward, there have been no major leads as to who was responsible for this heist. Suspicions have been raised regarding organized crime figures such as Robert Guarente and his associate David Turner as well as Myles Connor Jr., a notorious art thief who was suspected of being involved in other thefts at that time.
The FBI has also been investigating whether or not some of this artwork was sold off by members of organized crime groups such as La Cosa Nostra or Russian Mafiya after it had been stolen from the museum. There are also reports that some pieces may have been taken overseas where they have since become part of private collections or galleries.
Despite years of investigation by both local law enforcement and federal agencies, there is still no concrete evidence pointing towards who stole these priceless pieces from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 30 years ago. It appears that whoever these thieves were, they managed to outsmart investigators and get away with one of history’s most notorious art heists.
Conclusion: To this day, no one knows for sure who stole these priceless works from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 30 years ago. Despite offers for rewards and extensive investigations by law enforcement agencies over many years, there is still no concrete evidence pointing towards who was behind this heist.