Author: Emanuella Grinberg / Source: CNN
(CNN)A pair of red sequined slippers from the classic 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz” has been found, 13 years after they disappeared from a Minnesota museum, law enforcement said Tuesday.
But the investigation continues into who’s responsible for the 2005 theft of the cherished piece of movie memorabilia.
“We reached the first goal, the recovery, and it’s a great day,” North Dakota United States Attorney Christopher Myers said. “But we’re not done.”
The slippers are one of four known pairs that actress Judy Garland wore in her role as Dorothy in the classic film. They disappeared in August 2005 from a museum dedicated to the actress in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
The theft sparked years of rumors and dead-end leads. Finally, a tip last summer led law enforcement outside Minnesota, and the FBI got involved. This summer, the shoes were seized in an undercover operation in Minneapolis, the FBI said.
“There’s a certain romance in these types of schemes, sometimes sophistication, but at the end of the day it’s a theft,” Myers said.
“These types of offenses not only deprive the owner of their property, but all of us,” Myers said. “This type of cultural property is important to us as a society. It reflects culture, it holds our memories, it reflects our values.”
The long-lost slippers were shown to reporters Tuesday at the FBI’s Minneapolis headquarters in a news conference conducted in reverential tones, with repeated references to rainbows and the memorable quote “there’s no place like home.
”“They’re more than just a pair of shoes, the slippers. They’re an enduring symbol of the power of belief,” Grand Rapids Police Chief Scott Johnson said.
Memorabilia collector Michael Shaw loaned the slippers to the Judy Garland Museum for Grand Rapids’ annual “Wizard of Oz” festival in 2005. Shaw rejected the museum’s offer to store them in a vault each night because he didn’t want people handling the delicate shoes by moving them daily, he said in the 2016 documentary, “The Slippers.”
A thief broke in through the museum’s back door, according to the Grand Rapids Police Department. The perpetrator smashed a glass case in the museum’s gallery and stole the slippers, which were insured for $1…
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