New video released in unsolved Boston art museum heist

The FBI has released a reel of grainy, black-and-white security footage on their YouTube page today from the notorious Isabella Stewart Gardner museum heist, which occurred March 18, 1990. At nearly exactly the same time on March 18, thieves dressed as Boston Police officers entered the same door, handcuffed two museum guards, and left with 13 pieces of art now valued at over $500 million, according to law enforcement officials. 6, 2015, the U.S. Attorney’s Office released a surveillance video showing an automobile outside the rear entrance and an unauthorized visitor entering the museum 24 hours before the robbery.

The six-minute, 40-second video shows a white man, wearing glasses and apparently in his 50s or 60s, being let in by the guard through a rear entrance to the museum shortly after midnight on March 17, 1990, about 24 hours before the heist.

“Over many months we have engaged in an exhaustive re-examination of the original evidence in this case”. To that end, we support the efforts that the United States Attorney and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are making to uncover any and all information related to the theft of our artwork.

Ortiz said officials are hoping the public may be able to help authorities identify the unauthorized visitor or the vehicle seen in the video.

The video shows an unidentified man exiting the auto and then being allowed inside the museum, against museum policy, by a security guard, investigators say. A shadowy figure can also be seen emerging from the vehicle, which matches the description of a auto seen outside the museum on the night of the heist. A $5m reward has been offered by the museum for information that leads directly to the recovery of all of the stolen items in good condition.

Josh Reynolds/AP An empty frame hangs at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

Immediately upon its release, the video was refocusing attention on former Gardner security guard Richard Abath. Boston U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said in a statement Thursday that thei Gardner thieves took the museum surveillance film recorded the evening of the robbery, but overlooked footage from the night before. No panic button was activated and the Boston Police were not notified during the robbery.

It has been twenty five years since the biggest art theft in history was pulled off at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

Gentile contends he has been arrested twice in an attempt to extract information about the heist but says he knows nothing. The video surveillance footage from the night of the robbery was taken by the thieves.