[MSN] A year after the Everhart Museum was broken into - under the cover of night and a huge tent erected for the museum's annual ball - the FBI and local police are still no closer to solving the theft of two valuable pieces of art.

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

11/19/2006 
After a yearlong probe, no progress in art heist  
BY STACY BROWN
STAFF WRITER
 

A year after the Everhart Museum was broken into - under the cover of night
and a huge tent erected for the museum's annual ball - the FBI and local
police are still no closer to solving the theft of two valuable pieces of
art than they were after it happened. 


  
"It's still an open and active investigation," FBI spokeswoman Jerria
Williams said, after conceding that leads in the case have long dried.

Scranton police also say the case is still active, but leads have been
scarce. 

"The FBI is the lead on the theft, but we are still conducting an
investigation," Detective Capt. Al Leoncini said.

The alarm at the museum sounded at 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 18, 2005. When police
arrived four minutes later, the thief or thieves had already made a getaway
and all police found was a broken window.

Stolen were a Jackson Pollock 1949 abstract called "Winter in Springs" and a
1984 Andy Warhol silk screen titled "Le Grand Passion."

While the museum did receive a $100,000 insurance payment for Mr. Warhol's
work, Mr. Pollock's painting was not insured and questions about its
authenticity heightened when museum insurer Brian J. Murray referred to
"Winter in Springs" as a fake.

Cara A. Sutherland, the museum's executive director, said she hopes whoever
stole the paintings is taking care of them because she believes they will
reappear someday. 

"That's what seems to happen with art thefts: After some years, they turn
up," Ms. Sutherland said, adding, however, that since the theft the museum
has thrived. 

"Our attendance is up 25 percent and we have developed an excellent menu of
public programs and exhibitions," she said.

One of the more touching moments at the museum since the theft happened when
a group of elementary school students drew replicas of the stolen paintings,
Ms. Sutherland said. Those replicas now hang in the museum's lobby.

"The theft is old news," Ms. Sutherland said. "People don't talk about it at
all, and every few months we do talk to the FBI, but there has been nothing
new."

The Everhart, which is Pennsylvania's ninth oldest museum, is preparing for
a more celebratory anniversary. It will mark its centennial in 2008, Ms.
Sutherland said. 

"When we opened our doors on May 30, 1908, there were only eight other
public museums found in the commonwealth, none of which were located in
Northeast Pennsylvania," she said. "Dr. Everhart's gift to the City of
Scranton was intended to bring the world to his community, and his goal was
to create an institution that would educate and delight for generations to
come."

Contact the writer: sbrown at timesshamrock.com