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Edouard Manet's 'Chez Tortoni,' one of the paintings stolen in 1990 from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

FBI: Confirmed sightings of missing art from Gardner heist

Catherine Saunders-Watson
Catherine Saunders-Watson

Edouard Manet's 'Chez Tortoni,' one of the paintings stolen in 1990 from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Edouard Manet’s ‘Chez Tortoni,’ one of the paintings stolen in 1990 from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
BOSTON (AP) – The FBI agent in charge of the investigation into the theft of $500 million worth of masterpieces from a Boston museum nearly a quarter century ago says the bureau has confirmed sightings of the missing artwork from credible sources.

The art, including works by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Manet, was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990 by two men disguised as city police officers.

FBI Special Agent Geoff Kelly, the lead investigator, tells WFXT-TV the trail for the missing artwork has not grown cold.

He identified three persons of interest in the Gardner case, all with ties to organized crime: Carmello Merlino, Robert Guarente, and Robert Gentile. Merlino and Guarente have died. Gentile has denied any knowledge of the missing work.

A $5 million reward has been offered.

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Information from: WFXT-TV, http://www.myfoxboston.com

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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE

Edouard Manet's 'Chez Tortoni,' one of the paintings stolen in 1990 from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Edouard Manet’s ‘Chez Tortoni,’ one of the paintings stolen in 1990 from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.