Andrew Wyeth was one of the best known American artists in the world in
the 20th century with his works, including the Helga series, being
sought after by serious art collectors worldwide. His father, N. C., and
son, Jamie, are integral parts of the best known American family of
artists. They have an art museum dedicated to their works. A gang of
thieves decided to steal an original Wyeth painting for their
"retirement" and engaged a professional cat burglar (who was responsible
for more than 1,500 crimes during his criminal career) to steal a Wyeth
painting. The theft resulted in taking 15 paintings from the Wyeth
estate in picturesque Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. Seven were done by
Andrew, six by Jamie and the other two by California artists. Today,
those paintings would be worth millions of dollars. The FBI and
Pennsylvania State Police were the investigating agencies. Were the
paintings still in America, Europe or Asia? Were the paintings pre-sold
and in a private collection, being stored for future sales or destroyed
because the artwork was so well known? The search for the paintings
takes the investigators throughout the United States and involves
dangerous thieves, gamblers, drug dealers and murderers. In the process
of tracking down the thieves and the paintings, hundreds of other crimes
were solved.
