moment of the week now. it's the kind of sound bite every journalist can only hope to get, dramatic, unpredictable and wildly entertaining. and every now and then, one comes along that becomes an internet sensation. remember this one? >> and then the smoke got me. i got bronchitis! ain't nobody got time for that. >> youtube star sweet brown has already racked up some 70 million hits or how about chai, the homeless hitchhiker with a hatchet who stopped a crazed driver? >> he runs up and grabs a woman.

a guy that big can snap a woman's neck like a pencil stick. >> a new clip to add to the list. this is michelle berkshire of texas. >> came in, i opened my door and i looked out my door and starting -- i took off running, ran to my restroom and called my momma to see if she was already. >> from the cnn world headquarters, i'm don lemon. good night. >> hello, welcome to this special report. 81 minutes inside the greatest art heist in history. the greatest in dollars and daring and just how long investigators have been baffled. however, that they are als el fly a ch all t $500 millio every journalist can only hope to get, dramatic, unpredictable and wildly entertaining. and every now and then, one comes along that becomes an internet sensation. remember this one? >> and then the smoke got me. i got bronchitis! ain't nobody got time for that. >> youtube star sweet brown has already racked up some 70 million hits or how about chai, the homeless hitchhiker with a hatchet who stopped a crazed driver? >> he runs up and grabs a woman. a guy that big can snap a woman's neck like a pencil stick. >> a new clip to add to the list. this is michelle berkshire of texas.

>> came in, i opened my door and i looked out my door and starting -- i took off running, ran to my restroom and called my momma to see if she was already. >> from the cnn world headquarters, i'm don lemon. good night. >> hello, welcome to this special report. 81 minutes inside the greatest art heist in history. the greatest in dollars and daring and just how long investigators have been baffled. however, that could soon be changing. here's 360's randy kaye. >> reporter: it is a beautiful and priceless collection. hundreds of millions of dollars worth of art housed inside these walls. the isabella stewart gardener museum. visitors from all over the world come to see these masterpieces. but that's not all they're looking at. they are also looking at a crime

scene. in fact, a crime scene from the biggest art heist in history still unsolved. and this is all that's left. it is one of the art world's greatest mysteries. who stole these priceless works of art. and how have they managed to elude investigators all over the world for more than two decades. 13 works of art stolen, paintings by rembrandt, manet, flynk, sketches by degah. a chinese bronze beaker and a finial that set on top of a napoleonic flag. all taken in the dark of night. all together, worth $500 million. $500 million. and not one has ever been found. >> i'm randy kaye outside the isabella stewart gardener museum. this is where it all began march 18th, 1990.

it was st. patrick's weekend. some time after midnight, a group of young men left the party and spotted a car with what looked like two boston police officers inside. they had no idea these two men weren't really police officers. and no clue that just a short time later, these two men would pull off the greatest art heist in history. >> come in, clock in, there would be two guards. >> reporter: rick abbot was one of the night watchmen on duty the night of the crime. until now, he'd never done a television interview about what happened that night. rick was 23 years old back in 1990. he had been working at the museum for about a year. the guard's shift began at 11:30 p.m. a shift that most nights was uneventful.

>> boring. yeah, sit around, walk around, basically. one guy would go up and start his rounds, and then when he came back, the other would get behind the desk and the other person would go up. >> on this night, things would be far from boring. during the night shift, there is always one guard manning the computer at the security desk by the side door. the employee entrance, which was the only way into the museum at night. that door was locked. so anyone who wanted to get into the museum would have to ring the buzzer. the guard on duty at the desk could see who was ringing that buzzer through a security camera perched outside right above the door. the camera is in plain sight. if there was trouble, the guard had just one way of alerting the outside world. a panic button at the security desk. but it wasn't so easy to reach. >> you know, those things like a panic button at a bank.

it was up on the underside of the desk. but it was a fairly long desk and the computer was all the way over to the left and it was almost all the way over to the right. so it wasn't just within arm's reach. >> reporter: still, rick abbot never found any reason to use that panic button. that is until the night of march 18th. that night was unusual from the moment rick arrived at work. he learned his usual partner had called in sick. they couldn't find anyone else, so they paired him with a daytime gallery guard. >> when i got there, you know, my partner was there -- well, i knew him. i didn't know him very well. i knew him from just around the locker room and he was the only person they could get. so i figured i'd take the first round. >> that first round takes longer than usual.

the fire alarm goes off for no apparent reason. so does another alarm on the fourth floor. after all that, rick returns and the gallery guard takes his turn making the rounds. the clock reads 1:24 a.m. and rick is alone at the guard desk. suddenly, the night takes a dangerous turn. >> he rang the doorbell. i could see him on the outside camera. i could see him walking down the streelt. i thought they were just clearing drunks off the street. there were a lot of drunken people in the street that particular night. but then they stopped and buzzed the buzzer. i leaned over to the intercom and i said yeah? and they said boston police, we got a report of disservice on the premise. so i buzzed them in. >> that decision to buzz them in is something rick abbot has had to live with for the past 23 years.

>> the night watchman, against protocol, allowed them into the museum. >> antny amore is the security director for the isabella stewart gardener museum. he's also the investigators on this case. he says back in 1990, no one was allowed into the museum after hours. not even police officers. but rick, the security guard, said he'd routinely buzz in museum employees afterhours. even the museum director. >> i was never verbally told that to the best of my knowledge. i'm sure there was a policy written somewhere. but it wasn't the culture of the place, for the most part. people came in and out of there fairly regularly. at least once a month, we'd let someone in. >> so it was not unusual for rick to hear that buzzer go off. on this night, rick says he had no doubt.

it really was the boston police at the entrance. >> they were standing there. their pants and coats and badges and looked like policemen and buzzed them into the museum. and one of them came right over to my desk. and one of them kind of stood in the outcove right there, looking around. it seemed particularly odd to me. and he came up to me and the one guy, they asked me if i was alone. i said no, my parter in was off doing a round. i said get him down here. i called him on the radio. >> within seconds, rick's partner joined him at the security desk. >> the cop that was dealing with me turned to me and said don't i know you? can't i recognize you? i think there's a warrant out for your arrest. can you step out from behind the desk. and i'm sitting there and i looked the way i looked. i don't look substantially

different other than i didn't have any white hair then. and, you know, i had my berkley college tie-dye on. i did have the gardener security shirt on, but it was over my tie dye and i said okay, i know how this looks. it looks like i put these guard clothes on over my street clothes. >> here, rick makes another grave mistake. he steps away from the security desk and away from the panic button. his only way to contact the outside world. his only way to prevent what was about to happen. so i came out from behind the desk and i gave him my driver's license and i gave him my security id and i think i was kind of sarcastic about it. i really work here. and he said up against the wall. there's a warrant out for your arrest. and so i put my hands up against the wall and he handcuffed me. he didn't frisk me. he just put a cuff on me.

and that's when i heard my partner behind me. shouting out, officers, why are you arresting me? why are you arresting me? and i was just like it's over. it's done. >> reporter: in a matter of minutes, the two thieves had both night watchmen completely under their control. we're here! we're going to the park! [ gina ] oh hey, dan! i really like your new jetta! and you want to buy one like mine because it's so safe, right? yeah... yeah... i know what you've heard -- iihs top safety pick for $159 a month -- but, i wish it was more dangerous, like a monster truck or dune buggy!

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[heart beating] [heartbeat continues] [heartbeat, music playing louder] ♪ i'm feeling better since you know me... ♪ announcer: this song was created with heartbeats of children in need. find out how it can help frontline health workers bring hope to millions of children at everybeatmatters.org. >> reporter: after two thieves dressed as boston police officers gained access, they had both night watchmen under their control within minutes. it seems the thieves knew it. the priceless collection of art in the museum is now theirs for the taking. it's about 1:30 in the morning, and it's time for the thieves to get down to business.

>> he finished cuffing me, and he cuffed my partner. very dramatically said gentlemen, this is a robbery. you know, just do what we say and you won't get hurt. and i said we don't get paid enough to get hurt. i kind of diffused the situation a little bit. >> rick abbot laughs about it now, but as soon as he was tied up by the two thieves, he realized how vulnerable he really was. >> i was panicking. i didn't realize i was panicking. but i was completely panicking. >> the thieves lead rick and his partner down to the basement to different areas. rick is taken to the boiler room and cuffed to an electrical box. his eyes and mouth were duct taped and he feared for his life. >> i was afraid that they were going to set the place on fire after they were done. that was my -- maybe because i was right across from the boiler. but my predominant fear was god, i hope they don't burn the place. >> reporter: he couldn't see. couldn't hear.

and he had no idea what was happening upstairs. all that he knew was that his museum was unguarded and about to be robbed. it all happened so fast, he never had a chance to hit the one panic button by the guard desk. he knew no one was coming to help. did the thieves know that as well? it appears they did. since they were in no rush to get out. >> the path is interesting. they took the guards, after they handcuffed them and taped them and brought them into the basement, about 24 minutes elapsed, though, before they would see them again. >> motion detectors placed throughout the building picked up their trail for nearly an hour and a half. but that didn't matter. those motion detectors weren't connected to police outside. they only alert the guard sitting at the computer by the entrance. a computer that was now unmanned.

>> in this hallway is where we see the first motion detector tors go off. that's how we know it was 24 minutes. it was 1:48 and they're walking down this hallway together and they entered the dutch room. >> which is right there. >> exactly. and from the dutch room, they took six pieces, the three rembrandts, the flynk and the chinese vessel. and that's where, in terms of dollar value, that's where the lion's share of the theft occurred. >> these three rembrandts, this flynk all had to be taken down from the walls in the dutch room. the real work had begun for the thieves. but as they get ready to remove storm on the sea of galley, his only sea scape, a high-pitched alarm sounds. steven kurchin has investigated this case for "the boston globe" for decades.

abbot told him this alarm was designed to keep visitors from getting too close to the rembrandt. >> that, even if you look at prints of it now, images of it now, you will see a vision, an etching, of rembrandt himself. art experts, art specialists, common folk would know that and they would come up and point their finger close to, point out the image of rembrandt. and if they got too close, then the alarm would sound. >> the thieves then smashed the alarm. >> that was a compelling detail to me. it seemed like that worked. you know, if you got too close, the sound would go off. and as i went through the rest of the security that was in place at the museum, nothing else was there to guard the museum's valuables. >> like the motion detectors, this alarm was not connected to the outside world. but did the thieves know that as well? because they didn't pack up and leave at that point. they continued on with their crime, and they took their time. one thief stayed behind in the dutch room and carefully removed some of the paintings from their matting and frames. although two of the rembrandt's were simply cut out of their frames. the other thief headed out of the room, back down the hallway. >> goes to the early italian room, the raphael room, all the while, passing incredibly priceless art. famous art. raphaels, important chinese pieces, frangelica and walked back to the short gallery where the thief takes a napoleonic finial from a flag that napoleon's first regimen carried. he's going back and forth about a half a dozen times, aga wh the blue >> even th detectors detect cra kind gard as complicate but anot one paint

printed record abbot strugg they continued on with their crime, and they took their time. one thief stayed behind in the dutch room and carefully removed some of the paintings from their matting and frames. although two of the rembrandt's were simply cut out of their frames. the other thief headed out of the room, back down the hallway. >> goes to the early italian room, the raphael room, all the while, passing incredibly priceless art. famous art. raphaels, important chinese pieces, frangelica and walked back to the short gallery where the thief takes a napoleonic finial from a flag that napoleon's first regimen carried. he's going back and forth about a half a dozen times, again,

passing things that any art expert would say my god, these are two raphaels, small and portable. why wouldn't you take those? it's a great mystery to the theft. >> another great mystery is this painting by edward manet. the oil painting was taken from the blue room on the first floor. >> it hung right below manet's portrait of his mother. it was about 8 by 10 and it was in a gold, guilded frame and it was here. >> even though motion detectors picked up the thooef's trail by the instance on the first floor and all throughout the second floor, there are no records of anyone entering the blue room. rick abbot says in the time he worked at the museum, the motion detectors never failed. but he also says it wasn't impossible to avoid the detectors. in fact, he knew exactly how to do that. it was a game he used to play at night to help pass the time on

his rounds. >> you would walk all kinds of crazy ways. some places, you'd have to go around the perimeter of the room or you'd have to go right through the center, you'd have to duck down or you'd have to kind of squat and waddle and do all of these different stuff. >> reporter: it's something straight out of the movies, like this scene from "ocean's 12." the motion detectors at the gardener museum were not nearly as complicated as that. still, the thieves still seemed to know how to evade them. but another question emerges, why would they bother doing so only in the blue room where just one painting was stolen. unless they weren't the ones who actually took the manet out of the blue room that night. the thieves made off with the printed records of the motion detectors, though they left the computer which saved all of the information on the hard drive, in tact. meanwhile, all of this time, rik

abbot is waiting in the pitch dark, scared to pieces in the museum basement. as he waited for something to happen next, he suddenly realized someone was staring at him. >> either through sweating or struggling or both, at some point, the duct tape had slipped down. so i could see a little bit over the duct tape, kind of. and at one point, somebody did come and check on me. somebody was standing on the end looking down at me. they didn't say anything and i -- it spiked me up again, i was freaking out again. but trying not to, like, oh, my god, i have to pretend i can't see this person. that would definitely not be good if they realized i could see them. >> reporter: rick says he lost track of time and wasn't sure exactly when the thief came to check on him. that was the last he'd see of them. their job was done. but remember the video camera perched outside the door where they entered? the thieves must have known it

was there. and must have known where it was hooked up to. because before they left the museum, they made one last move to be sure nobody ever recognized them. >> it was a point where they kicked open a door, pried open a door, broke it pretty badly and took the video tape we had, the only evidence of what they looked like, from the security director's office. >> reporter: at 2:41 a.m., the doors of the museum opens and closes. and then opens and closes again four minutes later. it must have taken the thieves those two trips in and out to load up the art. then, just as suddenly as they arrived, the thieves were gone. >> once they leave, they're never heard from again. >> reporter: rick abbot's fear that the thieves were going to burn down the museum prove to be unfounded. the museum was left largely unharmed. but 13 of the greatest works of

art, worth about half a billion dollars, were missing. rick says he just remembers waiting and waiting and waiting. police found him the next morning. >> the police came around the corner with flashlights and the guy seemed surprised and screamed out, whoa, we've got another one. and i was just, like, coming off the box. my hands had fallen asleep a long time ago. >> reporter: rick was relieved to be found and to be alive. but he knew almost immediately that he was a suspect. >> i knew i was. i mean, i opened up the door, you know. i mean, once i sat down with the f.b.i., i think the first thing i said was what do you want to know? because i knew. i mean, well, i'm the guy who opened up the door, they're obviously going to be looking at ne. the f.b.i. certainly was looking at him. was it an inside job? how else could the thieves have pulled this off?

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>> reporter: dawn and the damage was done. when security guards showed up for their regular morning shift and rang the buzzer, which they normally did, they knew

immediately something was wrong. they called their supervisor and the f.b.i. and police were on the scene. reality sunk in. $500 million worth of art was gone. there was no trace of the thieves. authorities got an idea of what the bad guys looked like from the two night watchmen, the only ones to see the thieves up close. but it all happened so fast. they were tied up and blindfolded within minutes. watchman rick abbot gave this description of the guards to a sketch artist. >> the guy who was dealing with me was kind of taller and skinny and was wearing his gold-framed, like, round glasses, if i remember correctly and he had a mustache. and i remember before he arrested me, it looked really greasy.

i was thinking he was using some funky kind of wax or something on that. it was probably a fake mustache. >> but the description from rick and the other guard didn't satisfy the f.b.i. everyone rick admits the sketch they produced didn't really look like either of the two men. >> i remember, at the time, thinki there's no way they're going to catch these people from this. unfortunately, that's one of the frustrating aspects of this case is the descriptions that are given were very vague. very generic. >> jeff kelly from the f.b.i.'s boston office is the lead agent in this case. without a good description and virtually no other public information about the thooef's identity, the investigators begin to focus their attention on the museum employees. >> these guys had a very -- they had a level of comfort in that museum that really points to the fact that if it wasn't an inside job, they definitely had inside information. >> both the f.b.i. and the

museum security director are stuck on the fact that the thieves spent 81 minutes inside the museum. anthony amore says that is eight times as long as the typical art theft. >> there was a covert -- just like you'd see in a movie drn and the thieves knew that that hadn't been hit as by how much time they spent in the museum. >> they were not concerned at all that the police were on their way. >> so how they knew that the guard didn't hit that alarm is a mystery to me. >> but did the thieves really know the alarms had not been set off? or could that be why they waited a while to start dismantling the art. remember, motion detectors didn't pick up the thieves' trail until 24 minutes after they entered the museum. >> apparently, there was a half hour between -- 20 min ts between when they tied us up and when they actually headed into the gallery.

and i've seen a lot of people questioning well, what were they doing? they were probably waiting to see if we did press the panic button. they were probably waiting to see if the cops were going to show up. >> according to the f.b.i., nearly nine of every ten museum heists have an inside component. rick abbot, the guard who left the thieves in was interrogated for days. he also took lie detector tests. he was never charged with anything. and when we talked with him, he maintained he had nothing to do with the heist. and what about the regular night watchman who called in sick that night? rick remembers after he buzzed the thieves into the museum, they asked him if he was alone. >> i wonder if that -- are you here alone? there were provisions for a single guard to be here. i wonder if are you here alone meant did they get anybody to come in?

but i don't know. >> but that night watchman, the one who called in sick, was never charged, either. in fact, no museum employee has ever been charged with anything in connection with the crime. though investigators say no one has been completely cleared, either. so with no apparent connections with museum employees, who else could have been involved? notorious art thieves miles connor was already a known figure among art thieves in boston. in 1975, he stole a rembrandt from a museum of fine art. but in 1990, at the time of the gardener theft, he was in jail and no known connections were ever found. mobster david turner from boston was also considered a possible suspect with various publications pointing out the resemblance between f.b.i. sketch and turner. but no evidence has ever surfaced.

boston crime boss whiteybulger was also suspected to be involved. >> certainly, if you're looking at boston, which is a huge irish population, and in -- it's not unusual or you wouldn't be incorrect in assuming that there might be some connection. to the i.r.a. the i.r.a. has done it before where they've taken paintings and basically ransomed them back for money. they've done this in the past. and because of the connection to boston, it's not improbable. but, again, like many of the other theories, there's nothing concrete that we've developed over the years. >> the justice department has publicly disavowed any link between bulger and the gardener museum. and so the search for the thieves continues. and, at the same time, the

effort to recover priceless works of art. >> this is the creme dela creme of art recovery. >> reporter: this is the world's largest data base of stolen art. he's been waiting to see if any of the stolen art from the gardener museum has come up for sale anywhere in the world. after all, if the thieves are after money, they will try and sell the art. so marinello watches and waits. >> we'd probably be the first ones to know about it. we do explore a lot of leads. we pass on those leads to law enforcement and let them run with it. >> reporter: investigator robert whitman says when it comes to stealing art, the actual theft is the easy part. once they have the goods, they need to know how to sell it without kbet getting caught. >> that's the next step. and if they're going to sell it, it's like a car. it's not like that.

the market for these artworks is very small. >> reporter: according to whitman, nearly all stolen, high-end artwork is eventually recovered. investigators continued with their search. chasing down countless tips and leads. then, in 1994, a possible breakthrough. that year, the museum director received a mysterious, un-signed letter poststamped from new york. the anonymous writer said he had access to the stolen art and would barter them back for 1% of their value. >> the writer asked for two things. one was that the investigation stand down. what he meant by that was he was worried that those people who would facilitate -- help him facilitate the return, would get arrested. and if he couldn't assure them fully that no one was going to get arrested here, that then the deal was off.

and the second thing he asked for was that an indication come from the museum that they were willing to engage the f.b.i. and go for serious negotiations here. >> the indication the writer asked for was this. the number one printed in the boston globe currency table next to the italian lira. the museum complied and printed the secret signal and then they, and inves investigators waited. >> and then they received a second memo. thank you very much. i appreciate the willingness to engage. i saw the one. however, i must tell you that we are still worried that they have not stood down. that the f.b.i. has not stood down. >> the hot lead went cold fast. the museum never heard from that person again.

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>> reporter: what happened inside this museum baffles investigators even today.

they haven't been able to catch the thieves and $500 million worth of art seems to have vanished without a trace. >> reporter: boston's last, best secret. who stole the 13 works of art from the isabella stewart gardener museum? and where are they now? it is a question that continues to puzzle museum security director anthony amore. >> what is it about this case that keeps you up at night that still doesn't sit right with you? >> there were lots of quirk ki things about it. every time you turn around, there's a different i., interesting fact that you find. >> one of the biggest questions for amore is why did the thieves steal what they did? remember the path on the second floor? when they went from the dutch room to the short gallery, they bypass valuable works of art that were small and portable. and worth a lot more than some

of the other art they stole. >> the two, big rembrandts and the vamere, those three pieces account for 90% of let's call it $500 million, $400 million, whatever the mix, of the value. >> reporter: another big question, why did the thieves bother taken a golden finial that sat on top of a flag? at first, it seems they atechted to steal the flag itself. but it proved to be too difficult to take down. >> they wanted very badly to get that flag. that's always seemed to me to be the clue that is the most interesting. and i know the f.b.i. has spent a lot of time trying to figure that out. visiting, talking to, associations who are involved with napoleonic memorabilia to see was there a bounty for one of these banners? >> reporter: why did the thieves want that flag so badly?

is it possible they were given a specific list of artwork to steal? by a collector who especially loved those 13 works of art? that brings us to another theory. one that has been made popular by hollywood. >> $1 million, mr. bond. >> do you think it's possible that they're in some private gallery owned by some eccentric billionaire? >> no. no. >> reporter: no? >> the whole idea that a collector is holding onto stolen works of art all came from that movie "dr. no. he looks over and sees a painting hanging on the wall. and that painting had been stolen the year before. that actually did happen. in 20 years, the f.b.i. and five years since then, i've never run into a collector who had million dollar paintings that were stolen. >> reporter: anthony amore

doesn't buy the dr. no theory, either. >> my gut instinct is not far. typically, when art is stolen, it doesn't get moved very far. if i had to guess, it's still in new england. >> the u.s. attorney's office has offered complete immunity to anyone who came forward with invest on the pantdings. and the museum is offering a 5 million dlarsz award. that's a lot of money on the table. so why hasn't anyone come forward? >> the other alternative is that whoever has them just is waiting for the right time. and it's not a question of the $5 million or immunity. it's a question of this individual might get jammed up on some other unrelated crime and he or she might feel that this is their trump card to get out of prison. >> stolen art can be a get-out-of-jail free card for criminals, kwh is why the notorious whiteybulger was looked at with suspicion for a while. and more recently, authorities

searched the home of robert gentile who was in prison on drug and weapons charges. they found no sign of the artwork and gentile remains behind bars. there are some who don't completely buy this theory. former f.b.i. agent robert whitman is one of them. >> my personal opinion, just from experience, i think some of it has been dispersed in different places. i think it's still possible that -- it's possible that they could be in western europe. >> whitman's theory is based on a 2006 lead the f.b.i. called operation masterpiece. >> it was resurfacing somewhere in the south of france at that time. they were being offered for sale for approximately $30 million at that point. >> hoping to crack the case, whitman went undercover as an interested buyer. and although the f.b.i. did recover $65 million of stolen

art, not a single piece turned out to be stolen from the gardener museum. but that doesn't mean that the people offering the artwork didn't have it. in fact, they talked specifically about selling the missing rembrandt sea scape and possible lid the vermere. >> the reason i say this, i've worked for this almost 20 years at that point. through my experience, you know, i think that these people were talking in reality. they were talking about things they really had. >> reporter: but that was nearly 7 years ago. and whitman fears the paintings could be anywhere by now. for art crime investigators, this gardener artwork had become the holy grail. >> i think everybody that knows about art theft and art recovery knows these 13 items. they've been widely publicized. i think these pieces are unsalable in today's marketplace.

>> reporter: if that's true, what will become of them? how will investigators ever find them? with offers of immunity, reward, the mystery only deepens. >> reporter: the museum is >> reporter: the museum is considered one of the finest sk ♪ feed the senses. waiting for your wrinkle cream to work? neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair has the fastest retinol formula. to visibly reduce fine lines and wrinkles in just one week. neutrogena®. new griddle-melts to yourimees usual breakfast sandwich. week. a lot more flavor. [ anouncer ] ihop's new griddle melts... made fresh and hot! hand crafted just for you. it's like a sexy sandwich. [ anouncer ] compare new griddle melts yourself. just $4.99. it's an epic breakfast sandwich.

...and we inspected his brakes for free. -free is good. -free is very good. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke. >> reporter: the museum is considered one of the finest institutions in boston. so when two men posing as boston police officers made off with 13 works of art, it became priority number one for investigators working the case. their goal has always been to

return the stolen artwork to where it belongs. but even if they do one day, what may always haunt them is how the thieves knew the museum was so vulnerable. >> for 23 years, these empty frames have hung on the walls of the isabella stewart gardener museum. but they are more than just evidence of a remarkable crime. they are a sign of hope. place holders for when the paintings return. all of these years, one thing investigators haven't been able to figure out, besides where the artwork may be, is how did the master mind behind this heist know security was so thin at the museum? just two night watchmen, one panic button, motion detectors that could be dodged and one security camera outside. did the thieves have help from inside? would they have been able to

pull it off without inside information? suspicion still surrounds the men on guard that night. night watchman rick abbot said while he doesn't know of anyone in the museum who would have knowingly tipped the criminals to the laxed security set-up, he admits it was a topic he and other guards spoke about auchb. >> we talked about in terms if the place got robbed or when it would get robbed. the security was very much a concern. we knew there were no alarms on the paintings. there was no alarms that went outside the place other than the panic button. it was definitely a concern. >> a concern that he and others would speak about in public. >> if you're worried about vulnerability in the security system, you can sell that. you -- and that's what i think happened here. someone who had some interest in

art made known to the criminal underworld, to a gang that he or she was familiar with. the information that this museum's security system is abysmal. and this is the components of it. how that person learned of it, whether he or she had a relationship with one of the guards, had picked it up at barroom conversation, that's yet to be determined. >> reporter: to this day, no museum employee, including rick abbot, has been fully cleared of the crime. investigators are also still trying to determine why the thieves took what they did. and a more tantalizing question. the treasures of what they left behind. >> two doors down was a michelangelo. they walked about a half dozen times by raphaels. they walked by a boticeli. to think these things were bypassed, when they had all of this time, ample opportunity to take them. >> and why the golden finial? a seemingly random object to

steal. unless there's a connection to the lead investigated by the f.b.i. back in 2006. that tip originated in the south of france, which could mean the master mind behind the crime was interested in acquiring napoleonic artifacts as well as the art. still, so many questions, so few, reliable leads. but the trail may not be as cold as you think. >> we do find that there's those two polar extremes. one is a very quickly after the theft, we'll locate the work because it's being offered for sale. or art will go underground and we won't see it for a decade. very little in between. >> reporter: the investigators uncovered a piece of art that was stolen 25 years ago. he hopes that the gardener pieces will resurface.

so does anthony amore. >> reporter: do you think you're close? >> i do. i've been saying that for a couple years now. people are going to start to wonder about me. but it's a slow process. we liken it to a needle in a hay stack. but we're trying to make the hay stack smaller. >> and it seems that hay stack is finally getting smaller. just this week, 23 years after the heist, the f.b.i. announced they have identified the thieves who pulled it off. agents refuse to reveal the thieves' identities, citing an on going investigation. they would only say the thieves were part of a criminal organization based in new england and the mid at lantic. and because it's been so long, the statute of limitations has expired. the thieves can no longer be prosecuted. and the stolen artwork? all 13 pieces remain missing. >> we have reason to believe

it's likely that the artwork has changed hands several times. >> reporter: investigators are also offering the possibility of immunity to anyone who has the artwork. they just want the artwork back in good condition. because if the paintings are stashed somewhere, perhaps hidden in an attic or behind a basement wall without the right temperature or right humidity, they will be ruined, if they're not already. it's a scenario investigators hate to even talk about because it would likely mean these 13 masterpieces are gone forever from public view. >> we all have a complication to maine tan this material for our children. and when something like that happens, and if it's destroyed, well, we'll be letting our children down. >> it's stolen from the museum, it's stolen from boston, it's stolen from america, it's stolen from the world. >> i was a victim. the city of boston was a victim. >> it's a huge, huge theft. and one day, we're hoping it

will be a huge, huge recovery. >> reporter: if that day ever comes and the half of billion dollars worth of art was returned here, there would be a celebration. only then would we finally have some answers as to how these two anonymous thieves were able to flawlessly pull off the greatest art heist in history and then vanish with the artwork into the dark of night without a trace. i'm randi kaye in boston. thanks for watching. (announcer) make mornings special, with fancy feast mornings gourmet cat food. mornings are delicious protein rich entrees with garden veggies and egg. fancy feast mornings. the best ingredient is love. love your passat! um. listen, gary. i bought the last one. nice try. says right here you can get one for $199 a month. you can't believe the lame-stream media, gary. they're all gone. maybe i'll get one.

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