Detectives still seek missing ruby slippers from Oz

One of the pairs of ruby slippers from the movie “The Wizard of Oz” is shown here in the Smithsonian. Another was stolen several years ago from a northern Minnesota in what increasingly looks like a complicated caper. PHOTO: Jonathan Smiley / Creative Commons

The story made national headlines and ample fodder for late night jokes when one of the pairs of ruby slippers worn by Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” was stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota in 2005. There were no arrests. It was a crude “smash and grab” job on a pair of iconic slippers valued at more than half a million dollars.

Folks have long suspected that someone with insider knowledge snatched the ruby slippers, something denied by the slippers’ owner and proprietors of the northern Minnesota museum.

Now this. A private investigator brought in to reopen the case told the local newspaper that he might have the case cracked … soon. Here’s an excerpt from the Lisa Rosemore story in the Grand Rapids Herald-Review:

According to a spokesperson from a Twin Cities private investigation firm, there may be a break in the theft of the slippers, which were stolen from a display at the Judy Garland Museum in August 2005. Despite numerous leads, no suspects have ever been publicly named in the theft. The stolen slippers were one of several pairs of ruby slippers Grand Rapids native Judy Garland wore in the 1939 movie, “The Wizard of Oz.”

“We’ve had several developments in the case,” said Rob Feeney, spokesman for Alexander and Associates, which was hired to look into the theft. “Our agency believes the slippers are still in Minnesota.”

The private investigation firm was hired late summer of 2012, according to John Kelsch, executive director of the Judy Garland Museum. An anonymous contributor is paying for the investigation.

The oddness of this case continues to compound. Why is this in the paper? Obviously the investigation firm wanted the story planted. How does that help? Are they trying to flush out the slippers?

Oh, slippers of abnormal importance to many people for reasons mostly unrelated to the movie, where are you?