‘Wizard of Oz’ slippers resurface after 13 years

A pair of ruby red slippers, produced for Judy Garland to wear in the Wizard of Oz, have been discovered by police over a decade after they were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minneapolis. The discovery ends years of intrigue and scandal surrounding the whereabouts of the shoes.

The slippers were recovered during an undercover operation in Minneapolis, the FBI revealed in a press conference today. Their lead came in summer 2017 when an individual approached the company that insured the slippers, claiming he had information about the shoes and how they could be returned. It quickly became clear he was attempting to extort the slippers’ owners and police were contacted.

Special agent Christopher Dudley, who led the investigation from the FBI’s Minneapolis division, explained that “our top priority was the safe recovery of the slippers”. He added that multiple suspects have been identified but that law enforcement “are still working to ensure that we have identified all parties involved in both the initial theft and the more recent extortion attempt for their return”.

The slippers were loaned to the museum in 2005 by movie memorabilia collector Michael Shaw. One morning in August 2005, museum staff found the slippers gone, the case containing them smashed. An alarm had been tripped yet had apparently failed to notify police as it was programmed to do.

–Guardian News & Media Ltd