Legendary Wizard of Oz ruby slippers found 13 years after brazen heist

In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy famously clicked the heels of her ruby slippers three times and repeated, "There's no place like home." Now those iconic slippers have found their way home after going missing 13 years ago, almost to the day.

On August 28, 2005, the red sequined shoes were taken from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, where they were on loan from private collector Michael Shaw, who bought them for $2,000 in 1970, along with Dorothy's dress, the witch's hat and a munchkin costume. Since then, their value has soared into the millions. 

The theft was a complete mystery: someone broke into the museum at 2 a.m., smashed the plexiglass case that housed the shoes, and fled without leaving fingerprints or other evidence behind. The museum's security system was also lacking, and didn't notify police that a theft had occurred, so there were few leads.

For years people have theorized over what might have happened to the pair of ruby shoes, with some saying that Shaw himself might have stolen the shoes in order to collect the insurance money (this theory was investigated and found to be untrue), or that they might be in a weighted plastic container at the bottom of the deep Tioga Mine Pit Lake.

"They have a festival up at the museum every year, right around Judy's birthday, and they decided to send a team of divers underwater to search for the shoes. They didn't find anything," said documentarian Morgan White with host Gill Deacon in a 2015 q interview.

"But that's not shocking considering the fact it's 250 feet deep and it's a pretty big pit, so it would have taken days and days and days of digging and people have been in there before and they have haven't found them either. The fact of the matter is those shoes, if they are in there, which they probably are, have been there for 10 years. So the likelihood of finding them is slim to nil. It's like searching for a needle in a haystack."

Now that needle has been found, with the FBI today announcing that the stolen slippers had been located — although there are no details of how they were found, or who might be responsible for the theft. According to an FBI press release, there are multiple witnesses, and the case could involve an extortion attempt.

"We 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. This is very much an active investigation," said Special Agent Christopher Dudley, who led the investigation from the FBI's Minneapolis Division at a press conference. "There are certainly people out there who have additional knowledge regarding both the theft and the individuals responsible for concealing the slippers all these years." he said. "We are asking that you come forward."

According ot the FBI release, in 2017 someone approached the company that insured the shoes, saying he had information about where they were and how they could be returned. That's when the FBI became involved, and after a yearlong investigation involving offices in Chicago, Atlanta and Miami, the slippers were recovered during an undercover operation in Minneapolis.

The shoes have since been taken to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. for analysis and comparison.

The shoes are one of four known pairs that Garland wore in the 1939 film. One is already housed in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, where they were removed from display in 2016 and a crowdfunding campaign was launched to cover the immense cost — hundreds of thousands of dollars — to restore them.

In 2012, Leonardo DiCaprio helped purchase another pair for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

"There's nothing bigger than the ruby slippers," said White in 2015. "I mean there are things that have sold for more money. But in terms of a prize, that is it. There are four pairs in existence. There's a really great story and a really great mystery behind them and everybody wants them. Everybody wants them in the movie — and it stems to real life. Everyone wants them in real life.

"And if you are a film collector who loves classic Hollywood, what better piece of iconic Hollywood memorabilia would you want other than the ruby slippers? They're just it."

"Recovering a cultural item of this importance is significant," the FBI's Dudley said. "So many people of all ages around the world have seen The Wizard of Oz and in that way have some connection to the slippers. That's one of the things that makes this case resonate with so many."