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. same path backwards, goes to the early italian room, the raphael room, all the while, passing incredibly priceless art. famous art. raphaels. important chinese pieces. fran jell ko. and walked back to the short gallery where the thief takes five sketches degas. a napoleonic finial from the top of a flag that napoleon s first regiment carried.
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
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 car
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.
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?