$160M Painting Was Found In This Couple’s Home, And No One Knew How It Got There

160 million dollar painting uncovered in couple's home when the call came it shattered his world he felt like a deer in the headlights as the FBI carefully explained what his favorite aunt and uncle had done but he refused to believe it the family members that he knew and loved couldn't possibly have committed one of the biggest crimes of the 1980s but then a seed of doubt started to sprout in his mind do we really know the people around us do we really know our friends neighbors and relatives two Houston resident Ron Grossman Rita and Jerome altar were model citizens they were well educated and well-loved in their community by friends and neighbors alike they were both schoolteachers who had saved enough money to travel all seven continents Ron was particularly mesmerised by his uncle stories but there was another story about Jerome and Rita's secret life that he would only learn much much later the alters seemed like normal middle-class citizens who'd taken up residence in Clift New Mexico in the 1970s Jerry loved traveling art and adventure while Rita's seemed to be a shining example of kindness to all who met her she worked as a speech pathologist and was more than supportive when Jerry decided to retire from his job as a music teacher at the young age of 48 to pursue the finer things in life although the neighbors knew the alters they said later that they tended to keep to themselves what nobody ever suspected was that the couple was hiding a momentous secret when Jerry passed away of natural causes in 2011 Rita followed just five years later they left behind two children Barbara and Joseph who were now adults if Ron Roseman hadn't been left as the executor of their estate purely because he lived the closest to cliff New Mexico the alters crime may never have seen the light of day Ron decided to put the alters cliff home up for sale and he invited a horde of dealers to come in to assess their possessions most of them were snapped up in a frenzy and carted off in just a few days African artifacts pieces of furniture and paintings were sold to the highest bidder and for just $2,000 David Van Walker from Silver City claimed all the spoils $2,000 wasn't merely as much as Ron had hoped for but he was glad to wind down his late aunt and uncle's estate little did he know there was something priceless among the items that the antique dealer hauled into his car that day Ron never suspected that this particular item had been under investigation for the last 33 years and the case was about to be blown wide open David Vann Hawker was filled with glee at the bargain he found when he began to sort and price the assets he'd purchased for a pittance but as he inspected the items one by one his eyes kept moving back to one particular item he had a feeling that he just couldn't explain when he looked at it but he would only know what it was after he began to dig deeper into the mystery David put the day's work in the back of his mind as he returned to his home in pinos altos that evening the next day however one of his newly acquired pieces was quickly becoming the talk of the town an artist with sharp eye happened to walk into his antique dealership men's Anita Ridge antiques and said the five words that prompted David to call the FBI who then called Ron Roseman it's my favorite aunt and uncle Ron recalled you know I couldn't imagine you know scenarios running through my head I felt like a deer in the headlights at first Ron refuses to believe with the FBI's accusing Jerry and Rita of then the reality of it slowly sinks in could his own beloved aunt and uncle have pulled off one of the most brazen heists in American history it's the morning of November 25th 1985 a lone security guard is opening up the door at the largest and most popular museum in Tucson Arizona to let a staff member pass it's early and the museum isn't officially open for the day yet but that doesn't deter the then-unknown couple as they approach to start a conversation the woman who looks to be in her 60s chance idly - the security guard about anything's you can think of they talk about art and the weather while a man slips into the building unnoticed where he heads straight to the third floor a few minutes pass and the man suddenly reappears by the woman's side they make a hasty retreat into a rust red two-door sports car the security guard is suspicious that the couple didn't stay to go inside the museum so he goes to investigate with a sinking feeling in his stomach as it was 1985 there were no security cameras in the museum to catch the man in the act the security guard quickly realized what's happened as he stares at the empty frame on the third floor the priceless painting woman ochre by renowned Dutch artist William de Kooning is missing all that remains is a rectangular piece of canvas where the painting had been cut from its frame with a blade the police found no fingerprints and the only clue was the guards description of the mysterious couple in their getaway car but they had no license plate number William de Kooning was a prominent painter of abstracts in the mid-century expressionist movement and his paintings are exceptionally valuable one painting has been sold for a staggering 137.5 million dollars the famous art heist of woman ochre had remained unsolved for three decades until an unassuming dealer realized just what it was that he had sitting in his Silver City antique store David Vanacore had thought nothing of the abstract painting that he'd acquired at the altars estate until an artist had walked into a store and seen it exclaiming that's a William de Kooning but the chances of him stumbling upon such a momentous piece of history only started to dawn on him once he'd conducted some research he read the article about the painting that was stolen from the Arizona Museum of Art and his eyes grew wide in their sockets David's astonishment quickly became fear as he realized just what he had miss possession he had to hide it away from prying eyes ironically the only door that locked in the store was the bathroom so he moved the 40 by 30 inch painting there and locked it inside we were afraid someone would bash it or flick paint off it so that's when we decided we pick it up and stick it somewhere safe Van talker explained later then II called the Tucson Museum I had daydreams of getting that phone call of someone calling up or someone mysteriously sending a package in the painting being inside of it said Olivia Miller curator for you AMA I don't think I honestly thought it would actually happen but Olivia was naturally skeptical about David's find at first then David related a crucial detail that changed everything the thing he said that really stood out that made me I was taking it seriously but really made me stop was he said there were lines across it as if it's cracked like it's been rolled up Olivia Miller recounted ok that's just a detail that nobody could just say that that's when Chief Brian C stone got a call chief Brian C stone had investigated the theft of the de Kooning painting for over 30 years and he always had a feeling in his heart that he would one day crack the case I just had this feeling C stone added so 32 years later I got to see the tears of joy and happiness as it really did come home soon afterward the painting was examined carefully and the signature was found to be authentic the painting was the real deal and the most surprising detail the altars had kept it long behind their bedroom door away from prying eyes for over three decades and new evidence points to the seemingly ordinary couple as the ones who had stolen the painting my personal thought and it may be totally wrong but when I first saw where the painting was hanging in the house it was for their private display buck burns co owner of an antique shop said not for anybody else it was hung behind that door and when that door was open nobody could see it but the most incriminating evidence had been under everyone's noses all along Jerome Jerry altar had written a book of short stories in 2011 entitled the cup and the lip one of the stories inside is a fictitious account of a woman and her daughter who steal a 120 carat jewel from a museum by distracting the guard stealing the jewel and fleeing in a getaway vehicle when they arrive home they hang the jewel in a secret panel in their home where it will stay for their exclusive viewing pleasure but Ron Roseman cannot or will not believe that his aunt and uncle were involved in the theft I just can't imagine that they would he said sadly that wasn't the aunt and uncle that I knew unfortunately for him new incriminating evidence against Jerry and Rita alter was found in 2018 that is certainly food for thought in 2018 a photograph of Jerry and Rita was found it was dated 1985 and was taken in Tucson on Thanksgiving just a day before the de Kooning piece was stolen in a photo in the altars personal collection it surfaced that Jerry drove a red sports car just like the one that had been described by the security guard on the day the painting was stolen many people also believe that the police sketch of the couple rendered in 1985 bears a striking resemblance to Jerry and Rita altar and if that's not enough evidence against them nobody can explain how the two teachers with their modest salaries could afford to travel so extensively and own a 20 hectare property in Clift New Mexico the investigation continues and no arrests have been made thus far we'll never know if the couple really did pull off one of the greatest art thefts of the 20th century but all evidence certainly suggests they did and got away with it the de Kooning painting woman ochre has been returned to the Arizona Museum where hopefully it will remain safe it's been given an evaluation of over 160 million dollars [Music]

Channel: Did You Know ?

Views: 14,757

Rating: 4.8596492 out of 5

Keywords: Did You Know, $160M, Painting, true stories, inspirational stories, motivation, motivational stories, life stories, viral story, trending stories, News, art, painting, documentary, new mexico, jason whitely, de kooning painting, de kooning documentary, willem de kooning, university of arizona, wfaa, art mystery documentary, art mystery

Id: dKqTlP1JX00

Length: 10min 6sec (606 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 23 2019