In the late 1980s, university libraries start to notice items missing from their rare book collections and suspect they’ve been robbed. That's when a lone university police officer takes the case, helping to lead the FBI to a mansion in Ottumwa, Iowa, where they make a shocking discovery of more than 23,000 stolen rare books and manuscripts. In a heist spanning 20 years, hundreds of libraries across the United States and Canada had been hit by the most prolific book thief in world history.

Scamtown is an Apple Original podcast, produced by FunMeter. Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts.

http://apple.co/Scamtown