In this episode of Crimes of History, we go inside one of the most baffling and audacious art thefts the world has ever seen — the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist.

On a quiet March night in 1990, two men disguised as Boston police officers gained entry into the museum and disappeared into the darkness with 13 priceless works of art valued at over $500 million. Among the stolen treasures were masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Degas — artworks that have never been recovered.

More than three decades later, the empty frames still hang on the museum’s walls — a haunting tribute to what was lost and a symbol of one of the greatest unsolved crimes in history. Was it the work of organized crime? A local inside job? Or an international smuggling ring?

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