there's no place like home

The Wizard of Oz’s Stolen Ruby Slippers Have Finally Been Recovered

It took 13 years—and a lot more effort than the police simply clicking their heels three times.
Ruby Slippers Wizard of Oz 1939.
By MGM/Kobal/Shutterstock/REX.

Update (5:45 P.M.): At a press conference Tuesday, FBI special agent Jill Sanborn showed reporters the recovered slippers in a covered case—but who lifted the shoes in the first place remains unknown.

“We reached the first goal, the recovery, and it's a great day,” North Dakota United States Attorney Christopher Myers told reporters. “But we’re not done.” The investigation into who stole the heels and how will continue.

The original post continues below.

After 13 years, it appears that police have finally found the stolen pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz. The shoes—one of four pairs the actress sported during filming—had been missing since 2005, when they were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. On Tuesday afternoon, the police will announce precisely how and where they located the glimmering footwear. So far, it’s unknown whether anyone will be charged, or where the shoes will go now that they’ve been recovered. But this we know for certain: it took a lot more work to recover these shoes than clicking anyone’s heels together three times.

As CNN reports, rumors about the shoes’ whereabouts have abounded for years—ever since staffers at Garland’s hometown museum arrived one morning to find their glass case smashed and empty. The museum’s alarm had gone off, but somehow police dispatch never received a signal. There were no fingerprints and no security camera footage. Per The New York Times, the only trace left behind of the shoes was a single red sequin. After combing over the case with very few leads, the Times reports, police eventually offered up a $1 million reward.

Another wrinkle? The shoes did not belong to the museum, but were on loan from memorabilia collector Michael Shaw. Some theorists suspected that the theft was an inside job—but museum co-founder Jon Miner and Executive Director John Kelsch both vehemently denied such notions in the 2016 documentary The Slippers. “We’re the ones that want to find them because they were entrusted to us,” Miner said. Added Kelsch, “Our people, they love the museum. They wouldn’t have done that. These are honest people.”

Right alongside the star actors and beloved costumes, movie props have long been integral pieces of Hollywood iconography; just ask the Maltese Falcon. As such, they’re liable to get stolen—as happened with multiple Captain America bikes from Easy Rider. As such, certain security precautions must be taken even during filming; while making the original Roseanne, for instance, production designer Garvin Eddy said he eventually had the show’s instantly recognizable granny-square afghan stitched to the show’s couch, certain it would otherwise be stolen. On the bright side, it appears the ruby slippers have finally been saved from the black market—or somebody’s basement. As the line goes, there’s no place like home. (Sorry.)