Fan offers $1 million reward for Judy Garland's stolen ruby slippers

[July 14, 2015]  (Reuters) - "There's no place like home," said Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz" and one fan clearly agrees after offering a $1 million reward for information about a pair of the ruby slippers she wore in the film that have been missing for a decade.

The red sequined shoes, one of four pairs the actress wore in the 1939 movie classic, were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown Grand Rapids, Minnesota in August 2005.

The museum's executive director John Kelsch told Reuters an anonymous donor -- from Arizona and a "huge fan" of the film -- had come forward two weeks ago with the offer following the museum's "Wizard of Oz" Festival.

"He heard of our efforts," Kelsch said, adding the reward stipulated that the exact current location of the slippers and the name(s) of the perpetrator(s) be communicated.

Police said it took less than a minute for the shoes to disappear in the smash and grab robbery and only a sequin was found, according to Kelsch.

Those on display currently at the museum are a replica, with a sign saying there have been no leads as to where the originals may be. Kelsch said the shoes could now be worth around $2 million to $3 million.

(Reporting by Reuters Television; additional reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian in London; Editing by Gareth Jones)
 

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