歪歪漫画

MINNEAPOLIS 鈥� A Minnesota man has been federally charged after prosecutors said he stole a pair of ruby slippers used in "The Wizard of Oz."

A grand jury in Minnesota's U.S. District Court indicted Terry Jon Martin on Tuesday, May 16, with theft of an object of cultural heritage from the care, custody, or control of a museum, according to a statement issued Wednesday by the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office in North Dakota.

Martin is accused of stealing the slippers on or about Aug. 27 or 28, 2005 , from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, prosecutors said. Court records did not list an attorney for Martin as of Wednesday.

The slippers have an estimated value of $3.5 million. At the time of the theft, the slippers were insured for $1 million. They are one of four pairs still in existence, prosecutors said.

The slippers that were worn by Garland in the 1939 film were recovered by the FBI and Grand Rapids Police Department in July 2018.

The FBI in Minneapolis investigated the theft, but the U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office for the District of North Dakota has been assigned to prosecute the case for an undisclosed reason.

鈥淏ecause the case is ongoing, the United States Attorney鈥檚 Office for the District of North Dakota will have no additional comment at this time,鈥� according to a statement from the office.

Court documents unsealed on Wednesday did not give details of how Martin allegedly stole the slippers.

He is not in custody but is slated to make his first federal court appearance in a few weeks in Minneapolis, said Terry VanHorn, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in North Dakota. A court summons was issued Wednesday for Martin.

Authorities have not released Martin's age or which city he's from. "I can鈥檛 release any further information about the suspect that is not on the indictment," VanHorn said.

Smithsonian photo via the FBI

Few details have been released to the public on where the ruby slippers have been and how they were recovered.

What is known is the slippers, also called the "traveling pair," were nearing the end of a 10-week loan to the Judy Garland Museum when they were taken. Garland, who played Dorothy Gale in "The Wizard of Oz," grew up in Grand Rapids. Her home was turned into a museum that curates artifacts and memorabilia from the movie.

Someone broke through an emergency exit door, shattered the glass case containing the slippers and fled with them, according to news reports.

The museum's alarm system was not set properly, so security was not notified about the break-in, news reports said.

Law enforcement investigated various tips, including sending a dive team to the west of Grand Rapids. In 2018, then-Grand Rapids Police Chief Scott Johnson said one tip suggested the slippers were "nailed to a wall in a roadside diner in Missouri."

The FBI held a press conference on Sept. 4, 2018, announcing that the slippers had been found in Minneapolis after police received a "breakthrough tip." They noted an extortion scheme that attempted to defraud the insurance company that owns the slippers.

Law enforcement served search warrants in Minnesota and Florida in connection to the investigation. In a vague statement, the FBI said the slippers were found during a "sting operation."

After the slippers were recovered, the FBI sent them to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. That's where conservators compared and authenticated the slippers to the Smithsonian's own pair.