---
title: "Louvre Museum Heist: Thieves Still at Large After $100 Million Theft"
url: https://newscentral.site/louvre-museum-heist-thieves-still-at-large-after-100-million-theft/
language: en
publisher: "News Central Site"
section: "World"
published: 2026-10-19T02:01:56.000Z
updated: 2026-10-19T09:02:57.582Z
id: fcec148f-2d59-4160-89b0-0d6e6ae36a0a
source: "France 24 English https://www.france24.com/en/france/20261019-louvre-100-million-crown-jewels-one-year-heist"
attribution: "Link to https://newscentral.site/louvre-museum-heist-thieves-still-at-large-after-100-million-theft/ and name News Central Site when you quote or summarize this story."
---

# Louvre Museum Heist: Thieves Still at Large After $100 Million Theft

A year has passed since thieves stole eight irreplaceable treasures, including jewelry once owned by Empress Eugenie, from the Louvre Museum in Paris.

A year has passed since thieves pulled off a daring heist at the Louvre Museum in Paris, making off with $100 million worth of crown jewels. The brazen robbery took place on October 19 last year, when the thieves disguised as workers used industrial disc-cutters to break into the museum.

The stolen items include eight irreplaceable treasures, including jewelry once owned by Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III. President Emmanuel Macron described the heist as an attack on France's history and cultural heritage. The theft has left authorities scrambling to recover the stolen artifacts.

Despite the suspects being in jail awaiting trial, police appear to have exhausted all leads regarding the location of the stolen jewels. Experts from law enforcement and private art theft agencies believe that if the thieves acted alone, they may have hidden their loot somewhere within the Paris region.

Christopher Marinello, an expert from Art Recovery International, suggests that there was a brief window in which the thieves could have concealed or buried the treasures.

The investigation into the heist at the Louvre's storage facility in December 2019 is still ongoing, despite a year having passed since the daring theft.

Extensive searches have been carried out by the 100-strong team investigating the case, with all four suspects being arrested within 10 days of the heist.

One of the last known sightings of the stolen jewels was on CCTV footage recorded in an underground lock-up in Aubervilliers, a suburb in northern Paris where all the suspects reside.

This has led investigators to scour the homes and properties of the suspects' families, including cellars, garages, and attics, but so far, no sign of the missing gems has been found.

The possibility remains that if the jewels have been hidden or handed over to a third party for safekeeping, one of the suspects may still confess in exchange for a more lenient sentence.

The investigation into the missing crown jewels from the Louvre is still ongoing, and investigators are treating claims by two suspects that a ringleader was part of their team with caution.

One possible scenario is that the jewels were transported out of France or to a local contact involved in the underground precious stones business, raising concerns about the extent of the heist's reach.

Diamond expert Brand suggests that the main diamonds from the collection would need to be dismantled and recut before they could be sold on the market, making Antwerp, Belgium's diamond hub, a likely destination.

Other possible destinations for the stolen jewels include Tel Aviv and India, according to Marinello.

The process of selling recut diamonds back into the legitimate supply chain is reportedly straightforward, with even top diamond laboratories struggling to identify freshly polished stones as stolen property.

The investigation into the theft of the Louvre's crown jewels has revealed a surprising fact: stolen gold, silver, and diamonds often resurface in the market. According to an expert, this is because the process of selling recut diamonds back into the legitimate supply chain is reportedly straightforward.

The case of the missing Louvre jewels remains unsolved one year on, but there's still hope that they will be recovered. The stolen items remain listed as missing in Interpol's database of stolen artworks.

---
Source: [France 24 English](https://www.france24.com/en/france/20261019-louvre-100-million-crown-jewels-one-year-heist)  
Published by News Central Site: https://newscentral.site/louvre-museum-heist-thieves-still-at-large-after-100-million-theft/