Dorothy's ruby red slippers were stolen and found years later by the FBI

It was a story on BBC because this particular pair just sold at auction.

There are four pair, one is at the Smithsonian and the other three private collectors. This one collector originally bought his at an auction when the studio sold off all the stuff, he got a pair, witches broom, several other items for 2 grand.

He loaned them to the Judy Garland museum for their anniversary and they were stolen. The FBI searched for years. Then a bartender overheard a conversation where a fella was lamenting he had tried for years to sell them but with no provenance (proof they were real) he couldnt sell them. The bartender called the FBI and they seized and once again, as they had many times before, took them to the Smithsonian for them to identify.

The curator took one look and said these are real. You see these six off colored sequins? Apparently when Judy Garland wore them some sequins fell off and they must have run to a local dime store, bought some red sequins and glued them on. They didnt have to match perfectly, remember it was black and white back then. Ours have the same "spares" glued on.

And there is one other proof. The curator then took both pairs and put each pair side by side. The FBI said both pairs are mismatched, they arent the same size. The curator said apparently during the auction we got one of his shoes and he got one of ours. You see one original pair was half a size smaller so when Dorothy danced down the yellow brick road her shoes would not fall off. Thats why ours are always displayed "off set" so you cant tell they dont match.

His pair was auctioned off last week for 28 million dollars.