Man Charged For Stealing Judy Garland’s Original Red Slippers from ‘The Wizard of Oz’

One man got ahold of Judy Garland’s ruby red slippers and learned he was not in Kansas anymore.

Instead, he’s likely on his way to jail.

Terry Martin was indicted by the U.S. District Court in Minnesota and charged with theft of major artwork after stealing the red slippers made famous by Garland in The Wizard of Oz., as relayed by People. The slippers were taken from the Judy Garland Museum in the late actress’ hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005.

They’re one of just four pairs of such slippers that the release described as  “among the most recognizable memorabilia in American film.”

They’re now among the most recognizable in FBI custody, where they remain today.

Terry Martin Charrged

The slippers, recovered by the FBI in 2018, were estimated to be worth $1 million at the time Martin allegedly stole them. They are said to be worth $3.5 million now.

At the time of the heist, the slippers were in the back of the museum, on loan from Michael Shaw, a private collector.

“The biggest thing that ever happened to our museum was getting the slippers stolen,” Jon Miner, a museum co-founder, told KQDS, in 2015. “We were literally crying.”

But they turned up more than a decade later, thanks to an FBI raid in Minneapolis.

“When the slippers were snatched in the early morning burglary, the thieves not only took the slippers, they took a piece of history that will be forever connected to Grand Rapids and one of our city’s most famous children,” Grand Rapids Police Chief Scott Johnson said in the release. “We were confident this day would eventually come, and we are grateful to the FBI and all those who worked to bring this piece of cinematic treasure out of the shadows and into the light.”

Then, of course, he threw in a kicker of which fans of the classic film can relate.

 “After all, ‘There’s no place like home,'” he said.

Garland was just 16-years-old when she was cast as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz in 1939. She died in 1969 of a drug overdose at the age of 47.