On the 18-year anniversary of the infamous heist of 13 masterpieces from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Director of Security Anthony Amore is still holding out hope for a full recovery — which can earn a successful tipster $5 million.
“It is important that people know that the reward is real — that the museum is eager to pay this reward, and the trustees are serious about it.” Amore tells the Boston Herald. “I know one thing: I am not going to be able to recover these paintings on my own, in a vacuum, sitting here in an office. I need the collective intelligence of people from around the world.”
The thieves removed works of art whose value has been estimated from $300-500 million. They include Rembrandt’s only known seascape, “Storm on the Sea of Galilee”; “The Concert,” one of only 34 known Vermeers in the world; a series of drawings by Edgar Degas; works by Manet, Rembrandt and Flinck; and two objects, a finial from a Napoleonic flag and a Chinese Ku, or beaker.
Amore is trying to encourage someone to come forward with information by ensuring anonymity — with a dedicated e-mail address for the heist ([email protected]). “When people send me e-mails I’m not interested in trying to track that person, I’m interested in following the lead,” he tells the newspaper. “I compile all this on a computer, and all of these tips are projected against the total picture that I have in my database and in my memory.”
Amore and the FBI are looking for two suspects who dressed as security guards the night of March 18, 1990. The men knew what they were doing — in about an hour, they dismantled surveillance cameras, tied up the security guards and actually cut the paintings out of their frames to make a quick getaway.
“I just want to see the paintings returned. I don’t care who gets the credit. I believe that they will be returned to their rightful place,” Amore says. “People from the press, the general public — even the criminal world — they have all told me it’s time that these paintings are back where they belong.”
Amore took the reins as security director at the museum in 2005. Prior, Amore served with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) as a key advisor to the Federal Security Director at Logan International Airport in Boston, where he oversaw the training, equipping and deployment of more than 1,000 federal screeners and the implementation of a baggage screening program as part of the federal response to the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Boston Herald has launched a Web site dedicated to compiling information about the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist at www.bostonherald.com/gardnerheist, which will be updated regularly.
In Brief
• Dave Williams has been promoted to vice president of North American sales for Brivo, while Ethan Lewis has been named director of national accounts. Additionally, Brivo has named Chris Gilbert as central region sales manager and Landon Hunsucker as southeast region sales manager.
• Agent Vi has named Greg Skarvelis as director of professional services. He joins Agent Vi from Honeywell Video Systems, where he served as corporate leader for strategic accounts and as director of technical services. The company has also recently appointed Mark Kolar as vice president of channel programs for the Americas.
• Tamara L. Larson has been appointed vice president of customer support services for Dedicated Micros.
• Digital Horizon Solutions (DHS) has appointed Mohsen Hekmatyar as vice president of sales for North America.
• GE Security Inc., has added Mark Barry as Americas president, Tom Cashman as general manager of video products, and Ken Francis as general manager of access products.
• William Besse has joined Andrews International as executive director, consulting and investigations (C&I), operating from its Dallas office. Besse has nearly 30 years of experience in corporate security, developing, managing and implementing international security and risk mitigation programs.
• NuVision U.S. Inc. has appointed 17-year industry veteran David Cusick to vice president of sales.
•Deposition Sciences Inc. has appointed Ken Kino as west coast sales engineer.
• The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) has hired Paul Jones as vice president for asset protection.
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