Imagine finding warehouses filled with paintings by Picasso, Miró, Rembrandt, and artifacts from Mark Twain, Ronald Reagan, Eleanor Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Marlon Brando and Grace Kelley, plus clocks, pistols, sculptures, furniture, and oddities like a turtle shell, a cannon, and a cartoon of Albert Einstein. An art gallery in southern California called police to say they had two Picasso paintings they thought might be stolen. Two LA policeman traced the pictures to a crime spree in the 1990s they had worked on. In 1993 they arrested two men who went to jail, but the art was never found. The seller was a relative and heir to one of the burglars who had died. Police do not yet know if the heir knew the art was stolen. They are asking those who had thefts years ago to bring proof of ownership so the art can be returned. Some pieces are worth thousands of dollars. It was taken from homes and museums. You can see the art at www.foundbylapd.smugmug.com. No arrests have been made.

Photo: Pressfrom.info (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)