More than 150 DNA traces and fingerprints taken after the Louvre robbery / Paris prosecutor, “optimistic” that the 88 million euro jewels will be recovered
The place where thieves broke into the Louvre museum in Paris. Photo source: Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP / Profimedia
More than “150 samples of DNA, papillary and other kinds of traces were taken” at the scene following the theft of jewels from the Louvre Museum, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau detailed on Thursday, who declared herself “optimistic”, informs AFP, according to Agerpres.
The analyzes “presuppose delays, even if they are a priority for the laboratories”, Beccuau also said in the French publication Ouest France. “The results in the next few days” will perhaps open “leads, especially if the perpetrators have a record,” she added.
The prosecutor explained that, through surveillance cameras, “it was possible to follow” the course of the robbers “in Paris and in neighboring departments”, also evoking “images available thanks to public or private cameras (highways, banks, companies)”.
She recalled her desire “to apprehend the perpetrators as quickly as possible to recover the jewels before the precious stones are finally removed and the metal melted.”
In his opinion, the “media resonance” of “this organized robbery” offers “a little hope that the perpetrators will not dare to move too much with the jewels”, estimated at 88 million euros. “I want to be optimistic,” said the Paris prosecutor.
News of the theft from the Louvre has been around the world since Sunday. Authorities have since been on the trail of four criminals who fled with eight French crown jewels in a spectacular heist that has called into question the security of the world's most famous museum.
The film of the Louvre robbery
On October 19, in a highly professional raid carried out in broad daylight, four hooded thieves stopped in front of the Louvre on a road along the Seine.
At around 9.30am, about half an hour after the museum had opened – the thieves were in the south part of the building with a utility vehicle with a platform and an extendable ladder. So they went up to the balcony window on the second floor. Here, they broke in using an angle grinder and other power tools, authorities said.
They broke glass cases, stealing the precious jewelry, but when the alarms went off in the museum, alerting the guards, the thieves quickly left, fleeing on motorcycles. The robbery lasted less than 10 minutes, according to French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez. He said it was the work of “an experienced team who had obviously scouted the location”.
Among the items stolen are a tiara, earrings and a sapphire necklace from Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense's jewelery set, as well as pieces from the Marie-Louise set.
The director of the Louvre Museum submitted her resignation after the robbery, but was refused. The problem complained about the video cameras, at the hearing in the French Senate
New details from the investigation of the spectacular robbery at the Louvre: How much the stolen jewels cost. The question to which the prosecutor cannot answer “yes or no”
