Sting operation recovered Dorothy’s stolen ruby slippers

BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — A pair of ruby slippers used in “The Wizard of Oz” and later stolen from a Minnesota museum were recovered in a sting operation after a man approached the shoes’ insurer and said he could help get them back, the FBI said Tuesday. Grand Rapids police asked for the FBI’s help and after a nearly year-long investigation, the slippers were recovered in July during a sting operation in Minneapolis. After mysteriously landing in the colorful Land of Oz after a tornado hit her farm in Kansas, Garland’s character, Dorothy, has to click the heels of her slippers three times and repeat “there’s no place like home” to return. Rhys Thomas, author of “The Ruby Slippers of Oz,” called the slippers “the Holy Grail of Hollywood memorabilia.” “They are maybe the most iconic cinematic prop or costume in movie history, and in fact, in cultural history,” Thomas said.