The thieves who wanted the reward
A Goya vanished between two museums. Then the men who took it tried to present themselves as its rescuers.
Missing between museums
The journey was supposed to end at the Guggenheim in New York. Instead, Francisco de Goya’s Children with a Cart became the subject of an FBI alert. On 8 November 2006, the 1778 painting was discovered missing while travelling from the Toledo Museum of Art. An exhibition loan had exposed the work to a different kind of vulnerability: the interval between two guarded destinations. The artwork was not lost from a gallery wall. It had disappeared while under the care of professional transporters. [1]
A rescue story with the wrong authors
The joint museum announcement on 20 November brought relief: the painting had been found and appeared unharmed. It did not close the criminal investigation. That distinction mattered when the supposed recovery story was examined. Reuters later reported that Steven Lee Olson and Roman Szurko had broken into the transport truck in a parking lot. They subsequently sought a $50,000 reward, saying they had discovered the painting inside a basement wall in Olson’s home. The claimed rescuers were implicated in the loss itself. [2][3]
Two returns, more than a century apart
Both men pleaded guilty to conspiracy. In June 2008, Reuters reported five years in prison for Olson and one year for Szurko. Meanwhile, the painting had already returned to public view. Its history contained another disappearance: Fundación Goya en Aragón records that it was among cartoons missing from Spanish royal stores when works were transferred to the Prado in 1870. Its eventual route to Toledo passed through private collections. This small scene of children at play carried a history far less innocent than its subject. [3][4]
Recovered; sentences imposed
The painting was recovered in November 2006, returned to Toledo on 11 January 2007 and redisplayed on 16 February. Reuters reported guilty pleas and prison sentences in 2008; the reward was an historical offer, not a current opportunity.
Sources checked 10 November 2026.Artwork Details & DocumentationIdentification, ownership history and supporting records
Individual artwork identification details have not yet been documented in this record. Missing specifications are not inferred from the photograph or report headline.
Not documented in this record: object type · materials & technique · measurements · inscriptions & markings · distinguishing features · artwork title · maker / attribution · creation date / period · subject.
Record sources
Identification details follow the Object ID categories where documented. Ownership history is recorded separately; this documentation is not an authentication or a certificate of ownership.
Sources & further reading
- FBI · Theft and recovery announcement, November 2006 ↗
- Toledo Museum of Art / Guggenheim · Recovery announcement, 20 November 2006 ↗
- Reuters via ABC · Guilty pleas and prison sentences, 12 June 2008 ↗
- Fundación Goya en Aragón · Object and return chronology ↗
An original narrative synthesis of the sources above. Images depict the artworks; they are not reconstructions of the thefts.
