A Coral Gables art collector is devastated after about $200,000 worth of art was stolen from his home. Laura Rodriguez reports.
Police in Coral Gables are looking for a thief with an eye for expensive art.
Eduardo Goudie told police he discovered his property in Coral Gables was burglarized on April 3rd. He said the thief got away with an estimated $350,000 in art, after he found frames without paintings hanging on the walls.
"When I entered the door something was blocking it. When I saw what was blocking it, it was the frames of the paintings," Goudie said. When he took a closer look, he noticed the canvases were cut from the frames.
A total of five pieces of art were stolen, including a Romachach painting valued at $150,000, a Cundo Bermudez painting valued at $50,000, a Wilfredo Lamb painting valued at $75,000, a Jamali painting valued at $25,000 and an unknown artist's painting valued at $50,000, according the the police report.
Goudie told police he was in the process of moving into the home and was last at the property on April 2nd.
Investigators said there was no sign of forced entry, but Goudie told them there were several workers in the home on April 2nd, and the rear kitchen door and rear family room door were unlocked.
"I believe it's like a gang, it's a band that is organized and they know what they're doing," Goudie said.
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The art collector thinks his paintings are either on the black market already or in the hands of another collector who may have organized the break-in. He hopes someone in the public can now help determine who is responsible for taking his valuable possessions.
"It was very hard to find fingerprints because in the wood and in fabrics it's hard to find them," he said.
Anyone with information on this crime is asked to contact the Coral Gables Police Department at 305-442-1600 or Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
