Dr. Francis Wood, 96, admires the John Opie painting, “The Schoolmistress”, stolen from his parents’ Newark, New Jersey home in 1969 and recently returned to him as the rightful owner. (Credit: FBI Salt Lake City)
The painting was described as priceless. “The Schoolmistress,” a 50-inch oil piece painted in 1784 by John Opie, the renowned English artist whose subjects included members of the English Royal Family.
But in July 1969 it disappeared, stolen from a New Jersey doctor’s home in a salacious crime that implicated a state senator and members of the Gambino crime family.
Nearly 50 years later, the painting turned up in southern Utah; today, it sits in a Newark retirement home belonging to 96-year-old Dr. Francis Wood, the painting’s rightful heir.
“I can tell you over the course of 21 years this is one of the most unique and intriguing cases I’ve had the opportunity to work,” said Gary France, a special agent with the FBI based in St. George.