Stolen ruby slippers from ‘Wizard of Oz’ recovered, FBI says

The FBI said that the red slippers, stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Minnesota in 2005, have been recovered after 13 years.

 (Getty Images)

There may finally be a place like home for an iconic pair of red slippers worn by Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz" that were stolen from a Minnesota museum 13 years ago.

The FBI said officials are expected to announce Tuesday in Minneapolis at 2 p.m. ET that the slippers, stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minn. in August 2005, have been recovered.

The ruby slippers were swiped during a heist in which someone broke through a window and broke into the small display case. The shoes were insured for $1 million.

Michael Shaw, the slippers’ owner who loaned them to the museum, told the Duluth News Tribune in 2005 the theft was "the worst nightmare for me," and that he was "devastated" by the theft.

This April 10, 1996, file photo shows one of the four pairs of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 film.

 (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

"The slippers are a major attraction for our museum. It’s our hope that the slippers can be recovered immediately," he told the paper in 2005.

The theft of the slippers led to a million-dollar reward offered by a Wizard of Oz fan in Arizona, in addition to an an underwater search by the Itasca County Sheriff’s Dive Team in 2015, according to KSTP.

Four pairs of ruby slippers worn by Garland in the movie are known to exist. The shoes are made from about a dozen different materials, including wood pulp, silk thread, gelatin, plastic and glass.

Most of the ruby color comes from sequins, but the bows of the shoes contain red glass beads.

The iconic red ruby slippers get their color from sequins, but the bows of the shoes contain red glass beads.

 (Getty Images)

After the shoes were stolen, Morgan White, the director of the documentary "The Slippers," told KSTP his "knees literally buckled from under me."

"Whoever took them not only took a physical pair of shoes but they stole a lot of people’s memories," White told the television station.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Travis Fedschun is a reporter for FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @travfed

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