Stradivarius Stolen at LAX Is Recovered After Tip From Musician in Honduras

A stolen Stradivarius violin valued at more than $500,000 has been recovered by police in a Honduran city, nine months after it was snatched from a British visitor to Los Angeles, authorities said Friday.

The 18th-Century violin was turned over to police in San Pedro Sula by a member of a local orchestra who had been approached earlier this week by a man offering to sell a Stradivarius--one of only 650 in existence, said Inspector Emer Burgos, director of investigations for the San Pedro Sula Police Department.

The musician led detectives to Nazario Ramos, 30, a native of Honduras who lived briefly in Los Angeles, Burgos said. Ramos denied any connection to the violin theft, and was released Monday without being charged, police said.

Crafted in 1731 by Antonio Stradivari, the instrument was stolen from concert violinist Erich Gruenberg at Los Angeles International Airport in July.

Gruenberg, then 65, was loading his luggage into a friend’s car in front of the Bradley International Terminal, when he realized he was missing a case carrying the Stradivarius and another, custom-made violin valued at $8,000, said Los Angeles Police Detective Bill Martin. Gruenberg was vacationing in Los Angeles and also planned to do a concerto recording. He had been in Los Angeles for less than an hour when the theft took place.

“It was like a funeral around here,” said Jane Hirsch, who was Gruenberg’s host during the visit. “He missed it so much.”

Indiscriminate thefts at the airport are frequent, Martin said, and the thief was probably not aware of the value of the tan, oblong case and its contents, when it was snatched from the luggage cart Gruenberg had left momentarily unattended.

Los Angeles police sent a worldwide call to violin dealers, art and antique collectors, the FBI and international police for information on the stolen instruments. The Stradivarius was insured by the British Reserve Insurance Company for $500,000, which Gruenberg collected last year.

The violin was flown from Honduras to Los Angeles and taken by armored car to a security company vault, until an insurance company adjuster identified it as the stolen instrument.

As a precaution, authorities waited several days before announcing the recovery.

“We didn’t want people to know when it was coming back to LAX,” Martin said. “We weren’t going to give anyone a chance to steal it again.”