The Grave Robber: The Biggest Stolen Artifacts Case in FBI History and the Bureaus Quest to Set Things Right [Hardcover]

The unbelievable true story of how one man stole tens of thousands of priceless artifacts and human remains from around the world—and the FBI’s massive undertaking to set things right.

InThe Grave Robber, Tim Carpenter, former FBI Lead Investigator on the Art Crime Team, recounts one of the most extraordinary and unsettling cases in the history of art theft. Over the course of five decades, a lone graverobber accumulated an illicit trove of over 42,000 artifacts from cultures across the globe, including Native American, Haitian, Chinese, and others. The stolen items included nearly 500 ancestral remains, carefully looted from sacred burial sites and cultural heritage locations. Carpenter’s team, driven by an unwavering commitment to justice, embarks on a harrowing journey to track down this elusive criminal and uncover the full scope of the theft. What they find is nothing short of staggering: an illegal collection of immense historical and cultural significance, hidden away in a Midwestern home.

Part true crime narrative, part procedural,The Grave Robberoffers a gripping, behind-the-scenes look at the meticulous work involved in tracking down one of the most prolific art thieves in history. Carpenter takes readers inside the FBI’s groundbreaking investigation, detailing the complex challenges of recovering stolen cultural artifacts and the legal and moral dilemmas of repatriating them to their rightful communities. Along the way, the Bureau’s efforts to confront these crimes evolve, as they come to terms with the deep historical wounds caused by such looting—especially the desecration of Native American graves and ancestral sites. With rare access to both the investigation and the impacted communitl3e