LONDON — Two traces of DNA were found in one of the helmets and one of the gloves suspects left behind after a jewelry heist at the Louvre on Sunday, French police told ABC News.
In what could be the first major break in the investigation of the $102 million jewel heist at the Louvre Museum, investigators are now analyzing the lates clues in hopes it would lead to identifying the brazen thieves involved in the heist.
The latest development comes as the director of the Louvre took the hot seat on Wednesday, telling lawmakers she submitted her resignation following Sunday’s daylight robbery from the museum’s ornate Apollo Gallery.
Appearing in front of France’s Senate Culture Committee for two hours, Laurence des Cars, the president and director of the Louvre, said her resignation was rejected.
“This tragedy deeply shocked museum staff, fellow citizens, and admirers of the Louvre around the world,” said des Cars, reading an opening statement. “This is an immense wound that has been inflicted on us.”
Des Cars said all of the museum’s alarms worked, as did its video cameras, but noted a “weakness” in security.
“The weakness of the Louvre is its perimeter security, which has been a problem for a long time … certainly due to underinvestment,” des Cars told the lawmakers.
She said a “Grand Louvre renovation project” began 40 years ago “and has only affected half of the museum.”
She said the only camera installed outside the Apollo Gallery was facing west and did not cover the window where the thieves used power tools to break in.
“The security system, as installed in the Apollo Gallery, worked perfectly,” des Cars said. “The question that arises is how to adapt this system to a new type of attack and modus operandi that we could not have foreseen.”Despite touting the security system within the Louvre as working properly, des Cars added, “Today we are witnessing a terrible failure at the Louvre. The security of the Louvre is one of my top priorities during my term of office, and I repeat that I was appalled by the museum’s security situation when I arrived in 2021.”
Des Cars said the 232-year-old museum’s “aging infrastructure” has hindered “the instalation of modern equipment.”
Officials said earlier this week that evidence collected so far points to “organized crime,” but added that investigators have not ruled out that the heist could have been an inside job.
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