The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that the books were discovered at the Brooklyn home of Mary Kolompar, 64, an internationally-known art thief with more than twenty aliases and a criminal record dating back to the late 1970s. Brooklyn police served a search warrant on Kolompar's home on 14 November (investigating charges of counterfeiting and welfare fraud), and found there the stack of rare Civil War books listed here.
Brooklyn detective Kevin McFadden says authorities also found jewelry and sports memorabilia, and Kolompar has been charged with 10 crimes to date. But since the source of the books remains unknown, they've been unable to charge Kolompar with their theft, or to return the books to their owner.
