An assortment of items that once belonged to John Lennon have been returned to his widow Yoko Ono after being stolen — and ending up halfway around the world.
The Associated Press reports that roughly 100 of Lennon's belongings were stolen from Ono, including three of the former Beatle's diaries, two pairs of eyeglasses, a cigarette case and a handwritten sheet of music — and in what German police described as "a spectacular, unusual criminal case," the items ended up at a Berlin auction house.
In fact, as the AP's report details, the stolen goods were only discovered after the auction house declared bankruptcy and an administrator was brought in to assess their holdings. After the items turned up in storage, police were alerted, and they set about finding the culprits. One suspect has since been arrested, although the other, who reportedly resides in Turkey, was described as "not available" and the target of an ongoing extradition effort.
Ono was eager to get the stolen property back to the estate. Investigators flew to New York, where they had her verify the items' authenticity; during the meeting, said prosecutor Susan Wettley, "She was very emotional and we noticed clearly how much these things mean to her and how happy she would be to have them back."
