ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — Before this week's robbery at the Louvre , another brazen art theft happened right here in the Twin Cities.

Nearly 50 years ago, thieves broke into the Elayne Galleries in St. Louis Park and stole more than half a million dollars' worth of work. To do this day, it's known as the largest art heist in Minnesota.

The family spent 20 years following shady leads across four continents to get it back and a local author wrote a book about the four men he says were behind it all.

"The accomplishment was finding out who did it," said longtime investigative journalist Bruce Rubenstein. He wrote the Rockwell Heist in 2013 .

The crime happened in 1978. The thieves managed to break into the gallery off Excelsior Boulevard and stole seven Norman Rockwell paintings ahead o

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