California Sheriff Suspends Investigation Into Art Thefts

Monterey County sheriff’s detectives have ended a two-year investigation into a Pebble Beach, Calif., art heist.

Cmdr. Jerry Teeter tells the Monterey County Herald that there are no arrests and the investigation has been suspended pending new developments. There was no evidence of fraud.

Dr. Ralph Kennaugh, a retired Harvard Medical School physician, and his associate Angelo Amadio reported in 2009 that works by Jackson Pollock, Van Gogh, Mir and Rembrandt were stolen from their Pebble Beach home.

Former sheriff’s spokesman Cmdr. Mike Richards said initially that investigators suspected Amadio and Kennaugh of possible fraud. Farmers Insurance Group later rejected a loss claim because of what the insurer called “concealment or fraud.”

Kennaugh and Amadio say they are pleased with the thorough sheriff’s investigation.