Stolen Stradivarius Rescued from the Trash Heap

By Mandalit del Barco

Published May 19, 2004 at 12:00 AM EDT

The principal cellist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic is celebrating the return of his missing 320-year-old cello. The $3.5 million Stradivarius was stolen from his front porch three weeks ago. Footage from a surveillance camera shows a man on a bicycle riding off with it. A nurse who found the instrument in a garbage dumpster could collect a $50,000 reward. NPR's Mandalit del Barco reports.

Mandalit del Barco

As an arts correspondent based at NPR West, Mandalit del Barco reports and produces stories about film, television, music, visual arts, dance and other topics. Over the years, she has also covered everything from street gangs to Hollywood, police and prisons, marijuana, immigration, race relations, natural disasters, Latino arts and urban street culture (including hip hop dance, music, and art). Every year, she covers the Oscars and the Grammy awards for NPR, as well as the Sundance Film Festival and other events. Her news reports, feature stories and photos, filed from Los Angeles and abroad, can be heard on All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Weekend Edition, Alt.latino, and npr.org.

See stories by Mandalit del Barco