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An FBI investigation into a pair of retired teachers whose New Mexico home contained a stolen $100 million De Kooning painting revealed that they had other valuable works in their homes and enjoyed luxurious travel around the world.
It has long been speculated that the late Rita and Jerry Alter were the duo who stole De Kooning’s “Woman-Ocher” from the University of Arizona Museum of Art in 1985.
In the theft, a woman saw a guard talking while her male accomplice cut out the painting and made off with it, but the thieves have never been identified.
It was not until 2017 that police were notified of the painting’s location by a New Mexico Museum curator who purchased the painting for $2,000 from Rita’s estate, who passed away that year after her husband’s death in 2012.
A follow-up investigation has since found that the former New York City teachers were in possession of other works of art, including two paintings that the FBI said would be sold for six figures each. Republic of Arizona reported.
An FBI investigation into Rita and Jerry Alter (above), who are believed to have stolen a $100 million painting by De Kooning in 1985, revealed that the couple lived in luxury despite a moderate salary as local school teachers in Silver City, New Mexico
The ‘Woman-Ocher’ was taken from the University of Arizona Museum of Art by a couple of thieves. The painting hung in Alter’s New Mexico home for decades
The couple was known for traveling the world visiting India, Nepal, China and Japan. Pictured: Jerry poses for a photo during one of the couple’s outings
Colleagues of Rita (right), a speech pathologist at GW Stout Elementary School, wondered how she could afford major trips around the world while making $16,171 a year
According to the FBI, the Alters’ nephew said Rita held more than $1 million in bonds before her death, despite her annual salary as a speech therapist in Silver City, New Mexico, being just $16,171.
Christy Miller, a special education teacher who shared an office with Rita at GW Stout Elementary School in Silver City, told the Republic that New Yorkers lived luxuriously in their new home in the Southwest, which they moved to in 1977.
Their one-story farmhouse featured a swimming pool, busts of William Shakespeare and Ludwig van Beethoven, and a blue pyramid covered in tiles.
Neighbors noted that the couple would visit Hong Kong, Chile, Tasmania, Nepal, India, Japan and the Caribbean.
The FBI found that the Alters visited a total of about 145 countries.
Neighbors said the couple’s apparent wealth kept them at bay, but when invited in, they often saw the stolen painting and said it was ugly while Rita and Jerry laughed.
The couple reportedly attributed their wealth to various legacies they received.
Although Jerry suffered a massive heart attack in 2002, the couple continued to travel, with their last trip together in the Caribbean islands of Grenada, St. Vincent and Dominica.
Then, in 2012, at the age of 81, Jerry suffered a stroke and died.
After Rita passed away, their cousin, Ron Roseman, the executor of their estate, donated the couple expensive paintings and other sculptures to the nonprofit Silver City Town and Country Garden Club.
Among the donations were originals by Joseph Henry Sharp and Victor Higgins, whose paintings cost six figures each.
The nonprofit was allowed to sell the artworks for $122,692, more than three times what the charity usually earns in a year.
The FBI provided few details about the new items found in the deceased couple’s estate, noting that the case of the stolen “Woman-Ocher” was closed.
Tim Carpenter, a senior adviser to the FBI Art Crime Team, told the Republic that only the Alters would know how they got their hands on the $100 million painting.
“Unfortunately, they took that to the grave,” he said.
The FBI did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
Pictured: Jerry and Rita’s passports with a plethora of travel in the mid-1980s
One of their trips included a visit to Himeji Castle in Japan in the summer of 1985
After their deaths, the couple’s cousin donated their belongings to a local charity, which eventually sold the artworks for more than $122,000.
The stolen ‘Woman-Ocher’ was eventually returned to the University of Arizona Museum of Art
According to COB 4Jerry and Rita kept a daily planner with accurate notes about where they went, what they ate, and what medications they were on. The couple mysteriously left Thanksgiving 1985 empty, the same day the painting was removed from the museum.
A newly surfaced family photo also reveals that Jerry and Rita, who have two children, were in Tucson a day before the robbery.
According to reports, a day after Thanksgiving 1985, a security guard at the University Of Arizona Museum of Art unlocked the front doors to let in an employee when a man and woman entered behind the employee.
Since the museum was about to open for that day, the guard didn’t tell them to leave. The man climbed the stairs to the second floor of the museum while the woman stayed and talked to the guard.
About 15 minutes after entering the museum, the man and woman left in a hurry. Sensing something was wrong, the guard went to the second floor to discover that De Kooning’s painting ‘Woman-Ocher’ had been cut from the frame.
The FBI has not commented on whether they believe the couple stole the painting, but only said the case was considered closed.
The painting can be seen again in the museum in May 2023 in a new exhibition
When he tried to chase the man and the woman, they drove off in a red sports car. The museum had no security cameras at the time and police found no fingerprints.
Authorities released a sketch of the couple, who bears a striking resemblance to Jerry and Rita, describing what they were wearing, but no arrests were ever made.
The theft turned cold until, in August 2017, David Van Auker accidentally came across the painting “hidden” behind Jerry’s bedroom and Rita’s ranch-style home in New Mexico.
He told several news outlets that he went to the couple’s house to see what they had left behind after learning about an estate sale.
Van Auker co-owns the Manzanita Ridge Furniture and Antiques store in Silver City.
Van Auker said as he walked through the house, he found a “great, cool, mid-century painting” and bought it from Roseman for $2,000.
Van Auker and Roseman, who was appointed executor of the estate, were unaware of the painting’s history.
The painting will be on display again at the University of Arizona Museum of Art in May 2023 in a new exhibit called “Restored: The Return of Woman-Ocher.”