Stolen Crucifix Returned To Church Nearly 2 Years Later
YONKERS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork)-- A congregation is celebrating after their missing religious artifact was recovered nearly two years after it was stolen from a church.
Detectives returned the missing crucifix to its home in northwest Yonkers, CBS2's Lou Young reported. The Church of the Sacred Heart was reunited with the heavy sacred image that hung above the altar for 77 years before brazen thieves stole it in the night.
"They probably put chairs on the high altar and probably used wire snips to cut the chains," the Rev. Maurice Moreau told CBS2. "You had to have planned it."
That was 20 months ago, but the thieves weren't prepared for the amount of heat the community and the police generated.
"Shortly after the burglary we began to question some individuals and exert some pressure and items were thrown in the trash," Yonkers Police Commissioner Charles Garner said.
All the items were thrown in the trash except for the crucifix, which remained missing.
"We'd pretty much given up on it," Yonkers Police Detective Steve Kerner said.
The item weighs roughly 80 pounds, however it was not nearly as valuable as the thieves thought. The suspects even sent a piece of it to be assessed for value, and found out they weren't rich.
"Most of the stuff is cast bronze or some other kind of metal gilded in silver or gold," Moreau said.
The crucifix sat hidden by the robbers until a suspect in a petty crime last week made a deal for leniency in exchange for its location.
"This was the cross that hung when people got married, when their grandparents got married; for the different sacraments. It's the center of the church," the Rev. Roger Deguire said.
For Chief Garner, the theft was personal.
"As an alumni of sacred heart, as I said, the church and the school hold a special place in my heart," he told WCBS 880's Peter Haskell.
The treasured item is now back home in a church with a 24-hour video surveillance to make sure it stays that way.