I take a class right next to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (ISGM) in the Fenway (the main thoroughfare through The Fens - the area not named after Fenway Park, rather the other way around), and it is a fascinating place. And the new glassed-in cube/concert hall is impressive as hell. Anyhow, this art theft looms in the Boston media, though perhaps not as much with the outer residents... Great quick video here giving a potted history of the crime.
The art theft has almost spawned a cottage industry in Boston - at least one movie (Stolen) and 2 major books have been written about it (The Gardner Heist, and The Art Forger). The ISGM discusses the mystery on their site and as above, in keeping w/ their directive, they have still not altered the rooms - thus the empty frames remain in place. The $5M reward for return of the works is still available.
Just today the FBI released a dedicated webspace to the crime and a renewed appeal for information; fbi.gov/gardner
