FBI Tracks Down Stolen T.rex Skull
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BERKELEY — A priceless Tyrannosaurus rex jawbone stolen in 1994 from UC Berkeley has been recovered following an international search that uncovered skulduggery in the global fossil trade.
FBI agents and scientists proudly unveiled the foot-long, 68 million-year-old jawbone, which was tracked down through a European dealer.
“We’re thrilled to have it back,” said Mark Goodwin, principal scientist at the paleontology museum of UC Berkeley.
The fossilized jawbone, which is one of the most perfectly preserved fossils of the giant dinosaur ever found, was originally unearthed by Berkeley paleontologists in Montana in 1986. It was returned to Berkeley and stored in a drawer accessible to researchers.
In late 1994, Goodwin noticed that the jawbone had vanished.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation was called in on the case because the missing jawbone was technically federal property because it was recovered from federal land, said Bruce Gephardt, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Francisco office.
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