DNA evidence from abandoned protective equipment now offers investigators potential leads in identifying the gang behind Sunday's four-minute Louvre heist that netted jewelry worth 88 million euros ($102.63 million), Paris prosecutors told NBC News Thursday. Uncertainty persists whether the DNA traces belong to suspects who used power tools to shatter display cases, threatened guards, and escaped on scooters – dropping Empress Eugénie's crown during their flight – as roughly 100 investigators race to locate them before the jewelry faces potential melting for sale.
Louvre thieves caught on camera escaping slowly with crown jewels pic.twitter.com/4PTS8uOXBx
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) October 23, 2025
New footage, confirmed by prosecutors to NBC News, reveals two men – one in a yellow vest with a black face covering, another in all black with a motorbike helmet – rapidly descending the museum's exterior on a basket lift mounted on a truck. Public-filmed video captures walkie-talkie audio stating in French: "Looks like the individuals are on scooters. They are leaving, they are leaving." The museum reopened on Wednesday, though the Apollon Gallery, from which jewelry was stolen, remains closed, NBC News reported.
Police access to approximately 4,500 cameras, "in addition to some 38,000 interconnected cameras," provides vast footage for analysis, French capital officials announced Thursday. Yet Louvre director Laurence des Cars admitted Wednesday to senators that surveillance proved insufficient, according to NBC News.
"We did not detect the thieves' arrival early enough," Des Cars stated to Reuters, citing inadequate perimeter-monitoring cameras. Her resignation offer was rejected by Culture Minister Rachida Dati, she revealed, as the investigation continues with authorities pursuing every available lead from biological samples to extensive video documentation, NBC News learned.
