[MSN] 'Yosemite Valley' back where it belongs. Stolen painting returned to Sacramento church; suspect held.

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'Yosemite Valley' back where it belongs
Stolen painting returned to Sacramento church; suspect held

By Jennifer Garza - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, September 15, 2006
The 150 members of Pioneer Congregational Church had all but given up hope
that they would ever see their beloved painting again.

Three months ago, thieves broke into the midtown church and stole "Yosemite
Valley," an important landscape painting that had belonged to the
congregation for 104 years.

"We thought it was shipped out of the country and sold," said the Rev. James
Truesdell.

Turns out, the painting had been sitting in a bedroom closet just a few
miles away.

On Thursday, the artwork was returned to church officials by a Sacramento
man who says he found it while helping a friend move.

Keith McCormack says he was packing up the friend's belongings at a home
near the UC Davis Medical Center four days ago when he spotted the
5-by-4-foot painting, covered by a sheet.

Police have a suspect in custody whom they arrested Thursday afternoon on an
outstanding warrant, said Sacramento police spokeswoman Officer Michelle
Lazark. The suspect is an acquaintance of McCormack's friend. Investigators
are examining fingerprints taken from the crime scene in June to see if they
match the suspect's, Lazark said.

Police would not release the suspect's name because he has not been charged
in connection with the painting's theft.

"Yosemite Valley" is a historically significant painting by Mary Park
Benton, one of the first female landscape artists in California. The
artwork, insured for $250,000, was painted for the church -- the city's
oldest congregation -- and had been hanging near an entrance.

McCormack remembered news reports that a painting had been stolen from a
local church.

"I knew I had to return it," said McCormack. "I've been robbed so I know
what that feeling is like."

McCormack thought it belonged to a church in the Catholic Diocese of
Sacramento and took the painting to diocesan headquarters Thursday morning.
Church officials contacted law enforcement.

Leaders with the Pioneer Congregational Church, who had offered a $1,000
reward, later verified that it was theirs.

"That's it, I'm absolutely sure," said Truesdell on Thursday when he saw the
painting.

Truesdell said he was relieved to have the artwork back. "A lot of our
members, especially our seniors, took it hard and there were a lot of
tears," he said. "They'll be thrilled."

Church officials temporarily put the landscape back near the spot where it
had hung for years. But the church pastor doesn't know if it will be there
permanently. "It's too soon to say," said Truesdell. "Now we have security
issues."

Setting it straight: A story on Metro Page B1 Friday about a stolen painting
returned to a Sacramento church was accompanied by a photo caption that
misidentified Sheila Bergquist as being from the FBI. She is a Sacramento
police detective.

About the writer:
The Bee's Jennifer Garza can be reached at (916) 321-1133 or
jgarza at sacbee.com. The Bee's Ryan Lillis contributed to this report.

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