By: Federal officials have recovered three Pulitzer Prize medals auctioned last month in California that may belong to Newsday, Suffolk County police said Tuesday.
The medals were awarded for public service in 1954, 1970 and 1974, and were thought to be in a company safe, the newspaper has said. But the medals were apparently sold at an auction in California for $7,000, $4,500 and $4,000, respectively. Newspaper officials notified police and drilled into a safe where they thought the awards were located, and found them missing.
The medals were turned over to federal agents on Friday, Suffolk police said. FBI officials told Newsday that two of the medals were recovered in the West Palm Beach area of Florida, and the third medal was returned by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions, which supervised the California auction. That medal had not yet been shipped to a buyer.
Suffolk police said the medals still need to be authenticated. Newsday officials did not return an after-hours call seeking comment.
A silicone mold used to make reproductions of the medals was also missing from the safe, which was not checked regularly for the medals. It wasn't clear if the mold had been located.
It's not exactly clear how the medals ended up being sold at the auction. It's also not known if the items that sold at auction were reproductions or originals.
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