Paris police launch massive manhunt after $100M Louvre jewelry robbery

Sometimes stories are set different enough to make seasoned journalists raise their eyebrows. Sunday Jewel theft The Louvre Museum in Paris is definitely one of them.

Four men, using a cherry picker to climb the side Museumhack the second floor window, get the French Crown Jewels worth up to $100 million, and escape with the loot on motorcycles in less than 10 minutes. Something from the movies. Pink Panther. You name it.

I used to live in Paris. I covered many front-page stories during my time there and after – since his death Princess Diana Several deadly terrorist attacks, and the Notre Dame Cathedral fire. Now, this.

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Greg Balcott, Fox News’ chief foreign affairs correspondent, reports live in front of the entrance to the Louvre Museum in Paris on October 21, 2025. (Fox News)

Fortunately, I had a capable team with me: professional photographer and producer John Templeton, Simon Owen, an experienced Parisian producer from the 1990s, and Cecily Medintsev, a large, handy Mercedes truck and driver.

The trip did not start well, as some production bags were lost during the flight from London to Paris. But photographer John did it. As we chatted with people at the airport, including a cute American couple from Washington State. The theft was already the talk of the town.

Our next challenge was finding a place to film the live footage. When we arrived at night, the police closed the road near the museum on one side, so we ended up going back to the other side. We found a place in front of the entrance to the famous pyramid-shaped museum. Day or night, it’s one of the great backdrops around – a story of a terrible crime.

New footage allegedly shows a person in a yellow jacket next to a display case amid the Louvre robbery. (BFMTV)

The next morning, we went straight to the crime scene, the back side of the museum. We saw the narrow sidewalk where the thieves parked their truck, the fragile window they had cut out, and a piece of wood now covering the gap. Except for the parked police car, even at that time, there wasn’t much security around. There was no museum video of the break-in. Scammers beat the sirens.

Fox News chief foreign affairs correspondent Greg Balcott stands outside the Louvre Museum, where the break-in occurred, in Paris on October 21, 2025. (Fox News)

The Louvre Museum is closed after the theft, according to a French official

We weren’t the only ones staring. A small crowd, including American tourists, stared and wondered. “It sounds so easy,” one of them told us. “Weird,” another sighed.

But the large crowds returned in front of the museum. Although it was closed that day (it had been closed after the robbery), crowds were there – and many were wondering about the crime. There are many people taking the usual Instagram-style selfies with the Louvre.

With our TV equipment spread out on the sidewalk for live filming, we became another source of interest. “Where did it happen?” one person asked. “When will the museum open again?” asked another. Another American tourist came forward and described how he and his wife had gone to the museum the day before the robbery and could tell that security was really bad.

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Police officers stand near the Louvre Museum’s pyramid after reports of a theft, in Paris, France, October 19, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes TPX Photos of the Day (Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

As more details of the crime emerged, the story became more bizarre. how The thieves picked up their truck Just 25 miles outside of Paris. How they were in a hurry and left behind a tiara studded with more than 1,300 diamonds (they got eight more). And how police – making up for lost time – collected evidence, including a construction-style jacket, a glove, a license plate and video of the suspects as they fled on a highway outside Paris.

The French were doing something else they were good at: pointing fingers and shifting blame. president Emmanuel Macron He has enough political headaches these days. The last thing he needed was a major disaster. He promised to arrest the perpetrators. To her credit, the museum director offered her resignation (it was rejected) but she received a good grilling by the French Senate.

The Fox News team, from left, Greg Balcott, photographer John Templeton and producer Simon Owen, at the Louvre Museum in Paris on October 21, 2025. (Fox News)

All this, as we noted, was a race against time for a team of 100 French police investigators – one of the largest manhunts in French history – to catch the thieves before they had a chance to dismantle the jewellery, re-cut the gems and melt down the gold and silver to sell. Part of a The increasing trend of museum theft.

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In addition to hearing my colleagues on the air express their astonishment about the crime, we also had our share of jibes about the “difficult” task of being sent to Paris. In fact, it was nice to see my old hometown again. Paris is amazing. But I should also point out that, apart from the fancy dinner, the trip was all about crowding into café chairs to write texts and use the facilities – plus Uber Eats, French style.

Fox News chief foreign affairs correspondent Greg Balcott with Parisian producer Cécile Medintsev at the Louvre Museum in Paris on October 21, 2025. (Fox News)

Now we wait to see how this amazing French crime will end. Most of the people we heard from were quite certain that the bandits would be caught and museum security would be upgraded. But they had doubts that the priceless jewels, described as the “soul” of France, could be recovered. The Louvre Museum has reopened. Let’s just hope this movie-style story has a happy ending.