5,000 Stolen Barbie Dolls Are Recovered

A San Diego man’s collection of Barbie dolls, which he values at $1 million, turned up Monday in a rental storage locker, all 5,000 of them jammed into 37 boxes and crammed into a tiny room from floor to ceiling, San Diego police said.

Detectives turned up the dolls two weeks after they disappeared in what was perhaps the largest Barbie doll heist in the nation’s history. The dolls were stolen from a Normal Heights home that was then torched twice in attempts to cover up the theft. The collection was not insured.

“When I saw this, I’m like, I’m numb,” collector Glen Offield, 42, said Monday afternoon, displaying a 1961 ponytailed Barbie amid the glare of television lights. “I’ve got them back!”

Police were led to the dolls after the apparent suicide Saturday of a man for whom Offield once worked.

Saying the investigation could lead to other suspects, however, Police Sgt. Mike Lodge declined to identify the dead man or provide many details.

The county medical examiner’s office identified the dead man as Scott Sloggett, 41.

He was found dead at 8:45 a.m. Saturday in his home, apparently from a drug overdose, according to the medical examiner’s office.