Heist at the Louvre Podcast Launches With ABC's James Longman

The most famous museum in the world got robbed in broad daylight, and now there is a podcast about it. Heist at the Louvre premieres Monday, September 28, a new true crime series from the ABC News Podcast Network and 20/20 hosted by ABC News chief international correspondent James Longman. Heist at the Louvre takes listeners inside the investigation into one of the most daring jewel thefts in history and tries to answer a question that has gone unanswered since the day of the crime: where are the crown jewels now?

According to ABC News, Longman follows the case from the museum's halls into the Parisian criminal underworld, drawing on firsthand accounts from eyewitnesses and analysis from art crime experts who explain how the robbery happened in broad daylight. The series also reveals what suspects have told police about the crime and presses on what comes next in the investigation. Beyond the crime itself, Heist at the Louvre looks at what the theft exposed about the Louvre and about France after one of the century's most high-profile robberies, as ABC describes the show.

Why the crown jewels are still missing

The unrecovered jewels are the reason the case still generates headlines. In Heist at the Louvre, Longman speaks with sources close to the suspects to learn who they are and where they came from, tracing the networks that investigators say made the heist possible. The show documents the day of the robbery in detail, then tracks the international hunt for the stolen pieces, a search that has so far not recovered them. For listeners, the appeal is the same one that has always driven heist stories: the job worked, the jewels are gone, and nobody has brought them back.

Art crime experts featured in the series say the theft raised hard questions about security at one of the most visited museums on the planet. Those questions did not go away when the news cycle moved on, and Heist at the Louvre returns to them with access that was not available in the first days of coverage. That includes accounts from people who were in the museum when it happened and from those tracking the case through French law enforcement.

ABC's true crime bet keeps growing

Heist at the Louvre arrives as ABC Audio keeps pushing into true crime audio. Its recent series include Bad Rap: The Case Against Diddy, What Happened to Holly Bobo? and Devil in the Desert, which became the most successful limited series from ABC Audio and 20/20 to date after holding the number one spot on Apple Podcasts' Top Shows chart for more than three straight weeks, according to the network. The new series is produced by the same operation, with the trailer already up on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music, as Podnews reported.

Subscribers to the 20/20 True Crime+ channel on Apple Podcasts can listen to Heist at the Louvre ad-free and get early access to new series, plus bonus episodes and an expanded back catalog of past 20/20 episodes. A subscription costs 2.99 dollars a month, or 29.99 a year, with a seven-day free trial. Longman, who also hosts the ABC News daily show What You Need to Know, was scheduled to appear on GMA3 on Monday to discuss the new project, a sign the network is putting promotional weight behind the launch.

The premiere lands as true crime remains one of the most competitive genres in audio, with networks racing to turn high-profile investigations into limited series. Longman brings a reporting background rather than a scripted-drama approach to the genre: he covers breaking international news for ABC and leads the network's daily briefing show, so Heist at the Louvre leans on interviews and access instead of reenactments. That access is what the network is selling, from the voices of witnesses to the investigators still working the case.

The first episode of Heist at the Louvre is out now on major podcast platforms.