In this episode, retired agent and FBI art crime team leader Tim Carpenter reviews his case where 5,000 illegally collected cultural artifacts and two thousand human burial remains were seized from the Indiana home of grave robber Don Miller.
Many of the pieces in Miller’s illicit collection of over 42,000 items were looted from sacred burial and cultural heritage sites around the world. Tim Carpenter and his team repatriated items of immense historical and cultural significance back to Native American and other indigenous communities, including Haiti and China.
Tim is the author of, The Grave Robber, a part true crime narrative, part procedural, the recounts a behind-the-scenes look at the meticulous work involved in the FBI’s investigation, detailing the complex challenges of recovering stolen cultural artifacts and the legal and moral dilemmas of repatriating them to their rightful communities.
It’s a story of healing, responsibility, and the importance of preserving history for future generations.
“It never occurs to these folks that when you dig up an indigenous gravesite, a native site, perhaps they don’t want you to take their things. These grave goods were buried spiritually for their loved ones to take with them into the spirit world. So, it’s not okay that you come and take them out of the ground and take them home. I don’t care that you’re trying to preserve them. That’s not what they were intended for. And that’s that morality piece that seems to be missing a lot in the mindset of Don and like-minded folks, and it’s not up to you to come along and dig these things up and just take them home.”—Retired Agent Tim Carpenter
Special Agent (Retired)
Tim Carpenter
2/2004 – 2/2024
Tim Carpenter served in the FBI for twenty years. During his career, he specialized in counterterrorism, major theft, and art crime investigations.
He led one of the FBI’s most sensitive counterterrorism operations, earning the FBI Director’s Award—the Bureau’s highest honor.
Later, he directed the largest cultural property recovery in FBI history and supervised numerous high-profile art theft cases, including the investigation into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist and the recovery of Tom Brady’s stolen Super Bowl jersey. He also oversaw landmark recoveries such as Willem de Kooning’s Woman-Ochre, a stolen Norman Rockwell painting, and the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz. Over his career, he helped repatriate thousands of stolen or looted artifacts and artworks worldwide.
As head of the FBI’s Art Crime Program, Tim expanded the team by 300%, modernized investigative approaches, developed a new national stolen art database, and strengthened partnerships with museums, auction houses, and cultural institutions around the world.
He also developed and led multiple training programs to build international capacity in art crime investigation, delivering specialized instruction to law enforcement agencies in Bulgaria, Romania, Italy, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Peru, and many other countries.
He retired as a supervisor and former head of the FBI Art Crime Team, with over 30 years of combined experience in law enforcement, counterterrorism, cultural property protection, and explosive ordnance disposal.
Following his retirement, Tim founded Argus Cultural Property Consultants, a global firm specializing in cultural property protection, risk management, and investigative services.
As the managing director, he has staffed the consulting firm with a world-class team of former FBI agents, prosecutors, museum security directors, and cultural heritage experts who provide advisory services to museums, collectors, insurers, auction houses, law enforcement and the entertainment industry.
A sought-after speaker, Carpenter lectures internationally on art crime, cultural heritage law, illicit trafficking, and museum security. His work has been featured by CBS News, Reuters, NPR, Vanity Fair, The Washington Post Magazine, and in the documentary The Thief Collector.
The following are links to articles about the investigation of grave robber Don Miller and the FBI’s efforts to seize and repatriate some of the cultural artifacts and human bones Miller illegally collected:
FBI Website – 2/27/2019: FBI Seeks to Identify Rightful Owners in Cultural Artifacts Case
FBI Website: FBI Seeking Owners in Cultural Artifacts Case (VIDEO)
Brian Ross Investigates — The FBI Art Theft Squad
CBS News | Human bones found: While seizing thousands of artifacts from an Indiana home, FBI makes “staggering” discovery of human remains – CBS News
Recovering Cultural Property Across the World: Interview with the FBI Art Crime program manager Tim Carpenter – American Alliance of Museums (aam–us.org)
To learn more about how the FBI investigates art crime, listen to these FBI Case File Review episodes:
341: Geoffrey Kelly – Cezanne Theft and Recovery, FBI Art Crime Team
022: Bob Bazin – Art Crime, Rodin Museum Armed Robbery
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I came here searching for information specifically on who to contact if you believe burial sites have been destroyed, as Muskogee (the tribe Ashley referenced above, in roughly the same area) land across the street from my home was recently destroyed after having construction put on pause because of (allegedly) remains had been found. Then in the middle of the night on a Saturday I come home to find large black trucks and black SUVs on the site. By 7 AM Sunday morning they were gone, and construction resumed a week later.
I also wanted to say… I wish Tim would specifically talk about how they were prodding the ground until they hit a casket lid. Until I made it to that point in his book, I kinda thought “ok so they dug and ran into bones or pottery” and “they were someone’s grandparents but probably even their grandchildren are long gone by now”. I admit a morbid thought I probably chose to think to try to save myself from having to confront the reality of it. When I read that part I almost got sick. Suddenly it was very apparent to me as someone whose tribe is from Minnesota and whose great grandmother was taken to a residential school in South Dakota, this actually could have been your grandparents or great grandparents. It was that moment that I fully understood how modern these graves that he was looting actually were.
This lifted my spirits with its uplifting 💕 and encouraging message for everyone
As a tribal citizen who is a descendant of three different tribes I appreciate Tim Carpenter’s dedication to this case. To be frank, I have not seen someone exert such effort – and with such respect and intentionality – to right a wrong made against a tribal group. In fact, my own state governor is extremely hostile to our state’s tribes here in Oklahoma and constantly characterizes us in the media as lawless people. It’s saddening to see that attitudes like this persist today. However, it is encouraging to see that some, especially someone in law enforcement, sees how crimes like this aren’t only wrong but extremely hurtful. Tribes are not extinct – we are still here, descendants of our ancestors who were survivors of abuse, relocation, and the forced assimilation and boarding school era (of which my grandparents were affected by personally).
In regards to the issue of desecration of artifacts and remains, this is an ongoing battle for others as it is for one of my tribes, the Muscogee Creeks. More can be learned here about that: https://www.muscogeenation.com/justice-for-hickory-ground/hickory-ground-history/#:~:text=Poarch%E2%80%99s%20Desecration%20of%20Hickory%20Ground
Finally, thank you, Jerri, for sharing all of these cases. My grandfather (the same one who was forced to go to boarding school because he was Native American) was a police officer. It takes special people with a heart to serve communities and bring forth justice.
Thank you for listening and your support of the FBI’s work in Native American communities.