A delivery driver with a criminal record disappeared two weeks ago with a truck full of paintings and other artwork potentially worth millions of dollars, investigators said Tuesday.
Patrick Joseph McIntosh, 36, has not been seen since he left Boca Raton on April 18 with pieces belonging to various galleries, including furniture, photographs and sculptures, said Detective Mike Mauro of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
McIntosh was supposed to pick up several more pieces across the state in Naples before driving to New York to make drop-offs. Authorities are investigating the case as a theft of interstate cargo and consider McIntosh a suspect.
Mauro estimated the artworks' value at about $1.5 million, but AXA Art Insurance Corp. spokesman Rosalind Joseph said seven works by American painter Milton Avery that were in the truck are worth "millions of dollars." The insurer announced a $100,000 reward Tuesday for information leading to their recovery.
McIntosh has a criminal history dating to 1989 with at least three convictions for trafficking in stolen property and grand theft, according to state records. He was last released from prison in December after serving about a year for a probation violation.
"I have no idea where he thinks he could be going with it," Mauro said. "It's all pretty traceable artwork."
A telephone call to David Jones Fine Art Services, which employed McIntosh as a driver, was not returned Tuesday.