A 2nd-century Roman gravestone inscribed for a sailor named Sextus Congenius Verus was discovered in March 2025 by Daniella Santoro and Aaron Lorenz while doing yard work at their New Orleans home. University of New Orleans archaeologist D. Ryan Gray, working with colleagues at the University of Innsbruck and Tulane University, traced the stone to a missing object from a museum in Civitavecchia, Italy. Researchers believe it was brought to the U.S. as a souvenir by a member of the 34th division of the Fifth Army after the liberation of Rome in 1944. The FBI’s Art Crime Team is now involved in repatriating the headstone to Italy.
The discovery highlights the complex, often hidden histories of looted antiquities that surface in unexpected places, and the intricate international collaboration required to return them. The case underscores ongoing issues of wartime looting and the challenges of repatriation, even when the object’s origin and modern journey are well-documented. It also demonstrates how routine archaeological inquiries can escalate into global investigations involving multiple institutions and law enforcement.