LAT:
The emerald, Brazilian authorities say, was discovered in a beryl mine in the country in 2001 and later smuggled to the U.S. There, it reportedly survived flooding from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 while submerged in an underwater vault.
The gem eventually ended up in the hands of an investor, who reported it missing from a South El Monte vault a few years later, according to previous Times coverage. Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators subsequently tracked the emerald to a Las Vegas vault, but since they could not sort out who owned the gem, they confiscated it.
The stone’s long and sordid history gave rise to rumors that it could even be cursed.