A valuable 1696 Stradivarius violin stolen from acclaimed Korean musician Min-Jin Kym has been recovered from a property in the UK.
 A 17th century painting of violin maker Antonio Stradivari |
Police discovered the violin, valued at £1.2m ($1.8m), in a residential property earlier this week, following a three-year search.
Kym has since spoken of her "elation".
The Stradivarius was stolen from Kym as she ate in Pret-a-Manger at London's Euston station in 2010.
John Maughan was jailed for four years in April 2011, having pleaded guilty to the theft. Maughan's teenage accomplices, aged 15 and 17, respectively, have also been detained.
"It's been a very difficult journey, I still can't quite believe what's happened," said the musician.
"The loss of the instrument, and the acute responsibility I felt, was at the back of my mind at every moment of the day.
"I'd played the instrument since I was a teenager, so it's been a huge part of my identity for many years."
Violins created by members of the Stradivarius family, particularly Antonio Stradivari, are highly sought after. In June 2011, a well-preserved example auctioned for $15.9m.
In 2012, eminent Swiss violinist Alexandre Dubach left his Strad on a train. Fortuitously, it was handed in to lost property.
Kym insists: "I've now gone from devastation to the other end of the scale - an incredible feeling of elation that hasn't left me. I'm still feeling butterflies in my stomach and am on cloud nine."
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