More than 80,000 artifacts at Reagan library vanish: report

0 Comments | AFP, November, 2007

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Around 80,000 valuable artifacts from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library are unaccounted for following an audit.

The items, including mementos from Reagan's White House years, are missing because of a "near universal" security breakdown at the museum in Simi Valley, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday.

The Times cited a report by the inspector general of the US National Archives, Paul Brachfeld, whose office is investigating allegations that a former employee stole Reagan memorabilia.

The probe into the alleged theft had been hampered by the museum's sloppy record-keeping, the Times reported.

"We have been told by sources that a person who had access capability...