Gene Autry’s Guitar in Global Dispute

A rare Martin OM-45 guitar, one of only 50 produced in the early 1930s, is at the center of a trans-Atlantic legal dispute. The guitar, likely owned by Gene Autry and stolen from him in 1932, was discovered in a Swedish farmhouse after the father of the finder passed away in February 2021. Autry, a Country Music Hall of Fame member, was an iconic singing cowboy during much of the 20th century.

The guitar's journey is shrouded in mystery, but forensic evidence has linked it to Autry. Jackie Autry, Gene's widow, wants the guitar returned to the Autry Museum of the American West, an institution that documents cowboy and Native American history. Sandra, the daughter of the guitar's finder, wants to keep it as it holds sentimental value for her.

The Martin company has documentation confirming the guitar's serial number and Autry's connection, while the guitar's original value is estimated to be around six figures. The dispute is further complicated by differing laws in Sweden and the United States, with Sandra holding that she has the right to keep the guitar as she inherited it.