Judy Garland's The Wizard of Oz slippers sell for $28 million

Judy Garland's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz have sold for $28 million (£22 million) at auction.

The auction house had estimated that the slippers - which were stolen from a museum nearly two decades ago - would fetch $3 million (£2.35 million) or more.

Online bidding opened last month and by Friday had reached $1.55 million (£1.22 million), Robert Wilonsky, a vice president with the Dallas-based Heritage Auctions, told CBS News.

More than 800 people were tracking the slippers, and the company's web page for the auction had hit nearly 43,000 page views by Thursday, he said.

The slippers were on display at the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005 when Terry Jon Martin used a hammer to smash the glass of the museum's door and display case, and steal the shoes.

Their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI recovered them in 2018.

Martin was indicted in May 2023 and pleaded guilty in October 2023.

The shoes were returned to collector Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the museum.

The 1939 film The Wizard of Oz has garnered new attention in recent weeks with the release of the movie Wicked, a prequel of sorts, adapted from the hit Broadway musical.