MANHATTAN — A Faberge-style egg was found sitting in the trash Thursday just blocks away from where a jewelry store worker was gunned down during a robbery on the Upper East Side, according to police.
The jewel-encrusted egg was stolen during the deadly Wednesday stickup at the R.S. Durant jewelry store on Madison Ave. It turned up inside a trash bag at the corner of E. 73rd Street and Lexington Avenue, police said.
Store employee Henry Menahem, 71, was shot and killed Wednesday when he refused to hand over merchandise to an unidentified gunman. The value of the jewelry the robber took has yet to be determined.
Police discovered the red-and-gold-colored egg inside a box marked with the Faberge name and insignia while collecting evidence. Thousands of the valuable eggs were produced during a 30-year period at the turn of the 20th century and were given as gifts among European royalty.
It was unclear how much the egg was worth, or whether it was a real Faberge egg.
The brazen noontime heist occurred along a tony stretch of the Upper East Side that houses jewelers, fashion boutiques and art galleries. Like many of the upscale stores on the block, R.S. Durant had a doorbell for customers to buzz in order to gain entry.
NYPD officers were handing out posters of the suspected killer on the street Thursday. Police described the suspect as a black man in his early 30s who last seen wearing gray slacks, a blue wool coat, a scarf, sunglasses and black gloves.
The police also released surveillance video that shows the suspect near the jewelry store on the day of the shooting.
Meanwhile, the owners of R.S. Durant have put up a sign in their window Thursday selling everything at half price.
