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How this teenager cracked the case of Tom Brady's missing jersey

The discovery of Tom Brady's Super Bowl jersey sounds like a movie script. A well-known Mexican journalist sneaks into the Patriots locker room, steals the jersey, flees back home and is caught by the FBI months later.

Finding Brady's jersey required a lot of work by the FBI, NFL/Patriots security and the Houston Police Department, but a teenager in Seattle played a large role as well. In fact, the discovery may not have even been possible without the help of 19-year-old Dylan Wagner.

Speaking with CBS Boston, Wagner told the story about how he came into contact with Martin Mauricio Ortega, Brady's jersey thief. He said he sold memorabilia to Ortega on eBay and the two exchanged photos of their collections. That's when Wagner noticed something.

"He sent me 30 photos of his collection," Wagner said. "Front and center was Tom Brady's Super Bowl 49 Jersey. I asked him outright, 'How did you get that?' and he says 'I'll tell you later.'"

All's well that ends well. Image: Getty
All's well that ends well. Image: Getty

That interaction happened in December, and after Brady's jersey was stolen in February, things started clicking. He read an article about how Brady's previous Super Bowl jersey was also stolen, and so he sent the photo to his friend, who just happened to be a Boston ATF Special Agent.

The special agent sent the photos to the FBI, and it played a pivotal role in capturing Ortega.

"[The special agent] said the video doesn't prove anything. Without the photos I sent him they wouldn't have been able to get a search warrant to go into Ortega's basement and get the jerseys," Wagner said.

The FBI was then able to look at videos from the Super Bowl, tracking Ortega. Combine the video with the information provided with Wagner and it made the culprit's identity pretty clear.

Ortega has not been charged in the incident. Brady got his jersey back earlier this week.