Stolen Centuries-Old Stradivarius Violin Returned 35 Years Later to Prodigy Violinist's Daughters

— -- A centuries-old "Ames" Stradivarius violin that was stolen from the late renowned violinist Roman Totenberg has been recovered by the FBI 35 years after it went missing and was returned to Totenberg's three daughters in a ceremony in New York City today.

The Stradivarius, which was crafted in 1734 in Italy, is one of only 400 remaining violins crafted by luthier Antonio Stradivari, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

Stradivari’s violins are widely considered to be of the highest quality of craftsmanship, the release added.

Though Totenberg died three years ago at age 101 and never got to reunite with his beloved violin -- the only one he played up until it was stolen -- his daughters believe the recovery is a blessing.

"It's like having him with us again, him and my mother," his daughter Jill Totenberg told ABC News today. "We all feel that they're touching us and telling us that life is good and to always be positive. It's truly extraordinary.”

The Stradivarius, which is estimated to be worth about $200,000, went missing in May 1980 after a concert, Jill Totenberg said. She added that her father had left the instrument in his office but that when he returned, it was gone.

The violin's case later showed up in the basement of the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he taught, she said, but the violin itself never did.

"I remember calling my father and asking, 'Are you OK?' and he just said, 'Oh, yes, I'm OK, but it's just like losing an arm," she said. "It was an extension of his being. It was like his other child, his partner in music-making."

Though Jill Totenberg said one of her sisters believed the family heirloom was forever lost after their parents died, the Stradivarius "surfaced at a hotel in Manhattan, where it was being presented for appraisal by someone who had received the violin from a former spouse" on June 26 this year, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI wrote in a release today.

The appraiser then contacted the FBI, the release added, saying a special agent from the agency’s Art Crime Team approached the individual, who then voluntarily relinquished the Stradivarius.

No one has been arrested or charged in connection with the stolen violin, which was presented and returned to family in a special ceremony in New York City today, according to authorities.

The Stradivarius is now with a dealer, who is going to restore it to working condition, Jill Totenberg said. She added that she and her sisters, one of whom is legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg of NPR, were looking for a musician with enough mastery to play the Strad and "give it the voice" that their father had when playing it.

"We're looking forward to that first concert when the violin is played again," she said. "We don't know who will be playing it, but we'll figure it out."

Jill Totenberg added that her father, Roman Totenberg, was a child prodigy who started playing in Poland, where he was born, at the age of 6. By 11, he was playing for the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.

"He played with great romanticism and had an enormous ability to bedazzle and to play with such stunning emotional interpretation," she said. "The one childhood memory of him I'll never forget is waking up as a child at 8 a.m. to him practicing every day."