Authorities are looking for three suspects who may have stolen a collector car twice in two days.

The car, a 1987 Buick Grand National, was first stolen from a Mankato dealership showroom early Monday morning and recovered Tuesday night. Jeremy Thomas, owner of Unique Specialty & Classics, said authorities called him early Wednesday morning to notify him that the car had been stolen again — from the Minneapolis impound lot.

Thomas was notified later Wednesday that the car had been recovered. "As far as I know, nobody stole it again today," Thomas said Thursday.

The car, worth around $40,000, was one of two taken from the Mankato showroom Monday morning, said Blue Earth County Sheriff's deputy Tom Coulter. The other car, a 1995 Corvette pace car convertible, was driven about a mile from the Mankato dealership and abandoned in a college apartment parking lot, Coulter said.

The suspects left the car lights on and the car running, Thomas added.

The Buick was spotted at a Holiday gas station in Jordan, Minn., Coulter said, and the suspects were caught on surveillance video. That video, combined with the dealership's footage and tips from social media posts, helped authorities pinpoint two suspects — both of whom are from Minneapolis, he said.

The sheriff's office received tips from several people who saw the Buick on the road, he said. "A number of people saw the car … Monday morning and [called in] and said that car had no reason to be out in the middle of winter," Coulter said. "They almost took it [personally] that they had this thing out."

Coulter said he's unsure whether the suspects who took the car from the dealership are the same ones who took it from the impound lot.

John Elder, public information officer for the Minneapolis Police Department, said that he didn't know how the car got out of the impound lot and that Minneapolis police are investigating.

Thomas said authorities told him he can pick up the car once police finish examining it for evidence.

"I've been a deputy and a cop for 20 years now, and this is the first time I've seen a car stolen twice in two days," Coulter said.

Anne Millerbernd is a student reporter on assignment for the Star Tribune.

Anne Millerbernd • 651-308-7126