I tracked my lost luggage with an Apple AirTag — I was shocked by where it turned up
It was a worst-suitcase scenario.
With assistance from an Apple AirTag, a woman shockingly discovered that her lost luggage wound up in a homeless encampment with all its contents missing.
Traveler Aunny Grace detailed the unfortunate journey her belongings took after she flew into California’s Hollywood Burbank Airport on American Airlines — and her lost bag took a much more scenic route.
“It went to Denver, then Denver back to Dallas, and then eventually, five days later, it made its way back to Burbank,” Grace told the channel KABC in Los Angeles.
At one point, she had been notified that the luggage had successfully been delivered to her home.
However, the AirTag she had placed inside it said otherwise.
“I took a look at the AirTag, and it said it was in Hollywood. My intuition told me something was wrong when I saw my bag slowly moving down Western Avenue,” she said.
Eventually, it was spotted by Santa Monica Boulevard and Western Avenue at an enclave of homeless people, one of whom claimed to have bought the bag.
“I was mortified. I was shocked … complete disbelief,” she said.
“I was in such shock that I wasn’t even aware of my surroundings. ‘Where is my stuff? Where do I even look?’” Grace continued, noting that the suitcase was open with her belongings removed.
“I just started grabbing my stuff, crying, vendors are on the street looking at me, crying, like, grabbing my stuff out of this cart.”
She said that a friend who accompanied her paid the unhoused person for the return of her luggage.
Grace, who filed a police report, also claimed that other bags in the airport had been left unattended and open, making them easy targets for theft.
“We strive to ensure that our customers’ checked luggage and other items arrive at their destinations on schedule and in their original condition,” American Airlines said in a statement to KABC.
“We are investigating what occurred here and, in the meantime, a member of our team is in contact with the customer to apologize and resolve the issue.”
Grace now wants to spread the word and help protect others.
“My ultimate goal here … is if it happened to me, it’s happening to other people, and it’s going to keep happening until someone is held accountable,” she told KABC.
