I think you are mistaken. Airlines - WN included - do have liability for items that go missing from suitcases. My problem is the bottle that's missing is so darn cheap ($15?) I'm not sure it's even worth the effort. More of a sentimental thing given it was a gift bought two days earlier in South Africa than anything else.

To be fair, I really had no other option to ship the bottle. I arrived in LAX from Asia a day earlier and was scheduled to fly to Northern California on WN. I packed the bottle properly, and checked it as I was supposed to.

I'll try writing a polite note to WN and see what they think.