Couple things...

First, the thread title is misleading: it purports that the bags were stolen while the aircraft was in flight, when in fact the gear was pilfered from bags that were being "held overnight." I came here expecting to read details about how the gear was stolen from an overhead bin while the owners was asleep or something.

Whats the story about bags being "held overnight"? Held by whom? Were they checked all the way through? If so, what was that bit about the "luggage carousel"? Bags checked through would not have been on a carousel. Was there a long layover in ATL, only checked as far as ATL, and were the bags effectively abandoned there? There are holes in this narrative.