philosoflyer

Hello everyone,

Long story short, I'm looking for tips on how to maximize my changes of recovering a small but very sentimentally valuable object from afar.

Yesterday (Tue 8/20) I spent around 4.5 hours at gate B4 in RIC with my two young daughters and very under-the-weather husband awaiting the uncertain fate of United 4135, which was eventually cancelled. (We even got on the plane before it was cancelled, but that's another story.) I was wearing a gold ring with a large blue stone — financial value uncertain, but it was just given to me last Christmas by my mother-in-law, who received it from her mother. At some point near the end of the saga I had the bright idea to briefly slip off the ring and set it down because I was doing something with my hands that might have caught and damaged it. I must have been distracted because the next time I remembered the ring it was 9:30 PM. We left very early this morning in a rush and I had no time to do anything but look briefly under the seats in the gate. I found a stray sock belonging to one of my kids (no joke) but not the ring.

I've called the airport lost and found, which says that items left at gates are usually handled by airlines and taken to their baggage offices. But it won't give me the number for the local United baggage office. Agent suggested I ask in person, but we were homeward bound and my family in the area lives pretty far away. Central United baggage number leads me through useless menus. United website suggests their Chargeback contractor, which seems to be mostly for items left on board, but I filed a report anyway.

Anything I'm missing? Anyone friendly with United staff at RIC?

Thanks in advance,

World's Worst Daughter-in-Law