Nicolas Piere

Hi there,

I'd be grateful for anyone's thoughts on the below lost luggage mystery.

Let me know whether you've had similar experiences or if you've worked at the airport as a baggage handler.

Some time ago my suitcase was taken from the baggage claim at Frankfurt airport before I could get to it. I know this as the airline confirmed that the bag was scanned at the baggage claim and I even have CCTV images of the person taking it.

I had reported it to the police as a stolen bag and the airline conducted a search regardless and confirmed after 90 days they couldn't find it and I got compensated.

Some time has passed but I'm now evaluating numerous pieces of evidence that indicate the bag wasn't actually stolen but taken in error and brought back to the airport. Consequently, it's been mis placed by airport staff due to them not paying due care and attention and actually the bag is somewhere still tin the airport to this day outside of the lost and found storage areas.

The reason I don't think it's been stolen is due to the following: I had three credit cards in the bag and none of them have been attempted to be used after all this time. I also had a password list and again i've had no notification that anything has been compromised. The person who took my bag looked like a smartly dressed business class passenger and they blended with my luggage as I had nice hard shell glossy blue bag as opposed to a scruffy individual taking a nice bag. The bag did hold some significant emergency money and expensive items, assuming it had been stolen the person would have likely been back for more until he got caught, as that particularly baggage claim area in Frankfurt airport can be accessed by the public. To date the airport police have confirmed they have caught some people for baggage theft but none matched the image of the person taking my bag. So all the above would indicate that this person took it error and returned it to the airport.

Now for the contradicting part that leads to this to being a mystery.

The airport's procedure for dealing with lost bags is that they go to lost baggage area where they are logged on a database, to see if they can be matched with the airlines list of missing bags. The bags are subsequently opened and searched and eventually auctioned off if there is no evidence to identify the owner. The bag has to be opened and inspected before being auctioned off as they must take out cash and any perishable goods or illegal goods. That's the process. Now my bag is labelled inside and out with all my contact details, as well as having credit cards. The tag was metal and can even be seen on the suitcase on the CCTV images. So I can only conclude that the bag has not been threw this process as it would have made it's way back to me long ago.

So whilst there is still a possibility it was stolen there's also evidence to suggest it was taken in error and returned to the airport and somehow mis placed somewhere and is lying dormant. The airport is saying that they have no other storage areas other than the lost and found storage areas as detailed above.

So the question is, if it has been misplaced in the airport what areas could it be in that people in the office are not aware of? I don't know if anyone has had any experience of bags turning up after a long period of time where they have been all this time? Or maybe you worked as a baggage handler and information on where neglected bags could lay dormant in an airport due to employees not paying due care and attention.

I would love to hear anyone's thoughts on this that could help point me in the right direction to help solve the mystery.

Now here's a potential twist....

Whilst my airline consistently relays the lost and found process to me, they have also admitted that they have experienced baggage turning up after a year!!!! I asked how is this possible given all their checks. They advised if the bag was with another airline they wouldn't have visibility of it. They also advised if someone did take my bag in error they would have returned it to their airline.

Would love to hear people's thoughts / experiences on this.

Is there anywhere in the airport that suitcase could be lying dormant outside of the lost and found storage areas?

All the best and many thanks for your thoughts.

Many thanks,

Nick