Lost-and-found items increasing at ABIA

AUSTIN – This week Austin-Bergstrom International Airport released their passenger numbers, showing that more than a million travelers flew in and out of Austin in April.

With so much going on, it’s easy to leave a treasured item anywhere from the security line to baggage claim.

“I lost a book and also a poster,” said traveler David Wolf. “I imagine some people leave behind hats, books, and pets.” read more Austin-Bergstrom Airport lost and found

There’s a small room where a lot of lost and forgotten items end up. It’s Airport Manager Chris Harris’ job to help sort through it all.

“We hold each item for 45 days. After 45 days, it gets turned over to the city,” Harris said.

Inside the airport lost and found you’ll find abandoned sweatshirts, expensive shirts and suits, unattended knapsacks, plenty of luggage, and neatly rolled blueprints for buildings all over the world.

Along with all kinds of electronics, about 50 lost phones a month are brought here.
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“The majority of items we get here is& iPhones, a lot of iPhones,” Harris said.

Even a computer tower was hauled in a few weeks ago.

Keys, crutches, canes, even dentures have been turned in. A safe holds wallets and purses filled with cold hard cash.Austin-Bergstrom Airport lost property

“The largest amount I found I think was $1,500,” Harris said.

It’s a treasure trove of IDs, eyeglasses, all kinds of stuff, just waiting for someone to reclaim it.

“Last year we were getting probably about 200 items a month. Now it went up to almost 400-500 a month,” Harris said.

Last week one traveler left behind an innocent looking box.

“We write it up and brought it in the room the next day we came back and wondered what that foul odor was,” Harris said. “We think somebody went hunting and it was meat.”

So how do you get your stuff back?

“We try to get in contact with the owners for everything that we find,” Harris said.

It’s then mailed back to the owner at their expense. But if they can’t be found, the clothing is given to various charities, and the rest is auctioned off by the city.

Lost and Found at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport