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What do a freeze-dried chicken foot, a toilet seat and a full sheet of uncut $2 bills all have in common? These are among some of the most peculiar finds that have appeared in lost luggage in the US over the past year.
Unclaimed Baggage is a US-based company that has been purchasing unclaimed bags from domestic airlines and travel companies to resell, donate and recycle items left behind by passengers who were never reunited with their belongings.
While going through these bags, which are usually deemed unclaimed after a three-month search to reunite them with their owner, Unclaimed Baggage has come across some fascinating items, from very expensive products to things that most certainly would have had an interesting backstory.
The company has released its annual Found Report, detailing the most weird and wonderful items found in US luggage during the last year.
Aside from the aforementioned, the top 40 finds also included a movie script from The Goonies, a glass eye, an Ice Spice Chia Pet, a silicone pregnant belly, a rattlesnake preserved in a bottle of whisky and a toilet brush shaped like a cherry.
There were lots of historical and antique items that made the list, too, including a letter signed by Eleanor Roosevelt dated 1944, a 1941 newspaper clipping of the attack on Pearl Harbor, an antique moustache curler and an antique French book on performing exorcisms.
The luggage also included items originating from all over the world, such as a Hawaiian shark tooth weapon, an Ethiopian begena musical instrument and a Nam Man Prai Thai amulet.
Unclaimed Baggage has been sifting through bags for 55 years and some of the most jaw-dropping items found over the decades have included real human shrunken heads, Egyptian relics dating back to 1500BC and a live rattlesnake that required a visit from animal control.
Among the most valuable finds in 2024 was an 18K white gold solitaire diamond ring priced at a whopping $39,000.
A $20,000 18k gold Rolex, $3,500 Swarovski binoculars, a $9,600 Chanel tweed coat dress and a $10,000 Louis Vuitton Horizon 55 Rock Climbing suitcase were among the opulent items.
The most common items found in the unclaimed baggage were women’s underwear, size 10 women’s trousers, men’s size 11 Nike trainers, copies of Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us and iPhones.
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English (US) ·