STERLING, Va. — If you’re missing dentures, a Despicable Me minion or the company key card, you might want to check with the airport — the lost and found has it all.
The Transportation Security Administration’s checkpoints supply an ever-changing — and sometimes bizarre — lost and found that could pass for a second-hand general store.
If passengers have taken it off, they have left it.
A small room next to baggage claim at Dulles International keeps the eclectic selection of items until they are either claimed or donated.
Hearing aids. An American Express “black card.” Trays full of belts, keys and glasses. Someoe left behind a CPAP, which is a therapeutic breathing device.
“The weirdest thing I’ve actually seen is a shrunken head,” says James White, who oversees the lost and found for the TSA. “It was wrapped up in this little baggy, and I didn’t really want to touch it.”
Every employee can remember a head-shaking find, but the room is mostly filled with racks of jackets, coats and even full suitcases.
A adjacent room keeps shelves of laptops, phones and every imaginable form of identification.
“We hold the items for 30 days,” White says, noting sometimes exceptions are made to allow travelers extra time to reclaim their lost items.
Low-value goods are donated to Virginia Surplus. Items with memory, such as computers and phones, go to TSA headquarters to be wiped.
“For the most part, passengers do claim a majority of the items,” White says.
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