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47 Of The Most Unusual Personal Belongings That People Never Came Back For At A Lost And Found
It must be interesting to work in a lost-and-found department. Each day, you get to see the personal effects people leave behind. Some of them are valuable, while others can say a lot about the person’s peculiarity. And in many of these cases, these items remain stored forever.
Recently, a Reddit thread provided some insight into what it is like to work at a lost-and-found. People shared the wackiest items they’ve encountered, from fancy umbrellas to adult toys, actual vehicles, and a set of dentures. Scroll through and see how absurd some of these finds were.
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#1
I worked at a gym. The sheer AMOUNT of car keys that are just chilling in the list and found area is ASTOUNDING. HOW DID THESE PEOPLE GET HOME?!?! I’m talking about more than 10 sets y’all. It doesn’t make any sense.
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#2
Managed a restaurant back in 2015 in Brooklyn. Lots of things left behind, but one time someone left a Loro Piano scarf. I had no idea about it for like 6 months until we did a purge of items people never returned for. The scarf was really nice, pure cashmere. So I looked up the brand and realized it's like a $1,200 scarf. I took it home that day, still have it.
#3
I, one time, left my garage door opener in a rental car. I went back to the rental office and told the clerk and he said, “oh yeah, we found it” and set an opener on the counter.
I looked at it blankly and told him that that was not my opener and he said, “No? Maybe it’s one of these” and plopped a large box full of dozens of openers on the counter that renters lost and never claimed.
I wondered if the pulled that same joke on everyone who was looking for theirs.
PS: I did find my opener in there and got it back.
#4
I worked in a nightclub and someone left a Prada coat. Because of how it expensive it was, we kept it twice as long as we normally did for other items. Never claimed or even enquired about - a £2000 coat!
#5
Similar vein but I knew someone who was an apartment complex manager for a while. They amount of stuff tenants leave when they move out is incredible. Her boss said either toss it, sell it or keep it they didn't care. She furnished her whole house with all the furniture and sold a bunch of other stuff. Lots of free electronics too.
#6
There was a prosthetic leg in the lost and found at the Daytona Beach airport when I worked there.
#7
My grandmother once paid for the entire extended family to do an all inclusive in Cancun (this was mid 90s). I used the room safe for my watch (very cheap watch, but I wanted to "use" all the amenities because I was a broke college student and wanted the full experience).
When we left I felt all the way back to the corners of the room safe and found a set of herringbone gold necklace, bracelet and diamond stud earrings. All fairly hefty (especially the diamonds). I gave the diamond earrings to my sister because my ears weren't pierced. I kept and wore the gold necklace and bracelet for about twenty years. ETA god 30 years. Where does the time go.
I eventually got another, opal, necklace and bracelet from my husband when we were out of grad school and he was first starting to make some serious money.
Unfortunately I'm not a jewelry kind of person so I only wore each set a handful of times. Then a couple years ago I was attending a wedding and brought both sets to the hotel because I couldn't decide which I wanted to wear.
Yep, left both behind in the hotel and only realized it the next year when I wanted to get them out to wear them again.
I hope the person who found them gets as much enjoyment out of them as I got out of the gold set I found 30 years previous.
Upstaged75 1 hour ago
If I found jewelry someone had left in the safe I'd give it to the hotel in case the owner came back looking for it. And I hope someone would do the same if I accidentally left something - instead of just taking it. 🤷♀️
#8
My buddy had a stack of half a dozen boxes of cremated remains locked in his airport office away from the normal lost and found.
He suspects they're from people traveling for distant relatives' funerals and people having to take the remains home, but didn't want to/didn't care.
After a visit from a TSA bigwig, they went away.
#9
As the rides manager of a Six Flags, we had unusual items found underneath rollercoasters all the time that people wanted back. I'll never forget the time that someone lost their glass eye under the biggest rollercoaster in the park and WE FOUND IT! We sent it back via snail mail and received correspondence back that it wasn't the correct glass eye. Ooops! We never found the one that the person was looking for.
#10
I used to be a receptionist for a company that had people fly in from all over for seminars. Someone left a nice LL Bean canvas coat- like the one George Costanza sometimes wore - and I put it in the coat closet behind my desk where all the lost and found items were kept. No one ever claimed it. After about three years I took it home. Everyone my family has worn it at one time or another. It’s a great coat.
#11
Was working at a theater the other day and someone managed to leave behind a designer raincoat while it was actively pouring.
We stood there until the building had cleared out, assuming someone would come dashing back in for it. .
#12
I worked in an old fashioned hardware store that had a cardboard box for lost and found - mostly sunglasses and nearly all were claimed.
Most of our customers were repeat satisfied customers, but there was a partial denture that went unclaimed for about two years.
We all thought of reasons but the general consensus was that the teeth probably belonged to someone who had passed away or moved. Never claimed. .
#13
Most personal? A wallet with $850 cash US, about another $200 in other currency, ID Card, Green Card, so many credit cards. Held on to it for 2 months and let the other areas lost and found departments know we had it in case she called them. Never did come back for it.
We weren't allowed to track or call customers for valuables. Did it once to be Good Samaritans and one lady cussed us out and accused us of stealing her belongings because she wasn't the type to forget valuables like that. Why would we call you if we stole it??? Really?
Fun stuff I got to take home after over a month: Chanel earrings, designer sunglasses, umbrellas, nice coats and jackets, designer perfumes, etc.
Weird stuff i did not take home: walking canes, gold or silver grills, dentures..
#14
Not quite the same thing but I work at a courier company and our lost property (when labels come off parcels) always gets lots of family photo albums and old wedding dresses, most are never claimed (we hold them for 6 months).
#15
I once accidentally left my dogs ashes at TSA. The l&f department went above and beyond and called my vet office bc her cremation info was still in the velvet bag she came back to me in.
I was able to recover them by calling in a favor to a friend in that city.
#16
Not the same but I used to work at a luxury wilderness lodge in the middle of a national park in Alaska. Was about a 6 hour drive on the single road to get from the park entrance to our location. No private vehicles allowed, so we drove guests in and out on buses twice a week.
One day the bus driver radioed us to tell us a departing guest had left his wallet, they were already hours down the road. Sure enough we found it in his cabin. We were friends with the guys who ran the only air strip in the park, and they happened to be flying out that day, so we gave them a bunch of fresh baked goods in exchange for them taking the wallet with them to the park entrance.
When the guest arrived at the park entrance that day, his wallet was waiting for him at the airstrip. Now that's (Alaska) customer service! He was really excited about it and mailed us an additional tip.
#17
Someone once lost their entire Diabetes testing kit including their CGM and a bottle of insulin.
I kept it on hand for like 6 months before tossing it. I knew the insulin was long bad but surely a glucose monitor is worth tracking down.
#18
Not a specific department, but when I worked at the local gym, I didn't believe the things people would leave and forget about.
Expensive lifting belts, wrist wraps, lifting straps, wireless headphones, wired headphones, supplements, shaker cups, etc. One time someone left the big Beats by Dre. They did come back for those immediately.
R1MV4Superleggera 2 hours ago
LMAO! Anyone who buy those "beats" by dre needs to be head examined! #1 the audio on those things are bloody awful! #2 made in china, just like that other rubbish made by apple, do I need to say more?
#19
I worked for a cleaning company many years ago, cleaning the million dollar rentals on holden , baldhead, and hilton head. Rich folks would leave everything and anything you can imagine. Full surfboards, chairs, toys, electronics, jewelry, books, food, expensive liquor, pet kennels, cigars, cartons of cigarettes, skateboards, fishing poles , movies, projectors, you name it they left it. On the up side, you got to keep alot of the stuff. down side, your working for minimum wage cleaning houses where people can afford to leave entire fridge and freezers full of untouch food, sound systems, electronics etc without a care in the world. its depressing,.
#20
I work in a library. People leave all sorts of interesting things in returned books. The one that stands out in my memory is the pregnancy ultrasound photos that were used as a bookmark. We held on to them for months but no one ever claimed them.
#21
I work in a small mom & pop style bakery in a winter tourism spot. People passing through have left like 5 phones in the last 8 years. We've also recovered countless car keys. Must be People better off than me cause I would be searching all over for my phone.
#22
Had somebody leave a pair of Burberry sunglasses in the shop once. It was a tourist area so I had assumed they traveled back without them. After two weeks I took them for myself.
I’d been using them as my car-shades for another two weeks when I got a call.
“Sorry to bother you, but did you find a pair of designer sunglasses in the store?”
“What make?”
“Burberry.”
“I did, but I’ll be honest with you, after no one picked them up for two weeks I took them home. I can bring them back into the store tomorrow. Once again I’m very sorry, but I didn’t think anyone was coming back for them.”
“Wait, how long ago did you find them?”
“A month ago.”
He lets out a long grumbling noise and goes “they aren’t mine, they are my sons. I noticed he hadn’t been wearing them, and asked him where they were. He said he lost them two days ago. Not only did he lose them, he lied to me! You know what, you keep them. He will just loose them again.”
I lost them about six months later lol.
#23
I used to own a small gym and the weirdest thing that no one ever came back for was a full-face motorcycle helmet. Like a nice one, that had been personalized with some stickers. Like... how did that person get back on their bike without noticing that they did not have the helmet they came with? Held onto it for six months and no one ever came back for it or mentioned missing it.
#24
My dad did like school trips for high-school and college kids. Mostly wealthy people.... and those kids left so much stuff behind..... LOADS of meds.... mostly Adhd, anti depressants etc. Then there were the full makeup kits, some amazing CD and DVD collections, I discovered so many good bands. Lots of nice winter gear and snowboards. But sad once someone left their childhood blanket like one of those rag looking things.... she eventually claimed it and left a big tip, 'twas lovely.
#25
I worked at a donation center and we received a strange looking totally sealed plastic container. I did some research trying to price it for the floor and realized it was a sealed cremation container.
Turns out the family had donated the ashes of their grandpa, not knowing it was in the possessions of their recently deceased grandmother.
#26
I work in home improvement retail. It’s amazing how many canes get left behind. I always say: “we cured another one!”.
#27
We had a lost and found box at our urban retail store. One weekend, I came in and found: a yarmulke, one knitting needle, a St Christopher medal, seven pairs of cheater glasses, one very dirty hearing aid, a glove with four chewed off fingertips and a souvenir program from a musical downtown. What I learned with that box is that as soon as you toss it all out, someone will come in and ask about something in it. Oh well..,.
#28
My friend left his passport behind at a restaurant once. He went abroad to work for a few months and about a year later went back to the restaurant. The lady serving him was actually the manager and recognised him! They had kept his passport in the safe all of that time. No idea why they didn't contact him or the person on the passport contact list. But he'd obviously had to get the passport replaced.
#29
I work at a public library. We’ve had everything from Invisalign braces, retainers, funeral programs, airplane tickets, soooo many car keys, and most memorable was two walking canes on the same day.
#30
I worked for a train company and we had a supremely large lost and found collection of prosthetic limbs and mobility aids, I’m assuming our trains had some sort of magic healing power.
#31
I unwittingly left my deceased mom’s wedding gloves at the airport. They were in the box that held my parents’ 3d wedding slides from 1957 and i was ironically checking the box to make sure everything was okay after going through the security check. Trying to forgive myself. No one else in the family knows. I called the airport but they didn’t have them.
#32
Working at a park there were lots of expensive baseball bats left behind. Also lots of nice lawn chairs. Me and my coworkers were always grateful for that. Spent like half of every shift sitting in a strangers lawn chair.
#33
My daughter left 6lbs of frozen bacon in a really REALLY nice cooler bag on the security belt at PHL when she was running for her flight to come visit us in FL. I really hope some smart soul figured out what it was before it became a science project. My husband almost strangled her when she got here. The place it came from (ZERNS) no longer exists..
#34
18k gold Tiffany wedding band. It was huge, men's size 12 left in the clothing store I worked at as a teen. It sat in the safe for however many months then I got to take it home.
#35
Mall lost & found: a literal box of love letters tied with a ribbon. super personal, super abandoned.
#36
I didn't work in lost and found but any employee that turned something in would essentially be tagged to that item. If it wasn't picked up in 90 days, the employee got to keep it. It was a theme park I worked at years ago and I found someone's digital camera. Lots of family photos from what appeared to be their entire vacation. I felt bad once I was called to retrieve the camera due to it not being picked up. I went through every photo trying to find them. Thankfully they took a photo of themselves in front of their church sign back home and I was able to find the contact info for the church, send a couple photos to confirm they were members and send the remaining photos via Photobucket. They didn't want to ship the camera (international) because the camera wasn't worth much.
#37
I worked at the front desk of my dorm back in the early 90s, and I swear I was the only one who when through the lost and found to clear stuff out (It's a student ID, seriously even pre-internet I could usually track them down). The most personal things never claimed were prescription glasses. Back then any pair of glasses runs you $150+.
#38
I work at a nature preserve and every Monday we clean up our roadsides. One Monday we found someone's full wallet - driver's license, credit cards, and all - on the side of the road. I called every number I could think of including his bank and the grocery store he had a savings card at. Nobody could get ahold of him. Kept the wallet for a week and finally called the non-emergency number and had a sheriff's deputy come pick it up.
#39
I work as a park ranger at a state level beach park and someone left a psp 2? (I can't remember if they made another version of it) behind and never claimed it. Everyone's best guess was it was a European tourist that bought it. We also found an expensive kayak once tied to a tree and also never was claimed ( we think they died the person).
#40
When I worked retail you'd be shocked how few people come back for their ID that we'd find
I had passports and licenses that were old
Especially when I first got there. Once I took it over I started doing what we're supposed to do which is hold stuff for X days and then mail the licenses to the dmv's lost and found.
#41
I ammassed a giant collection of sunnies working at a food court. Cheap, fancy, practical, novelty; I claimed them all. There was a driving range downstairs so golf bros leaving behind their fancy expensive ones was most common.
#42
To be fair a lot of these public transport centers like an airport or railway tend to be run so besuracteacically its easier to leave things with them than jump the multiple different hoops and calls to find out which lost and found they have it in and which organization or agency within the facilities it’s been passed down to for placement into a lost and found. Airports are especially horrendous with this. Malls I could only imagine would be similar situation where your things are getting passed through multiple hands before it just sits waiting for disposal.
#44
Recently, somebody in my office reported having found a piece of umbilical cord - even had the clip on it! Seems a pretty odd (albeit sentimental) thing to bring it in to work but I hope for their sake they came back for it.
#45
The coolest thing I ever walked away with was a custom Hugo Boss light spring jacket, made for the president of Sony (Amy Pascal). She ate at my restaurant and left it behind. Didn't care it was for a woman, it was gender neutral and fit me perfectly. After a month, it was mine.
#46
I worked at Toys r Us and we had a bag check. One day a guy came in looking for his running shoes that he had checked in he said about 5 weeks ago. Sadly he didn’t have his claim ticket and I couldn’t find them.
Ohhhh, also I was wearing them so couldn’t move from my spot.
#47
Worked a few weeks in lost and found (part of my apprenticeship), my highlight was a MacBook air and so many cell phones to fill a safe. I got a lock picking set from a bag, when we threw things away. My coworkers had some mobile police lights
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