LOS ANGELES (WKRC) – A police investigation begun to locate the missing luggage of two United Airlines passengers who said they knew their luggage was at the airport but employees allegedly refused to use the AirTags to track the suitcases.
Dan Adams and his partner had meticulously planned their trip to Barcelona, which Adams described as “the trip of a lifetime,” according to NBC 4.
Adams placed AirTags in all four of their checked bags to ensure their luggage’s safe arrival. However, upon arriving at baggage claim, only three bags appeared on the carousel.
“I looked on the phone to see where it was, and it was only a few feet from where I was standing,” said Adams to NBC 4. “I figured they probably forgot to put it on the belt that takes it up to the carousel from down below. It’s probably just stuck there, and somebody forgot it.”
Adams reported the issue to a baggage representative, who searched for the missing luggage but returned without it.
“She came back and said, ‘No, there’s no sign of your bag. Probably somebody took it.’ I said, ‘Nobody took it. The AirTag shows it right there.’ She said, ‘We don’t go by AirTags, we go by our own system,'” said Adams to NBC 4.
The bag was never returned to Adams and he said later that day the back moved 34 miles away from the city.
United Airlines told PEOPLE that Adams was reimbursed and issued travel credits. It also said that United in the future would accept Find My item locations as part of our customer service process for locating mishandled or delayed bags.