Airport worker allegedly stole woman’s luggage, tried to sell items on Facebook

Dillon Thompson
Updated ·2 min read

An Oklahoma woman who believed she lost her luggage at the airport claims she found her belongings in an unexpected place — on Facebook Marketplace.

Kinley Rice was flying out of the Tulsa, Okla., airport when she allegedly lost a suitcase containing more than $1,000 in belongings, KJRH-TV reported. The bag contained plenty of valuable items — including a brand new Patagonia jacket, a sweater, a pair of LuLu Lemon leggings and more — and it also contained Rice's personal information, which was written on the luggage tag.

"I felt violated,” Rice told KJRH. "I was just so uncomfortable because I didn’t know who had my information. I didn’t know who could contact me. You know, anybody can find you through your phone number. So that was scary."

Rice assumed her items were lost for good, until she saw a Patagonia jacket being sold on Facebook that looked similar to hers. Suspicious, she checked the numbers on the bar code shown in the photo with those on her receipt — and found that the numbers were the same.

She then looked into the seller's social media profile and found that they worked at Tulsa International Airport. Additionally, Rice noticed the seller worked for Piedmont Airlines, a company that handles baggage services for American Airlines, the airline she was flying the day she lost her bag.

Rice filed a report with the Tulsa Police Department, as well as a formal complaint with American Airlines, which said it would investigate the situation and issue a $1,000 refund in the meantime.

"American is very concerned with these allegations," the airline said in a statement to KJRH. "We are investigating this in coordination with Piedmont, and are fully cooperating with authorities."

Police are still investigating the alleged crime, but Rice said the incident has left her frustrated.

"You think you can trust people, you know, when you pay money for them to be responsible for your bag," she told KJRH. "And you think that it should come back in the car. You know, obviously, your bags are going to get beat up and stuff being thrown around, but your contents inside should all be in there once you reach where you're going."