TSA lost-and-found at LAX overflowing with unclaimed laptops, smartphones

One hundred fifty-four laptops, 98 cellphones, 18 iPads and 32 wallets. These are among the thousands of items Los Angeles International Airport lost and found passengers have left at security checkpoints over the past month.

And the TSA said Wednesday it would like to reunite them with their owners.

As electronic gadgets replace books and magazines as passengers’ preferred form of in-flight entertainment, Transportation Security Administration lost-and-found offices have turned into digital treasure troves. But TSA officials are baffled that more people aren’t reclaiming their technological toys.

Only 10 to 20 percent of the 3,700 items that TSA agents collected at LAX in July will be reclaimed, TSA spokesman Nico Melendez said.

Nationally, the agency has to get rid of about 20,000 “high-dollar items” every year. Part of the problem is most people don’t remember where they lost things while they are in transit, Melendez said. Between taxi cabs, airport shuttles, restaurants and hotel rooms, most travelers don’t think about those plastic TSA bins on the screening conveyor belts.

Besides electronics, airport security personnel regularly find belts, jewelry, canes and walkers. One time, someone left a pair of false teeth.

“The teeth — that’s always something that sticks in my head,” Melendez said. “Because a) we wouldn’t ask you to take your false teeth out, and b) Wouldn’t you notice they’re not in your mouth when you’re walking away?”

Reuniting someone with their belongings is good customer service, but it’s also about efficiency, Melendez said. Storing thousands of items while trying to track down their owners eats up space and man-hours. Disposing of unclaimed items also is a drain on resources.

Lost items officially become the property of the federal government after 30 days, at which point the objects are either destroyed or donated to charity.

The agency works with embassies and departments of motor vehicles to reunite travelers with their lost passports and driver’s licenses. If a cellphone or laptop still has juice and doesn’t have a password lock, TSA workers will turn them on and try to find contact information.

Otherwise, it’s up to passengers to take time out of their busy travel schedules to check with lost-and-found offices at TSA, the airport and the airline.

The best solution, however, is to pay attention while rushing through security checkpoints.

“I’ve been in four cities in the past five days,” said Scott Kraemer, a Los Angeles resident who has lost items at LAX on three separate occasions. “You just get lazy going through the motions. … You forget sometimes.”

Kraemer arrived at the TSA’s lost-and-found location to pick up a laptop that he left at the security gate after a recent flight.

He was wearing the same sunglasses that he’d recovered from TSA after leaving them on a previous trip.

“TSA works great for us,” Kraemer said. “It’s just nice to know that you can call up these guys … and come over here and get it.”