San Jose Mineta International Airport and Southwest Airlines are beefing up staffing in the baggage claim area after two men say their luggage was stolen from the carousel.
Jeff Garcia and his brother-in-law Todd Rhynes arrived at the airport last Friday and soon came to the realization that their checked luggage wasn't on the carousel.
They assumed that their airline – Southwest – had made a mistake.
"But when we went to the airport office, they told us the bag had been scanned off the plane and scanned onto the carousel," Rhynes said.
Garcia said he had a hidden Apple AirTag inside his suitcase. When he checked its location on his phone, he discovered that his bag was on the move.
"I could see the bag showing that it was on Technology Drive on Highway 87. A few minutes later it's on Highway 87 going through downtown San Jose," he said.
Garcia got in his car and drove all over San Jose until he tracked the suitcase to a homeless encampment off Story Road near Highway 101. He called police, but by the time they arrived, there wasn't a lot left to find.
They recovered a shirt and an empty box for a souvenir mug Garcia had purchased on vacation, but his suitcase and the rest of his stuff were gone.
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"I'm extremely frustrated," he said.
Rhynes said officers also found one of his rare T-shirts at the encampment but nothing else.
"I buy limited-edition clothing," he said. "There’s no way to replace it. Also gone are some of the items given to me by my children that can’t be replaced."
The airport said since last Friday, its security team has increased its presence at baggage claim, but said all baggage handling and delivery is the responsibility of each airline.
In a statement, Southwest said it "maintains a presence in the baggage areas of each airport that we serve to support safety and security. Additionally, we’ve increased the number of Southwest representatives present in the SJC baggage claim area and alerted local airport and law-enforcement partners of our action."
For Rhynes, the move comes too late.
"It’s innocent people that pay the price," he said.
While the airport does have security cameras, officials said it’s impossible for security to determine who the rightful owner of a particular bag may be just by looking at the video.
