JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Our Washington, DC Bureau has obtained documents that show passengers at Jacksonville International Airport report losing all kinds of valuables in recent months.
Scott MacFarlane found those items total more than $20,000 in value, including fine jewels, electronics and clothes.
MacFarlane obtained a federal database that reveals 50 complaints filed with the Transportation Security Administration by local passengers between 2011 and 2012 claiming valuables were lost or damaged in their luggage.
One passenger claimed $5,600 in fine jewelry was lost. Another reported losing a $1,155 laptop. People reported losing digital cameras or MP3 players, worth thousands of dollars total.
MacFarlane even found complaints about missing GPS systems, cash and alcohol.
In other cities, travelers have faced another problem.
"We've run into problems at checkpoints where people are actually lifting items from bags. Recently, we've seen TSA people caught at home with the items they stole from people at the airport," travel industry expert Charlie Leocha told MacFarlane.
An iPad recently turned up in the Florida home of a TSA officer.
Charlotte TSA officer Reggie Edwards is accused of stealing cash from a suitcase.
Agent Karla Morgan has been accused of snatching cash too.
MacFarlane found no recent record of Jacksonville officers stealing but spotted some interesting trends in the database.
Twenty passengers reported losing digital cameras from their bags in Atlanta, Georgia, but none was reimbursed. At San Francisco International, a $200,000 painting was reported missing.
Though passengers reported $22,000 in property lost or damaged in Jacksonville, TSA cut about $4,000 in reimbursement checks.
The agency has an online claims process and MacFarlane was told it has investigators on staff to review receipts, talk to witnesses and review the claims. The federal government is also installing more surveillance cameras into secure baggage areas.
