Passenger’s AirTag tracked her lost luggage to an apartment block, a McDonald’s and shopping centre

A United Airlines passenger managed to track her delayed luggage using an AirTag and found her suitcase had been taken to an apartment complex, a McDonald’s and a shopping center over three days in a bizarre turn of events.

Valerie Szybala, an open-source intelligence analyst living in Washington DC, accused United of losing track of her bag and ‘lying about it’.

Szybala landed at the Ronald Reagan Washington National airport on Wednesday – only to find that her luggage was missing. She said United Airlines contacted her the next day to say her suitcase had arrived and they would deliver it to her home.

But Szybala, who began tracking her bag’s journey using an Apple Airtag that was attached to the suitcase, found that her luggage was being ferried between an apartment complex, a McDonald’s and a shopping centre in Washington DC.

Szybala shared her ordeal on Twitter after United told her on a support chat to ‘calm down’ while insisting her bag was ‘safe’. She provided updates on her progress in tracking down her suitcase, which contained souvenirs for her niece and nephew, as well as all of her clothes. 

Reunited…but only after Szybala went to the apartment block herself and took the bag back

The Apple tracker showed the case on the move…and Szybala assumed it was on her way to her home…but after a short sojourn in a food outlet, it returned to the apartment block where the AirTag had first located it to

Szybala was finally reunited with her luggage on Monday – four days after United said they would deliver her suitcase – outside the apartment complex off Rhode Island Avenue. 

‘I’m really happy to have my bag back. I’m really upset at United. I still haven’t gotten answers why my bag has been in someone’s car in this building for three days and has taken trips out to go shopping several times. I don’t think they’ve told me the truth about what happened,’ Szybala told Fox 5 DC.  

She claimed in a Tweet on  Sunday: ‘I’d just like everyone to know that United has lost track of my bag and is lying about it. My apple AirTag shows that it has been sitting in a residential complex for over a day.’

In addition she claimed: ‘Out back by the dumpsters, I have found other emptied United Airlines bags.’

Szybala became increasingly worried when she saw that her suitcase was being ferried across Washington DC – to a McDonald’s and a shopping centre. Each night, the bag would be returned to the apartment complex.

She told Fox 5 DC that she went to the apartment complex four times in a bid to find her bag. 

‘Because of the AirTag tracking to this complex, I came down here repeatedly,’ she told the news outlet. ‘At first, I just walked around to see if I could locate it. The next time, I just stalked people.’

She said that on the third occasion, she called the police and filed a police report before walking to the back of the apartment complex and found two emptied bags – which were not hers – next to the dumpsters. 

A post about the extraordinary journey of a lost suitcase has gone viral on Twitter – with 20.5 million views. Flight passenger Valerie Szybala, who lives in Washington DC, posted how her suitcase had ended up by ‘a dumpster’ in a residential block after, she claims, United Airlines failed to return it to her

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Szybala claims she’d initially been told by United Airlines that her luggage was ‘safe’ and would be returned to her via a delivery distribution center instead. 

After realising it was in transit when she checked her phone, she assumed the case was on its way back to her. 

However, after what seemed to be a half-hour stop at a food outlet, it returned to same residential block where she’d located it in the first instance. 

Explanation? Szybala, left, wasn’t convinced by the delivery distribution center employee’s message, right, about what had happened to the case

She also shared a photo of another case, suggesting a fellow passenger had experienced the same ordeal

The thread, by now viral and currently with 20.5 million views on Twitter, saw Szybala write: ‘MAJOR UPDATE: for the first time since Friday my AirTag (and hopefully luggage) appears to be on the move… it’s at a McDonalds? The plot thickens…’

However, she quickly followed up with: ‘My luggage AirTag has left McDonalds and returned to the apartment complex where it is being held hostage!’

By yesterday – Monday, the frustrated flight passenger had been reunited with her luggage but only thanks to her own tenacity. 

After travelling to the residential block, her ‘wild ride’ came to an end when a resident of the complex helped her retrieve the bag. 

She penned: ‘WHEW this has been a wild ride y’all. I’m happy to report that I got my bag back!!! I’ll give more details & lessons learned later. For now wanna say thank you for all of the support, and shout out to the building resident and local news crews who came out to help.’ 

MailOnline has contacted United Airlines for comment.  

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