SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A College Area woman is sharing her heartbreaking story after her carry-on backpack containing nearly $40,000 worth of heirloom jewelry disappeared during a Southwest Airlines flight to the Bay Area in mid-August.
Stephanie Arrues was traveling to attend her niece's wedding in Hawaii when the theft occurred on a connecting flight that landed in Oakland. What she lost goes far beyond monetary value – the stolen jewelry included irreplaceable family heirlooms from her deceased loved ones.
"I was bawling. I felt violated. Someone had taken a piece of me," Arrues said.
The incident began when Arrues, who was recovering from an arm injury, asked a flight attendant to place her expandable black backpack in the overhead bin after boarding the Southwest flight. She had secured a first-row seat but was told there was no room in the nearby bins.
"It's a valuable bag. I'd rather not be separated," Arrues told the flight attendant, who responded that "it will be fine" and motioned to bins about seven rows away.
Despite her concerns, Arrues' backpack ended up in the distant bin. As she stood near the bin, she once again voiced her reservations, yelling out her concerns to the flight attendant at the front of the plane.
When the flight landed in Oakland and she looked at the open bin, her worst fears were realized.
"I don't see my bag, and something inside me fell in my stomach," Arrues said.
She raced off the plane, scanning all the deplaning passengers, but her bag was nowhere to be found.
“I knew my bag is gone," Arrues said, describing how she felt as the last passenger left the aircraft.
An airline employee searched the plane and found a similar-looking backpack filled with men's toiletries and some car keys. More than a month later, that backpack remains unclaimed, suggesting a not-so-accidental swap occurred.
The stolen jewelry included approximately 10 pieces, most of them family heirlooms. Among the missing items was a diamond necklace from her deceased grandmother and a diamond pendant from her sister, who also passed away. One piece featured "18 to 20 diamonds around a heart," Arrues said.
Arrues filed a police report with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office and submitted two complaints to Southwest Airlines. The airline responded with an email stating the lost item couldn't be located.
"I'm never going to see my jewelry again," a tearful Arrues said.
Now she's sharing her story to help protect other travelers from similar losses.
"Don't separate. Put it at your feet, directly above your head. I don't want this to happen to anyone else," Arrues said.
She also wishes she had put a baggage tag on her backpack and placed an AirTag inside it for tracking purposes.
A Southwest Airlines spokesperson issued this statement: "The customer filed a lost item report the following day, but the bag did not turn up. Southwest does not track personal carry-on items, so any reported theft would most appropriately be investigated by police."
"This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy."
