Woman tracks luggage in DC for 3 days after United promised delivery

A D.C. woman has finally reunited with her luggage after tracking it to bizarre locations across the District – all while the airline assured her everything was fine.

Valerie Szybala did not have her luggage when she landed at DCA last Wednesday. On Thursday, United Airlines told her that her bag had arrived and asked if she wanted it delivered.

Szybala said yes and tracked her bag using an Apple AirTag. She started to worry when the bag appeared to sit overnight at an apartment complex off Rhode Island Avenue.

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She says she really got worried when the bag began making trips to McDonald's and a local shopping center, all while United told her that her bag was safe and sound.

That's when Szybala took her story to Twitter and started investigating.

"I've got souvenirs for my niece and nephew here and all my clothing," says Szybala. "Because of the AirTag tracking to this complex, I came down here repeatedly. At first, I just walked around to see if I could locate it. The next [time], I just stalked people. The third time, I called the police, I filed a police report [and] I found the bags out back. And another good Samaritan let me in yesterday." 

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Szybala says on her third trip to the apartment complex, she found two empty suitcases by the dumpsters, both appearing to be in good condition. She says one even had a recent flight sticker.

On Monday, a woman who lives in the apartment complex saw Szybala's Twitter thread and helped her walk around the parking garage to see if she could find it using the AirTag.

That's when she got the call that her bag was being delivered.

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"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 says.

A spokesperson for United said they are working with their baggage delivery vendor to understand the details of this situation.

FOX 5 reached out to the vendor, Couriers United LLC, but their voicemail box was full.