Gadgets and gizmos galore at Orlando International Airport’s ‘lost & found’ this holiday season

ORLANDO, Fla. — With the holiday season comes the Orlando International Airport’s busiest season.

▶ WATCH CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS

Nearly 3.9 million travelers are expected to pass through the airport for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

It’s also a busy season for the lost-and-found employees at the airport, who are busy at work trying to reunite passengers with items they left behind.

A window hides a crew of magical helpers below the passengers rushing to make holiday flights.

Read: Heavy holiday travel crowds expected at Orlando International Airport

Every day, they pack away boxes of gadgets and sort through plush animals and toys.

Assistant Manager Patricia Sarria isn’t working for Santa but helps manage the airport’s lost and found.

Every month, about 6,000 items left behind are taken to this area. The items are collected, sorted by date, and entered into a system.

Read: 9 travel tips for families during holiday season

Sarria said the goal is to get items to their rightful owners within 30 days.

“We do a lot of detective work,” she said.

Sarria and her team have collected more jackets, iPhones and umbrellas than they can count. In more than a decade of working at the airport, she’s also come across a few rare finds.

“I have seen wedding dresses (and) I have seen artificial limbs,” Sarria said.

One of her biggest priorities is reuniting the precious items, and it also means carefully searching for clues left behind.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.

©2023 Cox Media Group