TSA works to reunite items left at SFO with travelers

SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Calif. (KGO) -- You've been there, before hurrying through the irritating iteration of air travel known as the TSA line. Did you get everything?

"We probably got, say about 200 square feet worth of stuff here in the back," said Linard Davis with Airport Travel Agency.

What's that? You did leave something behind at San Francisco International Airport? You'll probably get to know Davis and thank him.

He's the guy the TSA hired to take care of all the stuff passengers leave behind at checkpoints.

On Thursday, that agency put some of it on display for reporters. They did it to make the point that of 20,000 items found this year, people have claimed only 2,500 of them.

"It's a burden on airports across the country because we have to catalogue all these items, we have to reunite them with all of the passengers, we have to maintain it for a period of time," said TSA spokesperson Nico Melendez.

The TSA actually keeps a tally of items just since Jan. 1 of the year -- 907 laptops, 2,335 pairs of sunglasses, 30 pairs of shoes, 85 passports, 825 drivers' licenses, 357 memory sticks, and a really cool hat.

"They're in a rush, they get to where they're going, and they leave their stuff," Melendez said.

Davis: "Wheelchairs, walkers."

Freedman: "Were they cured at TSA or what?"

Davis: "You know, anytime they come here, that's the first thing we say."

If you lost something at SFO, you have 30 days or so to claim it.

The less valuable items go to landfills. More valuable items like computers go to the TSA, which eventually wipes their drives and sells them at auction.

They don't hurry the process, even though it might have been your hurry that led to this mess in the first place.