What's Lost Is Found, Very Cheaply

(CBS)  In our air travels this summer, we checked millions of bags, thousands of which we could have kissed goodbye, lost and gone forever.

But where do they go?, CBS News correspondent Bill Geist asks.

The answer: a remote spot in the Appalachian foothills, where indigenous peoples celebrate the misfortunes of air travelers and enjoy deep discounts on their losses in "The Land of Lost Luggage."

Tribes of ravenous bargain hunters are drawn to the site, also known as the unclaimed baggage center.

Brian Owens explains that the "unclaimed baggage center was started in 1970 by my dad Doyle Owens as a part time venture. It started out with a borrowed pickup truck and a $300 loan, and he was off to buy his first load of unclaimed bags."

Owens adds, "We got our start working with bus lines. We had card tables set up and had clothes dumped on the tables."

Now, it's a major operation stocked with tons of other people's lost stuff. The airlines sell Owens the "mishandled" bags after they've tried for about 90 days to reunite them with their owners.

"We have contracts with most of the carriers in America and we buy these bags, sight unseen," Owens says, adding that the luggage is brought by tractor trailers from across the globe to Scottsboro, Ala.

"It's a little like Christmas every day. You have no idea what's in them. We don't have a clue what's in them," Owens admits.

Sales director Brenda Cantrell showed Geist a sampling she'd put together of newly arrived items, from digital cameras and iPods to souvenirs and state-of-the-art things.

• 1
• 2
• Next Page »