Your funny or amazing lost & found stories

[wilbret]

One year, I lost my wedding ring/band (what do you call it?) while putting up Christmas lights on the bushes in front of the house. We looked for hours, and pretty much every day we thought about it. No luck.

The next year, when putting up Christmas lights, I found it, hanging neatly on a little branch on one of the bushes. I couldn't believe it.

 

[tvguy]

CNN has a reporter named Jeannie Moos who specializes in off the wall stories. She did a story on the lost and found office
for the New York City Subway. Someone left behind an artificial leg. Her narration was amazing........."if you left you artificial leg on the subway, wouldn't you notice?"

 

[BrianL]

I had one recently at WDW, and it's somewhat ridiculous. I always carry this old pocket comb that I've had since I was like 10 or something. I like it because it's made of a softer plastic than newer ones - not sure why, but it just has a better feel. In the early evening, after we rode Rock'n Roller Coaster I noticed it was missing, which was a little more upsetting than it should have been. We were over in Star Wars and I kept thinking about it and I was pretty sure where I had lost it. Earlier we had gone to watch The American Adventure and I had gotten something out of my pocket. It had to have fallen on the floor. Might it still be there? The Skyliner makes it easy to go back and Epcot is open later. I decided to go back - for a 50 cent pocket comb. I went to the last show of the night and made sure I was first. I found my spot and checked around on the floor. It wasn't there, but then I noticed on the seat next to me, on the hinge part, there it was! It seems ridiculous, but new combs just aren't as good. I've actually misplaced this one before, but only in my own yard. I was able to eventually find it then too.

Another kind of neat one is that my mom, sister, and I use to live with my grandparents in this house. Over the years, we moved, then they moved. When I started to look at houses this same one was on the market. I bought it. Interestingly enough, there was this collection of seashells left out back on a window ledge. I immediately recognized them as my mother's collection. They had somehow just stayed with the house through at least a couple of owners. Now they are mine and still sit there by the window.

 

[nkereina]

Where I grew up, there's a quasi-famous vinyl and CD store there that's notorious for being huge, messy, and disorganized. Its their schtick. It looks like a hoarder house of vinyls and CDs. When I was little, my dad would take my cousin and I there and we would run around while he shopped for vinyl. One time, my cousin had a small plastic toy elephant in his pocket and we thought it would be funny to hide it somewhere in the store and then look for it on future trips with my dad. We hid it just behind a display case on an aisle way - you could see it if you were walking down the aisle, but it was tucked just behind the display case. We forgot about and somehow, nearly 12 years later, I remembered it while visiting the store. I found the display case, which was now surrounded by boxes and garbage, I moved the stuff to the side, reached behind the case and pulled out the toy elephant. Right where we left it. I died laughing as I sent a pic to my cousin. More of an intentional lost and found

As far as a true lost and found, my dad was in the Vietnam war and wore a religious medal on a chain around his neck the whole time he was there. On three separate occasions over his two years in Vietnam, he lost the medal and he somehow managed to find it. He lost it a fourth time in the jungle, shortly before he was sent home. He never found it before coming home. A month or so after being home, he received a package in the mail with the medal. No note, no return address. He did tell a handful of people he had lost it as he was looking for it, but couldn't connect the dots on how they would figure out a way to get it back to him. He's worn the medal around his neck (on a much sturdier chain!) ever since.

 

[jpakstis]

A few years ago I went up to my buddy’s parents place on in an inlet in Maine. They have their own dock that we would jump off the railings. The first time I jumped off my wedding band slid right off my finger. I used to keep it looser and could feel it sliding right off my finger and even briefly caught hold of it before I plunged to the bottom.

Because the tides vary so much there, the area we were jumped in completely emerged at low tide so I waited until 2AM, when low tide was, and looked for it. Prior to that we had shined a flashlight in the spot where I jumped and saw and saw something shiny. It turned out it was all these razor clam shell pearlescent interiors. There were also lobsters crawling all over the place. I couldn’t find it at all.

I even rented a metal detector for the next low tide during the day but the tide wasn’t so low and I couldn’t use it at all. I told my wife I lost the ring, we got another one and the salesman made a joke that two lobsters were probably now married (they are monogamous).

Literally one year later, my buddy’s dad was wandering the shoreline and found it! It was right in the spot where we had thought I had lost it. Now I have two bands and I got that original one re-sized. Maybe those lobsters got divorced.

 

[elphaba91]

In 2014 I had my new iPhone 6 stolen in Times Square. Even worse, it was in one of those wallet cases containing my credit card, prepaid international travel money card and my licence (or so I thought). A week later, after opening and checking my regular wallet countless times, we were in Anaheim, about to pick up our Disneyland tickets, and of course they wanted to check my ID. I really didn’t want to walk back to the hotel, get my passport from the security deposit at the front desk and walk all the way back, so I desperately checked my wallet to see if I had a student ID or something that they would accept. And there, as obvious as anything, was my licence. I swear it was Disney magic that made it reappear at the gates of the most magical place on earth!

My coworker told me about a time that she and her best friend flew from Melbourne to LA and her friend lost her iPad. It was eventually found down the side of the seat after doing another round trip to Melbourne and back to LA again!

 

[BrianL]

Here's another funny one. When I was a kid (not in this current house) my mom would get mad at me for losing the socks for my school uniform. Now, I didn't know how I was losing them and kept saying I wasn't doing anything with them (other than leaving them on the floor). Nevertheless they would end up missing. Around this same time, we were selling chocolate bars as a school fundraiser. We had a case of those whatever chocolate that you sell for prizes. My mom had also just recently married my stepdad who was a known choco-fiend! Anyway, one morning ALL of the chocolate bars are gone! This was like 30 or 40 - however many are in that box. My mom thought for sure my Stepdad woke up in the middle of the night and ate them all. We ended up having to pay for them too!

Anyway, many years later we were remodelling a bathroom. There was a panel in the wall in a closet that would let you access some plumbing. Behind this panel we found tons of navy blue socks and candy wrappers from those chocolate bars with little teeth marks in them. We figure it was a racoon. It was coming into the house through this hatch and making off with the goods, and we never knew it. Clever little thing!

 

[MarkLT1]

My dad and I have a great one from WDW. I was around 8 at the time, and we went on space mountain. My dad put his new (expensive) sun glasses in the little pouch thingy, we rode the ride, and of course he left them in the car when we got out. So we get outside, he goes to put his sunglasses on, and.. oops! So we turn around, run back in, and talk to the cast member who is unloading the cars. He is standing there, describing his sunglasses, when I look down in the car that was just emptied, and there in the pouch I can see his sun glasses sticking out. I pointed at them, and said "Just like those!" So we plucked them out, and went on our way.

 

[wilbret]

I used to keep it looser and could feel it sliding right off my finger and even briefly caught hold of it before I plunged to the bottom.

That's interesting, and why I lost the ring in the first place. I wear my ring loose now for a reason!

Prior to that, I broke my ring finger playing softball, and was wearing a titanium band. You've probably heard stories about that, right? Well, they are true! I thought I had just "jammed" my finger at first, but it was clear by the next day that it was broken. Swollen, black, blue, the works. I went to an Urgent Care place, and they used the ring cutter (it looks like a can opener) without any luck. The diamond cutter was barely making a dent. They called a jeweler, and they had nothing better than the tool we were using. They called the fire department, and they said they'd send someone over. While we waited, we decided we would try something ourselves. We ended up getting a very "strong" nurse to squeeze the tool, while I turned the cutter handle (imagine a can opener). They had a doctor and the EMT/Fireman with 2 pairs of pliers, trying to bend it open after we cut it. This took a solid hour and a half... on my broken finger!

Long story short, no more titanium for me!



The cut on the opposite side is where we were going to have to cut it in two places to get it off, they tried a bolt cutter, but couldn't get it in enough, it just nipped the edge. That's where I basically had to bite on a stick (joking) and let them bend it.

 

[RUDisney]

I lost my mother's ring years ago. I knew that it went under my bed, but couldn't find it.

A few years later, I was painting my bedroom and the ring was tucked up in the baseboard heater.

Unfortunately, I lost it again and haven't found it again, though.

 

[MarkLT1]

Our neighbor has an expensive lost-but-not-found in their own house story. Her 3-year-old (at the time- about 5-years ago) was obsessed with her watch. It was a $5k gold ladies Rolex her husband had given to her on their first anniversary. So she kept catching her 3-year-old playing with her watch in his bedroom. One day, the watch was just.. gone. She asked him "were you playing with my watch in your bedroom again?" he said "Yes." They literally tore apart his entire bedroom, moved all the furniture out of it, etc.. and no watch.. To this day, they have no idea where it went.

 

[Squirlz]

We spend every evening in our garage which has living space. It is detached from our house and the two cats walk or get carried over every night. One night I was on the couch and I had taken my wedding band off to fiddle with it when Squidget jumped up next to me. I absent mindedly put the band down next to me to pet him.

Later my wife says "Where's your wedding ring?" I looked and it wasn't there. Looked all over the couch, the floor, everywhere. Next day went out and moved everything around, nowhere to be found.

Two weeks later to the day I am in the basement and I hear something drop and roll on the hardwood floor above me. I go upstairs and there is Squidget sitting next to my ring. I have absolutely no idea where it was or how it got from the garage to the house. We've concluded that the Squidge is some sort of magical being as he has produced lost objects several times since.

 

[gshanny]

A few years ago I was at the airport, yes returning from Disney, and was waiting for my luggage. They were making announcements for several flights, of items people needed to come get that had left on the plane. The best was when they said someone from the flight from Atlanta needed to return.....they had lost their marbles.
It still makes me chuckle.......and curious.
Me, I don't lose things, I just put them in super safe places!

 

[wowsmom]

One morning, when my son was in 3rd grade, he couldn't find his sneakers. We searched everywhere. It was a PE day, so he needed to be in sneakers. I finally put him in a pair of boots that were 1/2 size too big and drove him to school (we had missed the bus). I told him I'd keep looking & bring them in, if I found them.

Went home and searched every square inch of our house. Couldn't find them. In desperation, I called my mom (who lived on the opposite coast) and asked if she had any ideas. Under the bed? Nope. Under the couch? Nope. In the closet? Nope.

Then she said "Have you looked in the trashcan?" Uuhhh, noooo. So I went to the kitchen trash can and lo and behold, there they were, under some papers. Ends up, he'd come home, taken off his shoes and then went to throw something away and accidentally threw his shoes away.

Still no idea how my mom knew!

 

[scrhsa]

I have a special Miraculous Medal that I've had for about 10 yrs. Very special. I was in Hobby Lobby one day and noticed that it wasn't on my chain. I did a mini panic and quick look around. When I got home I looked around my bathroom and in my bed and all the floors I could think of I had to let it go or I would have gone crazy trying to find that little pendant! I just told myself that if I found it I found it, if I didn't I didn't. I just hoped that whoever found it would get as much from it as I did. And I half-heartedly started to look online for a replacement. About 2 weeks later my daughter was getting a drink in the middle of the night and stepped on a piece of glass from a broken jar earlier that evening. She got her handy, dandy flashlight out to look around the floor to see if there were any other pieces of glass when she found my Medal under the bathroom vanity. Where I had exactly looked previously on multiple occasions Yeah, I immediately took it to my jeweler and had the jump ring soldered so it wouldn't happen again!

 

[RamblingMad]

My SO lost her phone during the initial drill on the Disney Fantasy. Luckily someone turned it back in. For the rest of the cruise, she refused to use the app, so I had to get her paper copies of what was going on each day.

 

[luvsvacation]

While swimming in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast I was jumping over waves when one came and crashed into me causing me to lose my sunglasses. I was pretty bummed because I hate squinting and the sun was very bright and I knew I couldn’t buy new ones until we left the beach later that day. The waves were really high and so we just continued playing with me doing my best to see without sunglasses. About 15 minutes later my daughter jumps a wave and lands exactly on my glasses!! She reached down to find what she landed on and there they were! I was so happy!! We had even moved several yards down from where we had been jumping during that time. We out probably 20 foot from the shore. None of us could believe the odds that we would find them!

 

[ponyboy]

One time I pulled into a parking lot and saw a $20 bill on the ground. Then I looked around and saw a $100 bill laying there. Later I stopped by the casino and lost it all. That is my found and lost story

 

[Babsy]

This is from 50+ years ago:

My parents took our family to Boston and New York to visit my Aunt Bel (who lived in Framingham at the time). While there we visited Coney Island. I had an old fashion style silver charm bracelet with a number of charms including an elephant on it. That night I noticed that the elephant charm was missing. I was sad, but what can you do, it was just lost somewhere that day on Coney Island.

One year later my cousin David (Aunt Bel's son) was on one of the rides that he and I had been on while I was there the year before. He checked the seat he was on and found my elephant charm wedged in a join! He mailed it back to me and I still have it today.

 

[JaxDad]

My reserve unit deployed to Saudi in 1991. After landing in Riyadh and convoying to our deployed location, we realized we were missing almost half our personal bags. My commander sent me and a senior enlisted member back to find them. We had no luck at Riyadh. We spent the next few days traveling to multiple installations throughout the theater, chasing rumors of the bags, sleeping in hangars and empty tents while waiting for our next transport. There was message traffic going around too, so some people had actually heard of our plight when we showed up at their locations. “Oh! You’re those guys!” Nothing at the Saudi bases. Nothing at the UAE bases. Our last stop was a US Navy location at the airport in Manama, Bahrain. A very organized, young enlisted woman there had no record of our bags, so we were done looking. The office was in a trailer, and we called to report to our commander and arrange transport, when some airport worker in the trailer on an AC break overheard us. He said there were some bags in an airline equipment yard on the other side of the airport. We rode out there, and they were all there! Crazy!