Woman Loses $40K in Jewelry After Being Separated from Carry-On on Southwest Flight

A California woman says she lost nearly $40,000 in irreplaceable family heirlooms during a recent Southwest Airlines flight. 

The mishap occurred while Stephanie Arrues was traveling in mid-August to attend her niece’s wedding in Hawaii, according to local outlet ABC 10. To celebrate the momentous occasion, the traveler wanted to bring pieces of her family’s legacy.

“It was a special family event and I wanted my heirloom jewelry with me,” she said. 

Arrues said she packed the jewelry inside the expandable backpack she was using as a carry-on item and grabbed a first row seat on her connecting flight to Oakland. Recovering from a recent arm injury, the woman says she asked a flight attendant to assist in putting her bag in the overhead bin. 

“It’s a valuable bag. I’d rather not be separated,” Arrues claims to have told the flight attendant, who allegedly responded that “it will be fine,” before pointing to bins about seven rows away.

Arrues said the attendant made her way to the open bins. Concerned by the distance, the passenger shouted her concerns to the crew member, reiterating the bag was valuable, but the bag was placed in the bin.

After the flight landed, she went to retrieve the bag and couldn’t find it.

“Something inside me just fell in my stomach,” she said. 

Arrues says she quickly got off the aircraft in order to try and observe her fellow passengers deplaning to see if someone had the bag. However, she couldn’t find anyone leaving with her personal item in hand. 

A Southwest employee later searched the plane and found a similar looking backpack, according to Arrues. But inside, they found men’s toiletries. That bag has yet to be claimed, Arrues found out more than a month later. 

“I was bawling. I felt violated. Someone had taken a piece of me,” Arrues said. “I know I’m never gonna see my jewelry again.”

Arrues told ABC 10 she is missing 10 pieces of jewelry, most of which are family heirlooms. The batch includes a diamond necklace and a diamond pendant from her late grandmother and sister, respectively. 

The traveler’s advice to fellow flyers: “Don’t separate. Put it at your feet, directly above your head. I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

According to the outlet, Arrues later filed a report to Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, saying the lost items are worth nearly $40,000. A representative from the department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. 

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In a statement shared with PEOPLE, a representative for Southwest Airlines said the customer filed a lost item report, but the bag did not turn up.

“Southwest does not track personal carry-on items,” they said. “Any reported theft would most appropriately be investigated by police.”