Identifying stolen luggage is slow work

PHOENIX - Police continued sifting through about 1,000 pieces of stolen luggage Thursday in an attempt to identify the owners.

The bags were found stacked from floor to ceiling at a home in the northwest Valley earlier this week. Police said the suitcases had been stolen off baggage claim carousels at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.

Trying to determine who the bags belong to is a daunting task, said Phoenix Police Sgt. Giogi Chiappo, but she said a few identifying items have been found.

"We have a couple of good leads -- adoption paperwork, baseball card collections, stamp collections, photo radar ticket -- I'm sure no one's claiming that one too soon."

Chiappo said tags had been ripped off the bags and there was no indication of who owned most of them.

"The likelihood of matching everything that we have is, at this point, slim," she said.

There were numerous items piled up in the house where the bags were found.

"Medical devices, radar detectors, UPS units, stereo receivers, video games," said Chiappo.

She urged people who might have flown into Sky Harbor and lost their luggage to contact police. Specific information would help, she said.

"We'll take whatever it is that you have, but if you say something like `black luggage,' it's going to be very difficult and our challenge is going to increase because there's a lot of pieces of luggage she said.

Keith King, 62, one of the suspects, remained in jail Thursday. His wife, Stacy, was free on bond.

People who want to inquire about the luggage can call (602) 495-7808.

The arrests and discovery of the stolen luggage prompted Sky Harbor officials and airlines' employees to discuss baggage security.

"Whether or not we'll bring back ticket checking or the airlines would bring back ticket checking is a question," Sky Harbor's Deborah Ostreicher said after the Kings' arrests were announced Tuesday. "Keep in mind that we have Phoenix police that you see, and we have Phoenix police doing a lot of work that you may not see and they caught this guy. They've done their job."

Ostreicher said she was talking with the airlines.

Valerie Wunder with US Airways said it ended the practice of matching luggage and claim checks four or five years ago "mainly because we weren't seeing an issue with baggage theft." But, she said baggage security is a priority for the airlines.

"We're going to look at ways we can work with both airports and local authorities to mitigate this situation and see what we can do to prevent it in the future," Wunder said.

Keith King initially was arrested three weeks ago after a police officer saw him take a bag off a carousel in the Sky Harbor baggage claim area. Police said he received a misdemeanor theft citation and was released. A few days later, King showed up on a surveillance video parking in a garage and walking to the baggage claim area where he took luggage, said Detective James Holmes.

When the bags were found at the Kings' home, many had been opened and the contents were missing, Holmes said. He said some items and bags apparently had been sold at garage sales.