Hey, Chunk! Rare Goonies Script and $39K ring among 2024’s strangest lost luggage items
A rare copy of The Goonies movie script has been discovered in an unclaimed airline bag, according to a new report revealing the most unusual items left behind by passengers in 2024.
The iconic 1985 cult film — a childhood favourite for many — was one of the standout entries in this year’s Found Report, published by Unclaimed Baggage, the U.S retailer that receives and resells luggage lost in transit and never reclaimed.
Whether the script was a studio copy, a collector’s edition or a fan reproduction is unclear.
It was found among thousands of bags sent to the company’s processing facility in Scottsboro, Alabama, after airlines failed to reunite them with their owners within the standard 90-day tracing window.
Other items discovered last year included a $39,000 diamond ring, a full suit of armour, a $1,700 luxury pet carrier and a freeze-dried chicken foot. All were packed, checked in, and never retrieved.
Bryan Owens, the firm’s CEO, said: “The world of lost luggage is full of stories to ponder and surprises to behold — some more unexpected than others.
“This year’s finds really capture the imagination.”
Founded in 1970, Unclaimed Baggage is the only business of its kind in the U.S. Once passengers are compensated, unclaimed bags are sent to the company to be sorted for resale, donation or recycling.
Its 50,000-square-foot store has become a tourist destination in its own right.
According to the Bureau of Transportation, airlines handled over 45 million bags in July 2024 alone.
While fewer than 0.05% go permanently unclaimed, the scale still results in thousands of cases being passed on to Unclaimed Baggage each year.
The company has also published its top five discoveries from the past 55 years. These include a pair of real human shrunken heads, the ‘Hoggle’ puppet from Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, a cache of Egyptian artefacts, a live rattlesnake (safely removed), and a 40-carat emerald.
“Left-behind luggage gives us a snapshot of passengers’ lives,” said Sonni Hood, the company’s PR Manager. “Each year, the Found Report connects those snapshots into a bigger picture — showing how we travel, what we value, and how trends shift over time.”
The Top 40 Finds of 2024 were:
Freeze dried chicken foot
Addidas and Balenciaga track pants
Movie script from The Goonies
3d printed modular fiddle
Squash blossom necklace
Turkish ceremonial headdress
Toilet seat
Tooth bedazzling kit
Glass eye
Full sheet of uncut $2bills
Ice Spice Chia pet
Medieval suit of armour
Santa on a log with a pumpkin
Weird Barbie
Letter signed by Eleanour Roosevelt dated 1944
Preserved rattle snake in jar of whiskey
Antique French book on performing exorcisms
Tibetan singing bowl
Dom Perignon show helmet
Silicone butt pads
Cuckoo clock
Asian spirit lock necklaces from the 1920s
1941 newspaper clipping of the attack on Pearl Harbour
Pack of authentic Prada crayons
Steel roman soldier helmet
Widow’s Mite
Piece of fordite
Goat tying dummy
6 string portable pocket guitar
Antique stereoscope slide viewer
Silicone pregnancy belly
Handmade wooden masks
Hawaiian shark tooth weapon
Glow in the dark drumsticks
Nam Man Prai Thai amulet
Ethiopian Begena
Toilet brush shaped like a cherry
Antique magician’s top hat
Antique moustache curler