She Had an AirTag in Her Lost Luggage. It Led Police to a Baggage Handler’s Home.

A traveler who put a tracking device in her bag helped sheriff's deputies in Florida identify an airport worker who was accused of taking more than $16,000 in goods from passengers' luggage.

Giovanni De Luca, a baggage handler at the airport, was arrested and charged with two counts of grand theft. According to the sheriff's office, Mr. De Luca stole from two passengers.

According to an arrest report, the first passenger on the Delta/ Air France flight did not have her luggage at the airport. The bag contained clothes, makeup and other items.

An Apple AirTag is a device that sends a user's location to their device to help locate lost items. As airport chaos has led to more lost or delayed baggage this summer, placing such tracking devices in luggage is an attractive option for travelers.

The passenger told investigators that she received a notification on July 31, two weeks after she landed, that there was a device on the street in Mary Esther. The arrest report states that Mr. De Luca lived on the street.

An employee for a Delta Air Lines subcontractor filed a report with the sheriff's office that he saw Mr. De Luca go through another passenger's checked bag.

Mr. De Luca was working when a man reported that $15,000 in jewelry and sunglasses had been taken from his luggage.

The sheriff's office said that Mr. De Luca was arrested after they recovered the missing jewelry and sunglasses. The woman's items were not recovered after he destroyed the AirTag and went through her bag, the sheriff's office said.

He was released from jail the next day. It was not known if Mr. De Luca had a lawyer.

The airline was fully cooperating in the investigation, according to a Delta spokesman.

Delta has zero tolerance for the conduct of anyone associated with the company.

Privacy groups are concerned about the use of AirTags and other tracking devices for stalking or tracking people without their knowledge. In February, Apple made changes to make it more difficult for people to use AirTags to track people without their knowledge, but critics said the steps did not go far enough.