15,000 items are lost every year on Metro. Here's where they end up

Dañiel Andres Martinez is an associate producer for LAist.

Published May 10, 2026 5:00 AM

A tan concrete building with the words "Metro Lost & Found" above the entrance is seen. Two cars one gray truck and one white van are seen in the front of the building. A blue sky and various powerlines can be seen in the background.

Metro L.A. moves a lot of people every day through more than 100 miles of rail and a service area for buses of more than 1,000 square miles. With all that space and all those people, some things are bound to get left behind.

So, where do they go? They end up at Metro’s Lost & Found.

Where lost items go

The tan-and-concrete building on Pasadena Avenue across from the A Line’s Heritage Square station in Cypress Park looks like any old warehouse. But a peek behind the curtain reveals a treasure trove of forgotten — and sometimes, curious — things.

A small black table is seen in a room, there is a white brick wall behind the table and a gray linoleum floor under it. On the table an electric guitar, and electric meter, a stack of baseball cards, a prosthetic leg with an Adidas shoe attached, and a black backpack are depicted.

“ We've seen prosthetic legs, we've gotten dentures come through here,” said Brian Ledeay, a customer service agent at Metro Lost & Found. “We've gotten a lot of luggage, to be honest. A lot of really nice luggage comes through here.”

And the volume of lost items has been increasing with the growth of Metro's bus and rail lines.

Sponsored message

“We now process about 1,200 items a month, which equals about 15,000 items a year,” Patrick Diaz, Metro’s Lost & Found manager, said.

A man is seen in a white room. He wears a dark blue shirt, black glasses, a black belt and black slacks. Behind him to his left there is a black carpet with a yellow "Wet Floor" sign on it.

The Lost & Found is busiest in the summer, when tourism picks up. During the World Cup in June and July, Diaz expects even more riders — and agency is adding staffing in response.

“We’re gonna have people stationed throughout our system, providing general information, not just on our transit system, but on our Lost & Found as well,” Diaz said.

A train station is seen from its parking lot. A person with blue hair walks across a walkway. There are several signs to their right side. A Metro map that says "Heritage Square" is closest to the person. Down the walkway a sign says "Platform 1" below it there is a smaller sign that says "Metro Platform 1 to Pomona".

It’s a process

Found items first make their way to smaller Lost & Founds at divisions — the terminals where bus and rail lines begin and end. There are 18 divisions across L.A. County.

Sponsored message

Divisions must log and process these items within three to five business days. From there they are brought to the main Lost & Found on Pasadena Avenue.

A gray door is seen in a room it has the words "Authorized Personnel Only" on it. There's a concierge desk behind a glass barrier to the left of the door.

Items get processed inside the main warehouse, along with shelves upon shelves of things people left behind. (I tried, but Metro said no photos of the warehouse’s interior.)

Those looking for a lost item must first fill out a form providing basic information, including what was lost, when, and where. If an item is found, staff will notify you via phone or email. At pickup, you are asked for specific information about the misplaced items for verification.

“Cell phones often have a pin, so we ask for their pin to open it. We're always looking for some type of verification,” Ledeay said.

Lost forever?

Ledeay’s worked at the Metro Lost & Found for nine years, and he’s seen a lot of stuff come through. Some of the most common are electronics like flat-screen TVs or video game consoles, but there’s also the more off-kilter.

Sponsored message

“We have an about three foot replica of the Eiffel Tower that somebody left behind,” Diaz said. “That's been here for a while.”

A small black table is seen in a room with a small eiffel tower, a saxophone, a football, black sunglasses, a wallet and some books on top of it.

Only about 20% to 30% of items are returned to their owners, the agency said.

After 90 days, unclaimed items are cleared of any identifying information and go to a third-party auction.

The exception is bicycles. Those are sent to a warehouse near Union Station because of the volume. Bicycles in the best condition become a part of Metro’s Adopt A Bike program where they’re redistributed to community organizations that then hand them out to the public.

A blue "Huffy" bicycle is propped up by its kickstand next to a white brick wall and a gray tiled floor. There is a yellow tag on the handlebars.

Reunited and it feels so good

Luis Sanchez has worked as a customer service agent for a couple of years. His most memorable encounters include a man looking for his dentures.

Sponsored message

His favorite items to return are musical instruments — be it to students or to professional musicians, their reactions are the same.

“They're ecstatic about it, which is nice, you know, makes me proud to work here,” Sanchez said.

A man carries a beat up yellow surfboard. He wears chain-glasses and there are glass doors behind him where the sun is brightly filtering through.

For Ledeay it’s been a similar experience. Recently, a woman came in to ask about the five wooden recorders she had lost on the Metro. The recorders hadn’t been logged at the station yet, but he could tell how much they meant to her.

“So I just called down to the divisions to see if they had it, they did. And so they sent it over,” Ledeay said.

For employees at the Lost & Found, these moments are what the job's all about.

“It's a joy to watch them light up. And see all the pleasure that they experience,” Ledeay said.

Hey, LA listener!

15,000 items are lost every year on Metro. Here's where they end up

Where lost items go

Keep up with LAist.

It’s a process

Lost forever?

Reunited and it feels so good

Make your tax-deductible donation today