When you stay at a Disney resort, they pick up your luggage and put it on their bus for you. We overslept, the bellman came for the luggage, and in haste – not discovered until later – I sent the piece I had mentally designated as my carry-on through as checked baggage. It had my laptop in it. I worried the whole flight home after I realized what happened. I ran to the baggage carousel so that I could claim it as soon as it came out of the shute, to keep anyone else from pulling it off and tossing it back. Once home, the first thing I did was boot it up.

The computer was miraculalously fine. Maybe it helped that it was in a neoprene case and that it was packed in the center of the bag surrounded by clothes. I certainly learned my lesson on that one.

And, oh, the bag I took as carry-on by mistake that should have been checked? Got on the plane with all the full sized toiletry items, a water bottle, and the toy Disney weapons and other various usually banned items…..

So, 97% of laptops stolen from the security line are never recovered?

Holy crap.

I have corrected the sentence. It now reads, “The FBI has stated that 97 percent of reported laptop thefts are never recovered.”

Thanks very much for bringing it to my attention.

However, I didn’t quite get the “only 97% of stolen laptops are ever recovered,” that would be saying that 3% of all stolen laptops are lost to thieves. Is that what you meant?

Someone may get the laptop or someone may get the key, but short of being straight-out robbed, I don’t suspect both elements would be snagged at the same time.