A woman says her husband left his wallet on a Southwest flight and got it back 10 minutes later, but $1,200 in cash was gone

Alex Danielle Ellswo says her husband left his wallet in a seat pocket on a Southwest Airlines flight, and the couple got it back 10 minutes later without the $1,200 in cash inside. She shared the allegation in a TikTok slideshow, according to BroBible. Her account has not been independently verified.

Ellswo says Southwest’s process for returning items left on a plane runs through the flight crew. “They said the flight crew would grab it if they [found] it and hand it off to whoever takes everything to baggage services,” Ellswo wrote.

Ellswo says staff gave the couple a few options after she raised the missing cash. According to Ellswo, they were told they could file a complaint, but staff said there wasn’t much they could do about the missing money. She added, “I hope Karma comes back around in a big way.”

Ellswo thinks whoever first found the wallet took the cash

Ellswo suspects the person who first handled the wallet, as an employee returned it alongside other found items. “An employee came back holding a bag, helmet, and a couple of [other] things, including my husband’s wallet,” Ellswo wrote. She added that the couple is “pretty sure it was whoever found it initially that took everything.”

The first image in her slideshow shows Ellswo and her husband. Its text overlay accuses the “@SouthwestAirlines employee who found my husband’s wallet” of stealing $1,200 from the family. A second image shows the couple’s children, which she used to point out that the alleged loss affected the whole household.

Not every viewer blamed an airline worker. One commenter asked, “How do you know the employee took the money?” and others suggested another passenger could have taken the cash before handing the wallet over. Ellswo replied that she does not suspect a flight attendant and instead blames the cleaning crew. She argued that a deplaning passenger would not have had time to reach their row, take the cash, and drop the wallet elsewhere.

Southwest says it isn’t on the hook for things left on its planes

Southwest’s policies may offer the couple little recourse. The airline’s Help Center states that Southwest is not liable for carry-on baggage. In a previous statement about a lost iPad, Southwest said it tries to locate reported items within 30 days but is not liable for unchecked items left onboard.

Federal protections center on bags and other property in an airline’s custody. The Department of Transportation lets airlines cap what they pay for a lost, damaged, or delayed bag on domestic flights at $4,700 per passenger. However, the agency notes that airlines can pay more than that limit but are not required to.

Ellswo could escalate the matter to the Department of Transportation, which forwards complaints to airlines and directs them to respond to the passenger. However, its consumer office says it cannot conduct criminal investigations into alleged theft.

The Mary Sue was unable to independently verify Southwest’s side of the story, as this account originates solely from Ellswo’s TikTok post.

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