Behind the Scenes at the Democratic Convention's Lost and Found

One special item is still in the arena's lost and found from pope's 2015 visit.

ByABC News
July 29, 2016, 4:32 AM

— -- In a tiny office hidden in a back corner of the Democratic National Convention's arena is the lost and found. The man who runs it has been working there nearly 20 years, but he said it’s a group effort to make sure items lost at the Wells Fargo Center are returned.

“People are always grateful, especially [if they get back their] cell phones and credit cards,” said Jack Kay Jr., command center supervisor at the arena. “We’ve had people offer rewards, but we don't take them. A ‘thank you’ is good enough.”

The most memorable item ever to wind up there was a prosthetic leg, according to Kay. It was found in the parking lot after a football game.

“The guy came and picked it up the next day,” Kay said. “His friends played a joke on him; they hid it on him.”

The lost and found is so far less busy than expected during the Democratic National Convention, according to Kay.

PHOTO: Items left behind at the Wells Fargo Center during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
Items left behind at the Wells Fargo Center during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

The main things recovered have been wallets, credit cards, IDs and cell phones.

“I’ve had six phones already returned to media members,” he said on the convention's third day. “It’s been scarves, fleeces, stuff like that -- nothing out of the ordinary.”

PHOTO: Items left behind at the Wells Fargo Center during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
Items left behind at the Wells Fargo Center during the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

Generally what amazes his team most are lost keys, Kay said.

“It's just mind-boggling. When you come to an event, how do you leave your car keys?” he said.

“We had a mink coat [here] once," Kay added. "We've had people call about engagement rings. Sometimes we find them, sometimes not.”

PHOTO: A Spanish bible was left behind at the Wells Fargo Center when the Pope was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 2015.
A Spanish bible was left behind at the Wells Fargo Center when the Pope was in Philadelphia in 2015.

Usually if an item is not retrieved it is either destroyed or donated.

But one item still sitting in the lost and found is a Spanish Bible that was left during a mass at the center during the pope’s visit in 2015, Kay said.

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