A contract worker at Charlotte Douglas International Airport was arrested on April 14 after police said they tracked about $5,000 worth of David Yurman jewelry from a passenger’s checked suitcase to an online listing. Detectives say the high-end pieces surfaced on Facebook Marketplace and were traced to a seller with access to checked baggage, stoking fresh worries among travelers about trusting valuables to the hold.
According to WCNC, court documents state the victim spotted the missing Yurman jewelry for sale on Facebook Marketplace and contacted investigators. Detectives then reached out to the listing and arranged to purchase the items. The paperwork identifies the seller as Alonys Reyes-Garcia and says he agreed to complete the sale at his home, where officers served a search warrant. Police reported finding the allegedly stolen jewelry along with a firearm during the search.
Investigation And Alleged Sale
Detectives told WSOC they posed as buyers to verify the Facebook Marketplace listing and set up the transaction to confirm the seller’s identity. Authorities say the jewelry recovered from the home matches the items reported missing from the passenger’s checked luggage and that social media evidence helped point them to the suspect.
Charges And Booking
Mecklenburg County booking records list Alonys Reyes on charges that include felony larceny and possession of stolen goods, according to local reports published April 15. The arrest also appears in a county mugshot roundup from WCCB, which notes the booking and charges.
Airport Response And Traveler Concerns
In a statement cited by WSOC, Charlotte Douglas officials stressed that the suspect is not a city employee and directed additional questions to law enforcement. The airport urged passengers to keep valuables in carry-on bags whenever possible and to consider using TSA-approved locks on checked luggage. "That’s terrible," traveler Zsnai Thurman told WSOC, echoing the unease many fliers feel about parting with anything pricey at the ticket counter.
Legal Process
Per WCNC, Reyes-Garcia was taken into custody on April 14 and released on bond the next day, April 15, according to court records. He faces the felony charges and remains under investigation, and prosecutors have not yet publicly announced a court date.
Previous local coverage has detailed how hard these cases can be to crack. In 2021, WBTV reported nearly 200 theft complaints tied to Charlotte Douglas over roughly a 14-month period, with relatively few ever solved, a frustrating backdrop for travelers who feel like their bags are rolling the dice every time they leave the ticket counter.
