If you’ve lost something at Pittsburgh International Airport in the past year, it’s probably awaiting a new owner in a warehouse in Washington, Pa.
Specifically, at auction tycoon Joe R. Pyle’s warehouse — the northernmost hub of his empire that stretches into West Virginia and Ohio. He’s spent the past decade supervising the airport’s annual lost-and-found sales, unloading the vast array of items passengers have left behind.
There are 474 lots this year and thousands of items.
Each of the warehouse’s cardboard boxes hints at a different tale. A single lot contained a half-dozen passport holders, toy cars and a bobblehead. Another was a smorgasbord of commemorative coins, ranging from Disneyland to last year’s U.S. Open in Oakmont.
Some travelers evidently took off their fake Rolexes and forgot to restrap. Others had trouble holding up their pants, if the box of rubber-band-bound belts was any indication.
While Pyle’s base of operations in Mount Morris on the West Virginia border is a showstopper brimming with vintage cars, the dimly lit warehouse in Washington isn’t for the public eye:
The auction opened Tuesday and runs until Sept. 8 at 6 p.m.
Garrett Wilkerson, one of Pyle’s understudies and an auctioneer, was in charge of safeguarding the airport goods.
They were separated from another of Pyle’s auctions, where old gas pumps and an assortment of Christmas decorations were roped off.
Wilkerson stepped back to appraise a vintage Coca-Cola refrigerator on the airport side of the room, his hands on his hips.
“Unfortunately, it’s too big to be a carry-on.”
Much larger items — the 19 cars abandoned at the airport — lingered in a nearby parking lot. Customers can bid on a 2012 Ford F-150 pickup, a 2011 Toyota Sienna minivan and a 2008 Mercedes-Benz CLK 350 convertible, among others.
A previous airport auction featured a car once owned by an inattentive Steelers player. Wilkerson laughed and confirmed there are no celebrity rides this time.
Airport spokesman Bob Kerlik explained the abandoned cars first fall into possession of the Allegheny County Police, who only hand them off to Pyle if they aren’t able to reach the owner.
Pyle then tows the cars to Washington, where they remain idle and may be difficult to restart without repairs, Wilkerson said. Another wrinkle is customers will need to obtain a new vehicle title from PennDOT, which could take up to 90 days after the sale, he said.
Wilkerson expected the cars to sell for “a little bit above” wholesale prices, but acknowledged they are a complicated part of the auction process.
“They’re tough. … We sell them as-found,” he said.
Pyle’s team will close three items every 30 seconds on the final day of the auction, beginning with the abandoned vehicles. Online bidding tends not to drag out, compared to live auctions.
Once everything is sold, the items are off to a third-party shipping company — and second lives.