More than 1 million people ride Metro buses and trains every month.
And, some of them end up leaving something behind.
An astounding 200,000 personal belongings per month are left by riders on Metro's trains and buses. Some are turned in to Metro's Lost & Found building northeast of downtown Los Angeles near the Heritage Square Gold Line Station.
From the outside, it's just a simple gray block of a structure that appears to blend in with a darkened cloudy sky. There's a white Lost & Found sign above the front doors.
Inside are aisles of metal shelves piled high with lost items. They include bags, phones, keys and school books, likely left on a seat in the sometimes dizzying rush of the daily commute.
The most common thing recovered on buses and trains? Bicycles -- about 500 per month are stored in the lost and found. Only about 20 percent are reclaimed.
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But the two-person team that sorts through about 1,200 to 1,500 items found daily have seen some more unusual things. Items that probably have a story behind them.
Like the life-sized stuffed miniature pony who staff members named Duke. Or the musical instruments and a prosthetic leg.
Kenneth Edmonson joined Metro a year ago. In that time, he's seen some things that left him shaking his head.
"Top of the list of weirdest things would be dentures," he said.
There's also a weed wacker -- who knows what happened there -- and an ankle bracelet monitor that a criminal apparently removed. That's one item no one is likely to claim.
"It was still blinking," said Vanessa Smity, director of customer service. "I don't know, maybe one that got away."
One of the most baffling items? Wheelchairs.
Call it a Metro Miracle.
"People board the bus and they walk off without their wheelchairs," said Smity. "That may be a testament how good our service really is."
Most items are kept for about 90 days. After that, they go to auction.
Metro has an online form users can fill out to report a lost item.
