Ambre Boroughs made a major mistake when she checked her new HP 9000 laptop on a Southwest flight--in its laptop bag, no less. Unsurprisingly, she found her laptop from its bag at the other end of her flight.

However, Boroughs' Craigslist detective work helped Chicago police recover not only her stolen laptop, but more than a dozen other missing electronics allegedly removed from travelers' checked luggage.

Boroughs tells that the first leg of her trip from Charleston to Chicago was "an absolute ordeal" with no room to put her carryon, so on the way back she decided to check all her bags--including the laptop bag. Southwest's "Bags Fly Free" promotion also influenced her decision.

After receiving Boroughs' report, TSA checked its security video and sent Boroughs a letter stating the laptop was still in the case when it went through security. So somewhere between going through security and coming off the conveyor belt, the laptop disappeared from the checked bag.

Southwest, like other airlines, claims no responsibility for checked computers.