Eagle-eyed TSA agent spots missing diamond lost at JFK security checkpoint
QUEENS NY July 22 2021 — A TSA agent saved a Flushing couple’s honeymoon when he spotted the newlywed bride’s missing diamond as it shimmered on the floor of a Kennedy Airport security checkpoint, officials said Monday.
The couple, Amir Khan Durrani and his wife, were traveling to Guam on their pandemic-delayed honeymoon; on their way through the airport, they stopped for some coffee in the terminal — that’s when the bride noticed the newly purchased diamond had become dislodged and was missing from her engagement ring.
“My wife was crying hysterically as we did not know what happened, nor did we know how to approach the situation,” Amir Khan Durrani wrote in an email to TSA.
TSA agents at the checkpoint jumped into action to help the Durranis find the missing diamond.
“Everyone was extremely kind and helped me as much as they could to locate the lost diamond,” the husband said. “I told them that I knew this was not their job” to help find a lost diamond, although “everyone present helped look for the diamond to no avail.”
But hours later, the nightmarish scenario began to turn.
Lead TSA Officer John Killian was standing at the supervisory podium when he noticed the shimmering rock on the ground near the checkpoint line.
“I spotted the sparkle and thought to myself, ‘No way that could really be it.’ I walked over and picked it up,” he said. “The shine caught my eye. I was like, ‘wow, I just found this diamond!’”
By the time the Durranis landed in Guam, they had a text message and voicemail confirming that — like a needle in a haystack — someone had found their diamond in the airport.
“Our trip went from a chaotic moment to one at peace,” Durrani wrote in an email to the TSA team. “I would like to commend everyone and their efforts for finding our diamond and safekeeping it before our return back to New York. I want to mention deep down in my heart, that this moment put us in relief. I hope everyone understands how much this meant to my wife and me.”
Naturally, the couple was able to show TSA a picture of the stone to make sure it matched the one that had been found. And as the saying goes, it was a match made at Terminal 7.
