Well, don't give up hope - because an Arizona woman has just been reunited with the misplaced luggage she lost during a flight 20 years ago!

Maria Dellos, who runs an art shop in Tucson, was initially pleased but unsurprised to receive a call from Transportation Security Administration at Tucson International Airport about her lost luggage. She assumed they were referring to bags she lost four months ago. (Does this woman have no luck with luggage?)

But it turned out that a recent reorganisation at the airport had unearthed Maria's long-lost suitcase - containing art supplies from a trade show in Las Vegas - which went missing way back in 1994.

Among the other contents of the suitcase was a note she had written two decades ago.

"When I looked at this note it was dated as 20 years ago and I was just absolutely blown away," said Maria, speaking to KVOA News. "I'm absolutely thankful to the TSA for calling me today and giving me great faith back into the airline industry."

Just for good measure, she found that her $600 worth of paints were "still very creamy and usable."

TSA spokesman Nico Melendez said: "I understand that we just did some shuffling of equipment at the airport, so it's quite possible that we came across something that somebody left unattended for a long period of time."

You can say that again.

Oh, and it looks as if Maria's luck really has changed for the better - she's also been reunited with the bags that went missing in August!