A hapless Miss World lost her £8,000 crown at an airport.
María Victoria Bayo suffered the scare of her life when her silver crown, encrusted with Swarovski crystals, went missing at baggage reclaim.
María kept her sash and crown in a brown case next to a seat as she went to collect the rest of her luggage yesterday (24 Jul).
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When the Miss World Dominican Republic 2023 returned to the chair with her other bags, the brown case had apparently been stolen.
She immediately reported it to security staff at Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in the Puerto Rican capital San Juan.
News of the theft spread on social media and a 57-year-old woman soon contacted airport security to inform them she had the case.
The woman was asked to bring it back to the airport and she duly complied, as reported on What’s the Jam.
When asked why she was in possession of the case, she said she was waiting for her luggage at the carousel, saw the case and thought it had been abandoned.
The woman said she grabbed it “so no one else would take it.”
The authorities were happy with her explanation and plan to take no further action.
Bayo withdrew her theft complaint and was overjoyed to have her sash and crown back.
She posed with the crown alongside airport security staff after it was returned.
Miss World said she is visiting Puerto Rico to present prizes at the Youth Awards taking place tonight (25 Jul).
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