Somebody posted a story here that his relative or friend lost two ipads when flying from US to HongKong. All replies suggested that it was impossible to get them back from the airline company. That is true. However, I found this article online:
http://news.yahoo.com/police-tsa-agent-jfk-stole-5k-passenger-163552145.html
It mentions that
"— Last month, an agent who worked searching checked luggage at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport was suspended after the owner of a stolen iPad used the tracking feature on the device to locate it at the agent's home. Police found seven other iPads there."
I am not sure if your case is related. In case it is, you might be able to do something. Good luck.
