At Southwest terminal, travelers fishing in a 'sea of bags'

"It's a sea of bags as you can see," said Sherri Schultz, of Boulder, as she looked for her boyfriend's suitcase at DIA Tuesday. 

She and other Southwest travelers are searching for a suitcase in the sea, hoping the bags weren't lost or stolen.

The baggage claim area has been full of unclaimed luggage for days, belonging to passengers stranded elsewhere, those whose flights were canceled but whose bags were not returned and new arrivals. Once people find their bags, they are supposed to find a Southwest agent to scan the tag, so the airline knows the bags made it home.

"I want an air tag, I wanna get the brightest bag possible next time. I just have a black and white bag," said Boulder resident Jordan Christy. He checked his bags days ago for a flight to Pittsburg that never happened. 

"Basically, it canceled the trip. It kinda stinks. It was supposed to be a white Christmas in Pennsylvania," said Christy. 

Christy was initially told his bags were in Pittsburgh, then that they were being shipped to him, then that he had to come to DIA to get them. 

"Now I'm here just trying to find our luggage from Saturday," said Christy. 

Also searching was the Lara family, who arrived in Denver, after being stuck in Florida for days.

"My little 7-year-old twins, got no Christmas, stuck in a hotel room, no luggage nothing," said father, Rick Lara. 

After their Southwest flight was canceled Saturday, and their luggage wasn't returned, they finally booked a United flight home. 

'We got out of Florida on United this morning for three grand," said Lara.

Now, they're fishing for bags in the Southwest sea, hoping to finally bring their catch home.

"We're gonna go have Christmas right now as soon as we get to Cheyenne, and they can open what presents we have there," said Lara. 

It appears the baggage claim area is where all displaced Southwest bags are being kept, some of them for days, but Southwest tells CBS News Colorado that the airport environment has a law enforcement presence to keep displaced belongings safe.