Craig Ferguson said the rare kilt he wore on his 3,500-mile charity walk from Los Angeles to Boston Common was lost in New York, days after he finished the trek and publicly tied the missing garment to Ferguson, Scotland. He said the case was last seen on the platform of 175th Street Station in New York on the A-line towards Penn Station between 7pm and 7.45pm on Monday.
Ferguson said on Tuesday that he had completed the walk on Friday and that the missing kilt was one of only two in the world. He raised £1m for Scottish Action for Mental Health during the journey, and the loss now leaves him appealing for someone to find and return an item he says had become part of the story of the walk.
New York suitcase trail
The timeline matters because Ferguson narrowed the loss to a specific place and a tight window. He said the suitcase containing the kilt was last seen at 175th Street Station in New York on Monday evening, while his social media appeal came on Tuesday after the walk had already ended on Friday.
He also said the kilt was not just any souvenir from the trek. Ferguson described it as having a distinguishable rip from wearing all his stars and loads of holes from the kiltpins, details that fit a garment worn through weeks of travel rather than a piece packed away untouched.
Ferguson’s public appeal
Ferguson’s own words set out the contradiction at the heart of the search. He wrote, “I have some very, very, bad news and I need you guys’ help.” He also said, “I’ve recently become the first man in history to walk the entire USA from LA to Boston while wearing a kilt.”
He then added, “But the sad news is that kilt no longer belongs to me,” and, “It belongs to the US now unless some miracle means we can get it back.” He went further: “I don’t think I’m ever, ever going to find the kilt. I’ve basically said goodbye to it in my head now,” before softening the blow with, “The kilt belongs to the US now, but I think there’s maybe something a bit poetic about that.”
What the search now rests on
The practical next step is straightforward: Ferguson is relying on social media and whoever may have come across the case in New York. He said, “But who knows? Maybe social media will do its thing, and some New Yorker will find that kilt and be able to return it one day. But until then, USA kilt, goodbye my friend.”
For Ferguson, the loss is bigger than a misplaced item because the kilt carried the visible marks of the walk and belonged to one of only two made in the world. What happens next depends on whether someone who saw the suitcase near 175th Street Station recognizes it and sends it back.
