An article is “lost” when the owner has lost the possession or custody of it, in- voluntarily and by any means, but more particularly by accident or his own negligence or forgetfulness, and when he is ignorant of its whereabouts or cannot recover it by an ordinarily diligent search. See State Sav. Bank v. Buhl. 129 Mich. 193, 88 N. W. 471, 56 L R. A. 944; Belote v. State, 36 Miss. 120. 72 Am. Dec. 163; Hoagland v. Amusement Co., 170 Mo. 335, 70 S. W. 878, 94 Am. St. Rep. 740. As applied to ships and vessels, the term means “lost at sea,” and a vessel lost is one that has totally gone from the owners against their will, so that they know nothing of it whether it still exists or not, or one which they know is no longer withiu their use and control, either in consequeuce of capture by enemies or pirates, or an unknown foundering, or sinking by a known storm, or collision, or destruction by ship wreck. Bennett v. Garlock, 10 Hun (N. Y.) 338; Collard v. Eddy, 17 Mo. 355; Insurance Co. v. Gossler, 7 Fed. Cas. 406.
Black’s Law Online Dictionary
