System, method, and apparatus for locating and merging documents

A computer-implemented method for generating a merged report to facilitate recovery of lost items, comprising:

• receiving, at a computing device, a first item report, the first item report including first report information, the first report information including at least one descriptive term and a customer identification;
• accessing a weighted term list including a plurality of descriptive terms, with the plurality of descriptive terms having a weighted value;
• selecting a subset of the plurality of descriptive items from the weighted term list based on the weighted value for the plurality of descriptive items;
• identifying one or more second item reports that potentially match the first item report, the identifying being based on at least in part on the plurality of descriptive items in the subset of the plurality of descriptive items and the weighted value for each of the plurality of descriptive items in the subset of the plurality of descriptive items;
• and
• subsequently initiating presentation of data associated with the identified one or more second item reports,
• wherein the first item report pertains to a lost item, and wherein the one or more second item reports pertain to found items.

A computer readable medium including at least computer program code tangibly stored thereon for facilitating recovery of lost items, comprising:

• computer program code for receiving a first item report, the first item report including first report information, the first report information including at least one descriptive term and a customer identification;
• computer program code for accessing a weighted term list including a plurality of descriptive terms, with the plurality of descriptive terms having a weighted value;
• computer program code for selecting a subset of the plurality of descriptive items from the weighted term list based on the weighted value for the plurality of descriptive items;
• computer program code for identifying one or more second item reports that potentially match the first item report, the identifying being based on at least in part on the plurality of descriptive items in the subset of the plurality of descriptive items and the weighted value for each of the plurality of descriptive items in the subset of the plurality of descriptive items;
• and
• computer program code for initiating presentation of data associated with the identified one or more second item reports,
• wherein the first item report pertains to a lost item, and wherein the one or more second item reports pertain to found items.