Help me return an iPod to its owner...

Question

A friend of mine went on a trip and found someone had left their iPod on his plane seat and, unable to locate the previous owner on the plane, he brought it back home with him. It's a 32GB iPod with 3G capability and it's currently locked with the 4 digit pass code.
He's called AT&T and Apple who have both told him that even with the serial number of the unit, they are unable to locate the registered owner of this device. I am not inclined to believe the somewhat limited scope of knowledge that first-tier support from either AT&T or Apple would have on the matter so I'd like some pointers from anyone who might know about how to track down the owner of an iPod, bypassing the security code, and any other information anyone can give to find out how I can determine who owns this thing.
Now let me reaffirm my intent here, as it is common for people to automatically assume the worst in their fellow man and immediately conclude that I have stolen this thing or acquired it through some other devious, illicit means. I do not want to keep this iPod. This iPod is not stolen and sits here in my desk drawer with the battery dead, completely unused, and in the exact same state it was when it was found on the airline. Were I interested in keeping it, I could have easily forced the unit into restore mode and wiped it back to factory state and scored a free iPod without so much as a single thought of the prior owner. However, I state again, I do not want to keep this iPod. At all. My goal is to get the iTunes account email out of the phone so I can contact the original owner and arrange for it to be returned.
So if someone here can help reunite a rather expensive device with its real owner and point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it. If an Apple employee who's high enough up on the food chain to provide some assistance by phone, let me know. Otherwise, this little paperweight will continue to be just that until I can figure out how to get around the pass code.

Answer 1

It would have made more sense to hand the iPod into the airline whose plane it was on. They at least, would have known who was sitting in that seat, although as Cerulean73 points out, the airline would also be breaking privacy laws if it told you who the owner was.
If I lost something on a plane, I would ask the airline if it had been found, because I would expect it to be handed into them and for me to get it back from the airline. Since the owner may well be resident somewhere else other than the USA, the phone (if it is a phone rather than an iPod Touch) may be registered on a non-USA network, and here in the UK, that could be Orange, O2, Vodafone etc, so AT&T wouldn't have a clue.
Phil