I had something like this happen on July 24. I got done with a busy day at the abyss (28 to 47 rc in 2 days ftw) and decided to do some castle wars. I withdrew my whip, dds, the stuff for ice burst, my splitbark and mystics, then dropped the bronze pick I had been using at the abyss. At least that's what I thought. After entering the game and dd spec'ing some people, I went to equip my whip and saw a bronze pickaxe there. Uh oh is right. I found the guy who found my whip on the ground, a level 48. He even messed with me, saying he felt bad and wanted to give like 1mil back. He didn't. Oh well, here I am three days later with a whip and working towards full infinity.