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However, the suitcase has been seized by local police.

Experts tell ABC News the recovery of floating debris is unlikely to lead investigators to the submerged wreckage.

“It has spent a year drifting thousands of miles from where the actual impact was,” said ABC aviation consultant Steve Ganyard. “It probably isn’t going to help us find where the airplane is on the bottom of the ocean.”

\"PHOTO:
Reuters
PHOTO: French gendarmes and police stand on the beach where a large piece of plane debris was found in Saint-Andre, on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, July 29, 2015.
>

But according to Australian authorities leading the search for the missing plane, if the airplane debris recovered on La Reunión island is indeed linked with MH370, “it would be consistent with other analysis and modelling that the resting place of the aircraft is in the southern Indian Ocean.”

ABC News' Matt Hosford contributed to this report.

Get real-time updates as this story unfolds. To start, just \"star\" this story in ABC News' phone app. Download ABC News for iPhone here or ABC News for Android here.

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