jpf, the same thing happened to me while we were in DC. I was lucky enough to be able to screw it back in, BLIND LUCK ! Hopefully you can keep patience to keep trying to hit a hole you can't see, but it is worth trying. If it unscrewed in the open position, the little screw hole will not be too far from the out position for thr handle. Mine came unscrewed in the closed position and took a long time to find it. Good luck!