Found a lost phone - can't find owner

[Monkeychemist]

Hello,

I was enjoying a nice float down a lazy river and saw something red and shiny on the bottom. I went down and found an iPhone but that's not the shocking part. I brought it to dry land and to my surprise it was actually still working! It's a miracle because the case was already growing algae on it, so it must have been there for several days if not weeks with the thunderbolt port open and soaked. The screen says that the phone was marked as lost. A technological miracle like this MUST be returned to the owner. Unfortunately there is no way for me to figure out who that might be. I tried the trick of getting the medical contact but there was nothing. Is there anything I can do to find the owner? I was thinking maybe a serial number search but don't know where to look.

Any help very much appreciated, thank you.

 

[eyoungren]

Hail Mary perhaps, but try to activate SIRI and then tell it to call mom or dad, brother or sister, husband/wife, etc. If the owner has this set up then at least you can contact someone who knows the owner and word will get back.

Some lady left her purse in a shopping cart one night when I was at Walmart. Her phone, ID and everything was in it but there was no way to contact her directly. So, we (my wife and I) activated SIRI and had the phone call 'mom'. Word got back to her dad and her boyfriend who came by and retrieved her purse. But she had that set up in her contacts so it worked.

 

[now i see it]

Leave it plugged in and connected to wifi continuously. Eventually the owner might check in again and he’ll be able to locate the phone.

 

[ab22]

An Apple store might contact the customer if they have details connected to the serial number from some transaction.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

An Apple store might contact the customer if they have details connected to the serial number from some transaction.

Apple store won't accept the phone. They'll tell you to take it to the local police station.. You could also remove the SIM card (if it has one) and copy down the number On the card. You can then contact the carrier and give them the number and see if they can get in touch with the owner..

 

[ab22]

I never thought they'd 'accept' it...

 

[pdoherty]

Apple store won't accept the phone. They'll tell you to take it to the local police station.. You could also remove the SIM card (if it has one) and copy down the number On the card. You can then contact the carrier and give them the number and see if they can get in touch with the owner..

Good idea! At least it is until iPhone 14 or newer comes into the picture with their eSim-only.

 

[Monkeychemist]

unfortunately it's an e-sim. Siri also appears to be disabled. So basically this is a paperweight. I sadly am just gonna toss it with the next dumpster day. Hopefully someone will do the find my phone but all it will give them is my address, not really a way to contact me. Thanks everyone for the help!

 

[winxmac]

Maybe share a photo of it here or on social network site and who knows? The real owner might reach out...

 

[iStorm]

Leave it plugged in and connected to wifi continuously. Eventually the owner might check in again and he’ll be able to locate the phone.

The iPhone is in Lost Mode and is locked. The OP wouldn't be able to connect it to a Wi-Fi network. Can only rely on cellular at this point if the plan is still active.

OP - When one marks their phone as lost, they're prompted to leave a phone number and a message so they can be contacted if found. If you're not seeing that information on the screen, then the owner of the iPhone didn't fill it in and must not want it back that badly. Take it to the police station or somewhere to be recycled.

 

[Monkeychemist]

The iPhone is in Lost Mode and is locked. The OP wouldn't be able to connect it to a Wi-Fi network. Can only rely on cellular at this point if the plan is still active.

OP - When one marks their phone as lost, they're prompted to leave a phone number and a message so they can be contacted if found. If you're not seeing that information on the screen, then the owner of the iPhone didn't fill it in and must not want it back that badly. Take it to the police station or somewhere to be recycled.

Thank you. Yes, there was nothing I could find for contact so I put it in for recycling.