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Got my stolen iPad back - with Find My iPhone!

pelicanflip said:
GadgetAddict - honestly, I'm not too familiar with how MobileMe works, so if someone obviously tried to contact me about returning their iPad, I would.

I misread the OP and didn't notice the part about the numerous messages sent to the iPad.


But still, you've gotta admit: leaving your iPad on a plane, then leaving the terminal, and then the airport? Bigggg mistake. Be careful next time with your iPad.
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True, it is really careless to forget a device which in this case costs at least $630. That's a month's paycheck for a lot of people!

The employee who took it might not be an "ordinary" thief. He/she thought could be lucky but obviously was outsmarted... :rolleyes:
 
Congrats for getting your iPad back and kudos to the investigator for being able to use the information you provided to close out the case. For those who say you lost it and it was simply the employees lucky day, that varies from place to place. Here in Oklahoma, there is a statute on the books which makes it a Felony to knowingly deprive an owner of an item which you know to be lost; "Larceny of Lost Property." The finders keeps rule does not apply.
 
ChocolateApple said:
Good story. Thanks for sharing. I was wondering how the Find My iPhone/Pad feature would actually work -- especially in NY with so many buildings. You were fortunate to have a detective willing to assist, and a thief who probably gave up after not being able to figure out how to unlock it.

Mobile Me is $100/year, but the cost to replace an iPad is over $500 or whatever the cost of an insurance deductible is. I think your way worked better. You retrieved your personal one with all of your data, swiftly.
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Actually you can get MobileMe from Amazon for $70 or go on eBay and get a promotional license from someone connected for $50
I also recommend setting the password security on your iPad to discourage strangers from messing with it. Fun story to read and good to know you can get your iPad back if you prepare..
 
I have a question, how did you get the exact address when I look at mine it just shows me the area that it is in.. glad everything worked out for you.
 
guitargoddsjm said:
Awesome story!

My girlfriend and mom both got iPads... Maybe I could get a mobileme family pack. If not, here's to hoping Apple releases a free version!
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This story defiantly makes me want to get MobileMe. Although if they do a free version I doubt that Find my iPhone will be a free feature.
 
JCT said:
Are you kidding? Taking and keeping things that you know do not belong to you is theft. So the guy who took it couldn't have turned it in to the airline?

Boy, so this "lucky" guy must be very unlucky that the police didn't see it this way.

Nice morals, or lack thereof.
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I couldn't agree more. What's wrong with people these days? I would rather have the satisfaction of returning it to the proper owner than having the guilt of keeping (stealing) it and most importantly, it's just the right thing to do.

Congrats Torchwood. Nice story. Thanks for sharing it and I'm glad you got your iPad back.
 
Great story, and I am happy to see you got your iPad back. But I also think you were very lucky...

1 - in your case where the iPad was in an apartment, it could have been anywhere in that building.

2 - You were also lucky that the thief didn't plug the iPad into iTunes and do a factory reset on it. Or turn off the mobile me feature.
 
One think that I do not understand is how the iPad Wi-Fi (not 3G) can locate me? I guess via Wi-Fi network but still have no idea why it does it so accurate - there is no mistake.. so I guess that using MobileMe tracking also works with iPad Wi-Fi.
 
Great Story

I'm really happy for you that you got the Ipad back. I had a similar situation happen with a Canon SLR Camera back in the 80's at the Transit Authority station in NY.

I'm a bit surprised that some of the replies tried to correct your post about it being stolen, ignoring what the police said and did. They wouldn't even venture out of the building if they thought you had simply forgotten it. Tells us a lot about morals... or the lack thereof. I wonder what they would say if they had the same situation happen to them?
 
pelicanflip said:
Cool story, but your iPad wasn't stolen by a thief.

You left your iPad...on a plane. And someone picked it up after you left the plane, the terminal, and the airport. I wouldn't call that a thief, I call that someone really lucky to come across an iPad.

It's not like it was an iPhone where the person who found it could try calling someone.
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In most states, there are statutes on the books that impose an affirmative duty upon the finder of lost property to make reasonable efforts to acertain the ower of such property (plus that silly morality stufff...) "Finders keepers" is not the law of the land.

Additionally, forgetting civil/criminal statutes, weren't most of us taught as kids that if you find someone elses' property, you make an effort to return said property to the rightful owner?
 
TJRiver said:
In most states, there are statutes on the books that impose an affirmative duty upon the finder of lost property to make reasonable efforts to acertain the ower of such property (plus that silly morality stufff...) "Finders keepers" is not the law of the land.

Additionally, forgetting civil/criminal statutes, weren't most of us taught as kids that if you find someone elses' property, you make an effort to return said property to the rightful owner?
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I would make an effort to return it if I had any idea how to contact them. As I had said earlier, I didn't realize that the OP said that they had sent messages to the iPad.

Honestly, if I found an iPad just lying around somewhere, I would turn it in to the proper authorities, especiallly if someone tried contacting me about it.

But come on, an iPad that was left on a plane? That's just blatantly careless. What if the plane was en route to a different country far away?

Luckily for the OP, the iPad wasn't used by someone on the plane for a leaving flight. If it was, it'd become exponentially harder for that person to return the iPad, even if they wanted to.
 
Same thing happened to my daughters iPhone, she was working at office depot and some one snatched here phone, she called my son who has his iPhone and even though his mobile me was not active he called ATT and they put family track on it and he followed the iPhone all over the area, when they stopped at a walgreens after trying to pawn it,my son walked up to the car and said give me back my iPhone, they were stunned... He got it back lol....


Great story.......
 
bigjnyc said:
Thats pretty cool and you got really lucky because they were able to cross check against employees who serviced the plane, otherwise they wouldn't have known which apartment the ipad was in. The feature just tells you the building address, but some buildings in NYC have hundreds of apartments.
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In that case if I leave my wifi iPad on the place - the location pinpoint will give a good radius enough to cross check with the employees. Of course now you'll say "but you have to be connected on wifi for that," and indeed there is a way to be connected to wifi pretty much at "most" times... one special SSID which the world always uses... configure it once and see how often your ipad fetches the mail while you drive through NY or anywhere really. Oh did I mention that many don't even password protect this SSID? What is this SSID? Lol... I'll keep that a secret (although i'm sure you already know the most common SSID by now which a lot of people use) as for those who don't know and maybe using it can indeed keep it up so people like me can be helped at times like these where ipad maybe lost :p
 
pelicanflip said:
Luckily for the OP, the iPad wasn't used by someone on the plane for a leaving flight. If it was, it'd become exponentially harder for that person to return the iPad, even if they wanted to.
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As in hand it over to the flight attendant and say "I found this in the seat back pocket and it doesn't belong to me?"

The OP was lucky he got it back, but the guy who took it was a thief. This is not a complicated concept.
 
Great story, posting this from an airport! Lots of distractions on planes, more people with more carry ons, phones buzzing, kids crying. If you don't think it's easy to leave something you just don't travel much. #1 item of value left on planes is laptops, SmartPhones and Kindles (I'm sure iPads will catch up).

This new generation has defined theft as a physical pro-active act and it's sad. Downloading music you don't pay for is stealing. Picking up someone else's property and not returning it is stealing. In the case of modern electronics, almost every device is traceable with very little effort.




ash =o)
 
likemyorbs said:
hey guys, i have a quick question. what if the thief had turned the iPad off? would it have ever been found through find my iphone? cant see how that would be possible...
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Pretty sure u are out of luck in that case. I like the findernfeature in principle, but in practice I find it rarely locates my iPad or iPhone with enough specificity to pinpoint what building it's in. Seems to be very inaccurate the times I've tested it, but certainly better than nothing.
 
I don't get it. You have find my iPhone on your iPhone. How does that tell you where your ipad is?

My ipad always has me down as about 2 miles away from my actual self.
 
likemyorbs said:
hey guys, i have a quick question. what if the thief had turned the iPad off? would it have ever been found through find my iphone? cant see how that would be possible...
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First, the person would have to realize the trick to actually turning off an iThing - but if they had succeeded in turning it off, OP would of been out of luck until it was turned back on.

pelicanflip said:
I would make an effort to return it if I had any idea how to contact them. As I had said earlier, I didn't realize that the OP said that they had sent messages to the iPad.

Honestly, if I found an iPad just lying around somewhere, I would turn it in to the proper authorities, especiallly if someone tried contacting me about it.

But come on, an iPad that was left on a plane? That's just blatantly careless. What if the plane was en route to a different country far away?

Luckily for the OP, the iPad wasn't used by someone on the plane for a leaving flight. If it was, it'd become exponentially harder for that person to return the iPad, even if they wanted to.
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Careless to leave it behind, but it happens. Here is the thing - with what is generally required to fly today, handing it in and saying "I found this on the back of Seat X.x is enough to get the thing to the owner due to seating info being stored. At least, if the airline does seating arrangements. I understand some do not assign via ticket.


wrkactjob said:
I don't get it. You have find my iPhone on your iPhone. How does that tell you where your ipad is?

My ipad always has me down as about 2 miles away from my actual self.
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"Find my iPhone" is a MobileMe App - designed for people with multiple iThings like families, etc. The app access MobileMe and relays the GPS tracker info.
 
Ah so Mobile Me app can keep track of multiple devices and their whereabouts, didn't realise that thanks.
 
Thanks, I didn't know their was an app as well. Just downloaded 'Find My iPhone' onto my iPhone and it pinpointed the street my iPad wifi was pretty accurately. It is safely at home :D
 
Cool story. I'm really impressed that the address was actually accurate. If it had been stolen anywhere near where I live, the stakeout would have been set up two miles in some direction. I mean, I live in the middle of a lake, according to Maps.

I'm glad to read stories like this, it gives me a little sense of justice being done.
 
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