Lost My iPhone App May Not Locate Your Stolen iPhone
A stolen iPhone may be hard to find, even with the Lost My iPhone App, and here’s why. The app does not work well with a computer.
This weekend I worked at the Bay Area Trade Show, and my phone disappeared somewhere between the Convention Center and the Hilton Hotel when I checked in.
You probably know how that feels.
As panic sets in, I tried to solve the mystery of my stolen iPhone the old-fashioned way. I retraced my steps. Not finding it in either my friend’s county vehicle or the Convention Center booth, I checked in at all the places – security, information booth, sales office, registration. Even calling my phone produced no results. I reasoned that the sound was off.
Then I went back to my hotel room and started tracking my phone with Lost My iPhone.
So the long night began. I called my husband. I watched my phone travel. Tracking was less than accurate. And I could not maneuver the map if I enlarged it. The stolen iPhone disappeared.
I put the phone on Lost Phone Mode which displayed a message on the screen stating that whoever found it should call my husband. No one called.
After You Try Everything Else Call the Police
Finally, I called the Santa Clara Police, not 911, but the office number. The dispatcher transferred me to Officer Gutierrez. After I had explained my story, he asked me to email him pictures of the location. Then, he tracked it based on the locations on my computer images to a Hertz Rental Car parking lot. But he could not tell exactly where it was because the map photos were vague and without many street names or exact addresses. Hertz had closed for the night, and the phone had stayed put for a long time, so I went to bed.
By the next morning, my phone had moved. I sent the map to Officer Gutierrez in an email and went to the Convention Center to work at the Travel Show. When I came home, the map looked like this. The map displayed the phone’s entire course. By this time the phone had about 16% battery life remaining.
The Crime Scene Stolen iPhone Found
“Are you driving a white van?” he asked the thief.“Yes,”“Are you police personnel?”“No.”“That van is a police vehicle. Come with me.”
“A lady’s cell phone is missing and she wants her stolen iPhone back! I tracked it to this van.”“OH, Marsha, Marsha, Marsha. It’s always about Marsha.”“What’s your relationship with this woman?”“We rode up here together for the Bay Area Travel Show. Here’s my ID. Want me to take it to her?”“NO! I’ll take it back to her.”

“Did you find my phone?”
“What happened? Did you get the guy? Did you take him to jail?”“The guy was very nice. His name is Eric Coyne.”“OH my gosh, that is an administrator in Tulare County. I rode here with him.”

Resolution
The phone had fallen under his driver’s seat, not the passenger seat. The sound on my phone was off, so I couldn’t hear the phone when I looked. Officer Gutierrez could barely hear the alarm when he sounded the buzzer. The Deputy County Administrator, Economic Development, Film & Tourism at County of Tulare County, Eric Coyne was a great sport, of course. Officer Gutierrez did not arrest him.
I can’t tell you how relieved I was to get my stolen iPhone back. A phone is like our identity. I felt like I was living back in the 60s without it.
I am so grateful to Officer Gutierrez for taking the time to hunt down my stolen iPhone that I might never have found otherwise even though it was in the car with me. He is a gem, and I hope the Santa Clara Police Department is are as proud of him as I am grateful for him.
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Hey Marsha, what a great story and soooo glad you got your phone back. All’s well that ends well! 🙂
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Better than your dream, yes? 🙂
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The likes on all the posts I couldn’t like before suddenly appeared, so I zipped through them fast in case they went back to “Loading …”. So I am up to date in reading and liking all your posts MVBFM 🙂
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Awwwwwww! Magic! Blue Host gave me a list of stuff that needed fixing. He said he was done with most of it! I guess it worked. I wish I knew what was what. I’m going to put your comment into my post that’s coming out tomorrow. Couldn’t blog without you MFR! 🙂 Seriously! You are such a great friend! 🙂
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Wow, what a story MVBFM ! I am so pleased that your phone was found and returned to you 🙂
BTW I have been unable to press like on your last few posts as it always states, “Loading…” And nothing happens. Consider yourself liked, which I do anyway my friend 🙂 ❤
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And I like you, too MFR. I have been noticing so many little differences between .org and .com. One of the major differences is with commenting. You can’t usually like a .org. Did you used to be able to like my post. Most of them I see I have to share. So I have a twitter account for that. I don’t share on my FB account because it shares on my personal account, and 1 share a day is plenty for FB. Anyway. I just love seeing your handsome gravatar in my comment column, so no worries. 🙂 xox
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Too funny! But I know it’s true. I loved meeting you at the show and now hearing the as Paul Harvey used to say “rest of the story.”
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It was so much fun. Hope you are doing well today with this rain. I love having the rain, but don’t want you to lose your house and all that is in it! 😦
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Oh gosh, Marsha, this was just both so sad and funny! I’m glad it had a good ending…are you blonde? LOL!
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I am soooooo blond! 🙂
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