Daniel Scott was flying home to Los Angeles after a trip to Salt Lake City when his suitcase was stolen but he was able to track the culprit with the aid of modern technology
Owners of Apple’s AirTags – tiny, coin-sized gadgets packed with powerful tracking technology – have discovered countless ways to use them. The devices can help locate misplaced wallets, be tucked into a car’s glove compartment to help locating the vehicle in a huge car park, or even attached to a pet’s collar.
Frequent flyer Daniel Scott slipped one of the £30 gadgets into his luggage before jetting back to Los Angeles following a visit to Salt Lake City in August – but he ended up getting a remarkable surprise.
After touching down at LAX, all he wanted to do was to collect his case and head home to Hollywood. However, a mistake by baggage handlers saw passengers from Daniel’s flight initially sent to the wrong carousel.
He revealed to NBC Los Angeles that he found himself waiting at baggage claim carousel 25, explaining: “About 10 minutes pass by, and no-one’s seeing their bags. Then Delta [Airlines} come on the PA and say ‘I’m sorry, the luggage is actually coming out at baggage claim 23’.”
Yet when Daniel, alongside his fellow travellers, rushed over to the alternative baggage carousel, his case was nowhere to be found.
Daniel swiftly grabbed his mobile and opened the ‘Find My’ app to track down where his luggage had ended up. He added: ” I saw that it was not in the terminal, but it was moving towards the [taxi rank] and leaving the airport.
“So I just immediately started sprinting to the Uber lot. Once I got to the Uber lot I saw that it was continuing to move and it had reached across the street.”
Fortunately, Daniel’s reasonably athletic and he managed to keep pace with the moving signal of his AirTag as it was transported to a derelict structure roughly half a mile from the airport.
In the meantime, Daniel’s partner had contacted the police and informed them about the robbery.
Daniel remained outside the structure, tracking the AirTag’s location until the officers turned up.
The police shone their torches through the derelict building’s windows, and demanded the criminals surrender themselves. It was at that moment Daniel received an astonishing shock.
He explained: “We saw some movement in the building and then when the guys came to the window – they lined them up in the window – I saw the guy with my clothes on. He had my shoes on. He had my shirt on and my pants on.”
Officers arrested several individuals at the location, and once they had verified that the crime scene was secure, police allowed Daniel inside the building to hunt for his luggage.
He ultimately discovered it, but it had been ripped apart and his garments had been strewn across the grimy floor.
Daniel said: “This is a pretty big building and my clothes are scattered through it in multiple different rooms.”
He claims he retrieved most of his possessions, but emphasises that if the same incident were to occur to anyone else, they should always wait for police to turn up rather than attempting to confront the criminals themselves.
The whole ordeal was “insane,” Daniel claims, noting that he was “super-happy” to recover his belongings.