It was just another Monday night commute, or so I thought. Heading home on the Amtrak after a long day filming for “Nova” in Philadelphia, I was looking forward to catching up online, thanks to the train’s power outlets and Wi-Fi. As we approached Bridgeport, Connecticut – my stop – I reached for my iPhone. Panic set in. It was gone.
Disbelief quickly turned to confusion. I hadn’t moved from my seat except for a quick trip to the café car, and I distinctly remember having my phone then. Pickpocketed on Amtrak? Had I absentmindedly left it on the counter while paying for coffee? The possibilities swirled, none offering comfort. My phone was missing.
The conductor, thankfully, held the train briefly and helped me search around my seat. Nothing. She even called my number from her phone, but there was no ring, no answer. As the train pulled away, a sinking feeling washed over me. I immediately logged into Apple’s Find My iPhone on my laptop. The chilling message: “offline.” This wasn’t a simple misplacement; someone had my phone and had deliberately turned it off.
The next three days were a blur of the stages of loss – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and self-recrimination. Then, on Thursday, a flicker of hope. An email from Find My iPhone: my phone was back online, located in Seat Pleasant, Maryland. My Twitter followers quickly informed me of Seat Pleasant’s reputation – a “rough neighborhood.” The app pinpointed a specific house. Now what?
My first call was to the Prince George’s County police department. My second move: a tweet to my 1.4 million Twitter followers, a community I knew I could count on. The response was immediate and overwhelming. The quest to “find Pogue’s phone” went viral instantly. Gizmodo.com joined the digital manhunt, posting street view images of the house. Local Twitter users contacted the Prince George’s County police directly. The story spread across the internet like wildfire. One tweet summed it up: “The @Pogue Stolen iPhone Saga is the future of entertainment. Day off is being spent glued to @Gizmodo reading updates.”
The phone’s location flickered on the map – from the driveway to inside the house. Had someone found it in a parked car? Or was it just GPS drift? By day’s end, incredibly, the local police were at the house, with me on the phone, relaying information.
Find My iPhone has a powerful feature: a remote ping, a loud, insistent sound, even if the ringer is off. Repeatedly, I pinged my phone remotely as the officer searched the property, hoping he might hear it. It was a tense game of digital cat and mouse. I obsessively refreshed the Find My iPhone screen, watching for any movement.
For over an hour, the officer searched – the backyard, the neighboring house, the driveway. No phone, no ping. Then, the phone went offline again. Battery dead? Or had someone disabled it to evade tracking? Data security wasn’t my primary concern; the phone was password-protected, and remote wipe was an option. The frustration of losing an expensive device was the real sting.
But the police persisted, continuing to search the area indicated by Find My iPhone. And then, the breakthrough. They found it. In the backyard, in the grass, safe and sound.
@Pogue Here’s your iPhone safe & sound. We’ll FedEx it tonight. #poguephoneseriousemergency //t.co/oOMrVcNx
An unbelievable story, a rollercoaster of emotions. It’s a testament to the power of social media, the reach of the internet, and the dedication of law enforcement, all sparked by a digital breadcrumb trail from the Find My iPhone feature. Five hours after my initial tweet, my phone was recovered.
I was incredibly lucky. Lucky to have a large, engaged Twitter following. Lucky they cared enough to help. Lucky the police didn’t give up and searched thoroughly. Lucky, and deeply grateful.
This experience highlights the double-edged sword of technology. Tools like “Find My iPhone” offer incredible recovery potential, much like modern car tracking systems. However, just as technology can aid in recovery, it can also be exploited. News reports, like those in the NY Times, frequently detail how car thieves utilize sophisticated car scanners to bypass security systems, a stark contrast to the recovery-focused technology that helped me. While my story has a happy ending, it serves as a reminder of the constant tech arms race between security and those who seek to breach it, whether targeting phones or, more seriously, vehicles. Vigilance, awareness, and robust security measures remain crucial in both the digital and physical realms.
