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Apple's Find My iPhone recovers stolen SUV with child inside

Police were able to zero in on the location by tracking the father's iPhone, which was still in the car.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer
Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.
Lance Whitney
2 min read
Apple's Find My iPhone app comes to the rescue.
Apple's Find My iPhone app comes to the rescue. Apple

A father whose SUV was stolen with his 5-year-old child inside used the Find My iPhone feature to help police locate the vehicle and rescue the boy.

The incident occurred in Houston, Texas, when the father left his son in the car while running to grab an item in a store. Someone took off with the vehicle, perhaps not knowing that a 5-year-old child was still inside. After the father discovered that his car and son were gone, he tapped into the Find My iPhone app. Fortunately, his iPhone was in the car, but he had his iPad with him, allowing him to use the app to pinpoint the car's location.

Police then relied on that information to track down the SUV, arrest the carjacker, and recover the boy.

Lt. Wayne Schultz with the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office related the story to ABC News:

The father had an iPad that he'd taken in with him, and he utilized that iPad with the iPhone that was in the car and was able to track it. And the information was provided from our deputies to our dispatch, that was able to be communicated through the Harris County Sheriff's Office dispatch also and they were able to get information out to the troops in the field to where we could disseminate information in almost a real-time environment to put it out to guys who were looking for the vehicle with the child in it.

The father was definitely thinking on his feet by turning to the Find My Phone app. But hopefully next time he'll think twice before leaving his 5-year-old son alone in the car while he hops into a store.

(Via 9to5Mac)

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