A mother used Apple’s Find My iPhone feature to track down her kidnapped daughter, tracing the teenager to a McDonald’s parking lot more than 150 miles from her home in Pittsburgh.
The unnamed daughter was being held against her will by her ex-boyfriend, who allegedly kidnapped her and bound her hands, feet and mouth with duct tape — but apparently (thankfully!) forgot to remove the victim’s iPhone.
The daughter managed to text her mother, requesting help, at which point her mom notified Pennsylvania State Police — who collectively managed to trace her daughter’s location using Find My iPhone and get her back.
“The defendant was attempting to leave Pennsylvania with the victim,” revealed a statement concerning the arrest of 18-year-old suspect Joseph Boller, whose bail has been set at $150,000.
While there’s no doubt that this is a horrible story, it’s a great reminder of how Apple devices can be used to (potentially) save lives — and why we should all have Find My iPhone enabled on our devices, to boot.
Source: NBC News
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
