Lost something at Airports or in a flight? Click here to report online

Dedicated investigation manager for every successful lost report. We work with more than 15000+ Airports & Airlines lost and found offices worldwide. Increase chance of locating your lost property TODAY.


An iPad Misplaced at the Airport Takes Its Own Vacation

Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International - FLL Airport lost and found
Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International - FLL Airport lost and found

Last month, Shelby Bonnie’s iPad vanished from his carry-on bag somewhere at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after a red-eye flight from San Francisco. He figured he would never see it again.Read more Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport lost and found

But sometimes our devices aren’t ready to say goodbye.

While Mr. Bonnie, an investment banker with Allen & Company, continued on his way to the Bahamas for a few days of relaxation, his iPad began a strange odyssey of its own, turning Mr. Bonnie into a digital gumshoe and the narrator of a personal thriller that played out on Facebook, to the delight of his online friends.

“I said, ‘I’m definitely going to lose my iPad, but I’m going to have some fun,’” Mr. Bonnie said in a phone interview.

The reason the iPad’s story didn’t end with its disappearance is a location tracking feature on Apple devices called Find My iPhone, which can be used to pinpoint any lost or stolen Apple device, including iPads and Macs.

Others have used this capability to very publicly hunt down missing devices before, including David Pogue, a former technology reviewer for The New York Times who broadcast the hunt for his missing iPhone in Maryland to his Twitter followers. He eventually recovered the device with the help of the local police.

When Mr. Bonnie discovered the iPad was missing after he left the Fort Lauderdale airport, he turned on Find My iPhone and saw that his tablet was at Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel at Graceland — in Memphis. The app represented the location of the device as a glowing green circle on an aerial map outside the hotel, with its distinctive heart-shaped pool. Read more Hollywood International Airport lost and found

His best guess was that he had lost the iPad in the airport when he was stuffing a travel pillow back into his carry-on bag and that the device was now in the company of another traveler who had picked it up.

That person had apparently decided not to turn in the device to the lost-and-found department at the airport. Through Find My iPhone, Mr. Bonnie sent a message, visible on the lock screen of the iPad, telling whoever had the device to call his cellphone for a reward. No one did.

Over the next few days, Mr. Bonnie began providing regular updates on the iPad’s whereabouts to his friends on Facebook, providing screen shots from Find My iPhone that showed the device headed to downtown Memphis and at the Links at Riverside, a golf course. “IPad is on the move,” one of his updates said.

Most of his posts got more than 100 likes on Facebook and dozens of comments, as Mr. Bonnie’s online acquaintances became more engaged in the story.

“Please keep your fans informed as to the results of the mystery,” one commenter said.

By coincidence, Mr. Bonnie nearly bumped into his iPad on a short layover from the Bahamas. As he waited at Concourse C at the Fort Lauderdale airport for a flight back to his home in San Francisco, he saw on Find My iPhone that his iPad was on an airplane approaching Concourse C.

He quickly located the gate for an Allegiant Air flight arriving from Memphis and looked over the passengers disembarking from the plane.

He remembered he could use Find My iPhone to trigger a distress signal on his iPad. He activated the feature, but heard no sound. He told his Facebook fans he was within 100 feet of the iPad.

“This is better than ‘Game of Thrones,’” one commented.

He concluded that the iPad must have been inside checked luggage that never entered the terminal. By the time he got to the correct baggage carousel the iPad had left the airport.

“At some point it became more about the storytelling and less about the iPad,” said Mr. Bonnie, a co-founder of the technology news and reviews site CNET. “Everybody loves a good story. It’s more entertaining than getting the iPad back.”

Mr. Bonnie saw an opportunity for mischief when the iPad finally seemed to stay put in a residential neighborhood in Miami Lakes, a suburb of Miami. On a map, it looked like a nice home with a swimming pool, Mr. Bonnie said.

He boarded his plane to San Francisco, ordered in-flight Wi-Fi access and spent $50 to have five Mylar balloons delivered to the house the next morning. On the card, he listed the occasion as “Thinking of You.”

“Friendly yet slightly creepy enough for them to want that iPad out of their house,” one of his Facebook friends said.

A voice mail message left by a reporter for the phone number associated with the Miami Lakes address was not returned.

The balloons appeared to have an effect. The next morning the iPad was on the move again — back to the Fort Lauderdale airport. Mr. Bonnie, in San Francisco, was watching the device traveling on the map when it occurred to him that whoever had it might be taking it to the airport’s lost and found.

He went to the airport’s website and began filling out a missing item claim form when his phone rang. It was someone from lost and found.

“As described by lost and found when they called a second ago, a fairly elderly woman came in a few minutes ago and said she had gotten the balloons and thought it would be a good idea to return the iPad to the airport,” Mr. Bonnie wrote in a Facebook post. “She said to thank me for the balloons, but she didn’t really want to call.”

“Better than ‘Serial,’” a friend commented on Facebook. “Better than ‘This American Life.’ Better than everything.”

Mr. Bonnie paid to have his iPad shipped home by UPS. He received it in San Francisco on Friday. He hung a banner saying “Welcome Home” on his front door.


Lost something at Airport or in a flight? Click here to report online

Dedicated investigation manager for every successful lost report. We work with more than 15000+ Airports & Airlines lost and found offices worldwide. Increase chance of locating your lost property TODAY.

Latest Post

Simple luggage mistake likely to cause suitcase to be lost in transit ‘for months’
American Airlines: Woman sues airline over burns to ‘genital area’ after flight hits turbulence causing hot coffee to ‘fall into lap’
FAA awards Tampa International Airport more than $5 million in grants
Liam’s Encounter with Dublin Airport Lost Property
A Journey of Recovery: Sarah’s Experience with RyanAir Lost Property
No compensation after B.C. man says WestJet failed to deliver luggage to London
Lost Luggage Troubles? How United Airlines Works to Solve the Issue
Denver International Airport gears up for Surge in Spring Break travelers
Tale of Reunion with KLM Airlines
The Lost Luggage Saga: A Tale of Ryanair’s Lost Property
Inside Tampa International’s lost and found
Big problem with new vineyard at Florence’s Amerigo Vespucci airport in Italy
Chicago Midway Airport’s Melody of Rediscovery
Dubai Airport’s Tales of Rediscovery
Sydney Airport’s Unseen Heroes
Rediscovering Memories at Orlando Airport
frequent traveler and misplaced story
Threads of Reunion: Lost and Found Treasures at Istanbul Airport
A Tale of Rediscovery at Ryanair
lost and found story of bag at Atlanta Airport
American airlines lost luggage helping guide
Beacon of Hope for Travelers Who’ve Lost Their Luggage in United Airlines
The journey to reuniting passengers with their lost belongings
Pilot reunites girl with lost doll from halfway around the world
Lost Property at Ryanair: Reuniting You with Your Belongings
JFK Airport Lost and Found: Retrieving Lost Treasures with Ease
5 Florida Airports Rank As Worst For Lost Luggage In US
SAA flight came close to stalling at high altitude – incident report
When an airline made his bag disappear, a magician bought another plane ticket just to get back in the airport and track it down with an Apple AirTag — and found it sitting right on the tarmac.
Remarkable Reunion: Ring Lost & Found 79 Years Later in Maine
Forbes Advisor ranks JFK Airport as worst for lost and damaged luggage
This Is the Airport Most Likely to Lose or Damage Your Baggage, Per Recent Study
Lost luggage: Best ways to get reimbursed by airlines
Atlanta Airport lost and found
Sydney Airport lost property auction returns with thousands of items up for grabs
Which airports and airlines are the worst when it comes to lost luggage? Here’s what we found
Packers’ running back says necklace with father’s ashes lost in endzone was found
Cargo handlers arrested for stealing gold bars at Los Angeles International Airport, prosecutors say
Couple claims Southwest Airlines lost, damaged man’s dialysis machine
Frontier Airlines lost and found is accused of theft again; Niles jeweler’s $50K claim still pending
American Airlines mishandled and lost more luggage than any carrier last year
Southwest airlines work hard to return your lost items
How Delta Air lines is trying to fix the problem of lost and delayed luggage
LOST AND FOUND American Airlines is ‘reimbursing passenger for lost luggage after she spotted her clothes being sold on Facebook’
A boy left his Buzz Lightyear inside a plane. A ramp agent made it his mission to reunite them.
Bracelet appearing to hold loved one’s ashes found at Hobby Airport lost and found. Can you help find its owner?
Better late than never: Missing since Christmas, lost cat rescued at New York’s by LaGuardia airport lost and found authorities
A Delta flight attendant is seeking a lost stuffed animal’s owner for a ‘Christmas miracle’ reunion
Leave your phone on the plane? Here’s how lost and found works at Miami, Broward airports
Swae Lee Is Offering $20,000 For Lost Hard Drive That Contains All Of His Songs
Heathrow Airport wins court backing for third runway
Precious painting, lost at German airport, found at dumpster
Auckland Airport lost property sparks hunt for toy’s missing owner
Sydney Airport auctioning hundreds of lost property items for charity
Valuable painting lost at Duesseldorf airport found in dumpster
DFW Airport lost and found department reunites a lost dog with his family after canine wanders 30 miles from home
Philadelphia Airport; a complete tour guide for travelers
Hopkins Airport lost and found and Local woman finds locket with ashes in a parking lot, looking for owner
American airlines lost and found contact details
McCarran Airport Lost and Found surplus auctions to be hosted online
Virgin Atlantic lost and found names passenger hand luggage item most frequently lost in cabin
CBS News reporter helps owner find $40,000 in lost jewelry at Dallas airport lost and found
LUGGAGE CHAOS MMA fighter Curtis Dodge relieved after lost luggage located after American Airlines lost and found from Dublin ahead of pro debut
Lufthansa lost and found launches solution for contactless lost baggage claims
Visitors to the annual Pittsburgh Airport lost and found auction Saturday pore over jewelry and other items.
A unicycle, a Nasa camera and SHRUNKEN HEADS: The wackiest of unclaimed airline luggage over the last 50 years
Traffic down 62.9% in Aug. at Puerto Rico’s LMM; Luis Muñoz Marín Airport lost and found service unveiled
Taiwan’s EVA Air lost and found Reshuffles Boeing 787 Order
TSA Agent Saves The Day After Wedding Dress Was Lost At Newark liberty Airport lost and found
Adorable pup ‘Ginger,’ lost for 2 days at john f kennedy airport lost and found, gets emotional reunion with owner
Travellers left behind nearly one million dollars at US airport checkpoints last year Pittsburgh Airport lost and found
Lost toy dog returns home with help of Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport lost and found
6-year-old reunited with lost stuffed-animal at St. Pete-Clearwater Airport lost and found
Dubai Airport lost and found police return lost items to tourists from UK, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to their countries
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport lost and found wants to return this stuff animal
Air New Zealand lost and found flight attendant loses ERA case against airline
TSA LOST AND FOUND CONTACT NUMBERS
What happens to unclaimed items found at DFW Dallas Airport lost and found?
Hong Kong Airport lost and found
Airline Lost Your Luggage? Here’s What You Should & Shouldn’t Do
Lost something at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport lost and found?
Tons of Valuable Items are Left Behind at London Heathrow Airport Lost and Found
Reclaiming lost items at los angeles international airport lost and found
Chicago O’Hare Airport Lost and Found
Hartsfield–Jackson Airport Lost and Found attracts $75,000 at auction
HARTSFIELD-JACKSON ATLANTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LOST AND FOUND
JFK AIRPORT LOST AND FOUND
JOHN F. KENNEDY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LOST AND FOUND
Air Canada CEO sees ‘darkest period’ in aviation history
McCarran airport lost and found reduces operation hours at security checkpoints
TSA Staff Open Pantry at Reagan Washington for Airport Colleagues
There’s Actually A Store In Alabama That Sells Unclaimed Airport Baggage
Lost your luggage: What to do when you lose bags on airline
Changi Airport’s virtual assistant seeks to make air travel stress-free
Corona: Germany Lost 6 million ordered masks in Kenya Airport lost and found
The weirdest and most wonderful things left behind in Uber cars last year
Dubai Police return Dh50k to man just minutes before he was due to board flight
Popular Clark County surplus auction to take place this month
Unbearably cute: A boy lost his teddy bear on a US flight – so the Southwest Airlines lost and found sent him a new one
How to avoid airport security delays during the holidays