A family from Miami, Florida had a dream of spending Christmas in the North Carolina mountains, but their plans were almost ruined when one of their suitcases was stolen at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Fortunately, they had a secret weapon: Apple’s AirTag item tracker. According to The Queen City News, the Gavino family was able to track down their stolen luggage and help the police arrest the thief, thanks to the tiny device.
Catherine Gavino had bought AirTag item trackers the night before their flight, following the recommendations of some online influencers. She put an AirTag in each of their bags, thinking that it would be useful in case their luggage got lost. She never expected that it would be stolen. “It was to help find luggage if it was lost, but I never thought it’d get stolen,” she said.
When the family arrived at the airport, they noticed that one of their bags was missing from the carousel. Catherine checked the Find My app on her iPhone and saw that the bag was moving away from the airport. It was on Interstate 85, heading west toward Gastonia. The family quickly rented a car and followed the signal of the AirTag to a neighborhood. However, the signal soon disappeared and they had to give up the chase.
The missing bag contained clothes that Catherine’s parents had bought specifically for the trip. The family had to buy new clothes to replace the ones that were stolen.
On Christmas Day, the family decided to make one last attempt to recover their suitcase. They dropped off two of their relatives at the airport and then Catherine opened the Find My app again. She was surprised to see that the AirTag was active and showing a location in Gastonia. It was on McGuire Street, in a house. “I told my dad who was with me, ‘Look it’s only 20 minutes, let’s swing by.’” She said. They drove to the house and called the police.
The police arrived and searched the house. They found the Gavino family’s suitcase and another one that belonged to a different person who also had their luggage stolen at the airport. Catherine said that the police told her that “someone else called with the same issue. And they had an AirTag.” The police had been to the same area earlier that day to retrieve the other bag, but they had gone to the wrong house because of a glitch in the signal.
The family was happy to get their suitcase back, but they were disappointed to find out that the contents of the bag were gone. The police suspected that the thief had sold the clothes for money. Catherine said, “Police believe they may have sold the clothes for money, who knows. These are my parents, coming to the mountains for a North Carolina view, so for this to happen made me sad, which was all the more reason to go after them…I wouldn’t have found them without this AirTag.”
The police arrested a suspect and charged him with multiple theft crimes, and a drug charge. He is being held on $10,000 bail. Catherine Gavino explained why she pursued the thief and spent so much time to get their suitcase back. “I wanted justice,” she said.
Apple’s AirTag item tracker is a small device that can be attached to any item and tracked using the Find My app on an iPhone or iPad. Apple sells individual AirTag trackers for $29 and a pack of four for $99. That is a savings of $17 or 15% if you buy the pack of four. The online Apple Store also offers various key rings and other accessories for the AirTag. You can also get your AirTag engraved for free when you buy it from the online Apple Store.