iPad Bizarre case of the stolen iPad

[dcrizoss]

The story starts where a couple watches, money and my iPad disappeared from my apartment. There was no sign of a break in and larger things worth more weren't even touched. My gut tells me one of the maintenance men is a shady jerk but that's a whole other story. Back to the iPad...as soon as I realized it was gone I signed onto icloud to track it, of course it was offline. It is a first generation iPad so as you know it can only access the internet through wifi. I locked it and sent a message and waited and hoped. Here we are two day's later and at 11:30 this morning I get the alert on my phone. My iPad had been found. I jumped on icloud to check the map and it was being traced to a parking lot of a plaza about a mile from my house. The battery was at 1% and I quickly sent another message and called the police. They knew of the situation prior and said to call if this happened. I of course was at work 30 minutes away so I couldn't speed down there to lay the smack down myself. The cops drove around the lot but of course didn't see anything. A minute later my iPad was offline again. I am hoping that it just died and that they didn't think to wipe it. After some investigation I checked the access details in my gmail account and it showed my iPad had accessed it that morning and showed the ip address used. I tracked the ip address and the geo tag was in a neighborhood near me but in the opposite direction of the plaza it showed up online.

This is where I am confused. I received an alert that my first message was read at 8:30 am this morning then wifi was accessed at 11:30 am. How could they have accessed wifi from a parking lot that has no wifi networks, I drove down after work and checked, and why did the ip address on my gmail trace back to a residential neighborhood?

I am currently obsessed with finding this dirt bag. I can always get another iPad but the fact that someone was in my room is what creeps me out the most.

 

[ionjohn]

The story starts where a couple watches, money and my iPad disappeared from my apartment. There was no sign of a break in and larger things worth more weren't even touched. My gut tells me one of the maintenance men is a shady jerk but that's a whole other story. Back to the iPad...as soon as I realized it was gone I signed onto icloud to track it, of course it was offline. It is a first generation iPad so as you know it can only access the internet through wifi. I locked it and sent a message and waited and hoped. Here we are two day's later and at 11:30 this morning I get the alert on my phone. My iPad had been found. I jumped on icloud to check the map and it was being traced to a parking lot of a plaza about a mile from my house. The battery was at 1% and I quickly sent another message and called the police. They knew of the situation prior and said to call if this happened. I of course was at work 30 minutes away so I couldn't speed down there to lay the smack down myself. The cops drove around the lot but of course didn't see anything. A minute later my iPad was offline again. I am hoping that it just died and that they didn't think to wipe it. After some investigation I checked the access details in my gmail account and it showed my iPad had accessed it that morning and showed the ip address used. I tracked the ip address and the geo tag was in a neighborhood near me but in the opposite direction of the plaza it showed up online.

This is where I am confused. I received an alert that my first message was read at 8:30 am this morning then wifi was accessed at 11:30 am. How could they have accessed wifi from a parking lot that has no wifi networks, I drove down after work and checked, and why did the ip address on my gmail trace back to a residential neighborhood?

I am currently obsessed with finding this dirt bag. I can always get another iPad but the fact that someone was in my room is what creeps me out the most.

Could they have used an other device's connection like an iphone cellular network?

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

My fingers are crossed that you find it.

 

[braddick]

It's almost as if they sold it in that parking lot and the second encounter is the new owner.

Good luck in getting it back.
(Your police force also appears to be proactive in helping you- a bit unusual I'd think for attempting to locate an older iPad...)

 

[Newtons Apple]

You must have better police than where I live and they would do nothing here!

 

[dcrizoss]

The police station is literally on the other side of that parking lot so they weren't really going that far out of their way, perhaps that's why they were willing to head over there. I too think there was an exchange somewhere between when they turned it on in the morning and when it went online at 11:30. It's strange that they waited a few days to even turn it on. I hate when things don't add up. How did they get in my house without breaking in and why did they only take 2 watches, some money and the iPad, which is the only thing in my house that could literally be tracked. I guess my only option at this point is to wait/hope that it goes online again.

 

[tdiaz]

GeoLocate is about as much of a crapshoot as the locating that is shown to you on iCloud.

Eventually it will get close. Other than the device exists still, you can't be sure of much else.

 

[dcrizoss]

GeoLocate is about as much of a crapshoot as the locating that is shown to you on iCloud.

Eventually it will get close. Other than the device exists still, you can't be sure of much else.

Could the IP address that was listed in my gmail details lead back to a general hub of some sort? I tracked my own from my house and the location pinpointed about 20 feet from my apartment. Both my IP and the mystery IP were listed through comcast. When I locate my phone on iCloud it's pretty dead on. I am not surprised at all about where it went online, I see shady people selling crap from their cars in that lot all the time.

It is a crapshoot but I am one of those people who can't let things go. Again, it's a waiting game. My only break will come if I am in the area when it goes online so I can check it out myself and maybe catch a break.

 

[960design]

Mobile Hotspot?

Good luck!

The police have helped to recover 2 out of 2 iPads that I've reported stolen. It is a felony where I live. If your police force sucks, move away. Why would you stay in a crappy place? The world is HUGE, don't waste one more minute of your short life in a crappy place.

 

[HenryDJP]

OP I realize you're frustrated but I don't think Apple implemented the "Find my iPad/iPhone" feature so customers could put themselves in harms way by approaching the thief. Please don't accept this the wrong way but even if you track down the person who ripped you off it's plain stupid to confront them. You may be sorry if you do.
It's just an old iPad. What you should do is cut your losses and use the Find my iPad feature and erase the iPad and move on. Is it really worth taking a life risk over this? I hope not.

 

[dcrizoss]

Mobile Hotspot?

Good luck!

The police have helped to recover 2 out of 2 iPads that I've reported stolen. It is a felony where I live. If your police force sucks, move away. Why would you stay in a crappy place? The world is HUGE, don't waste one more minute of your short life in a crappy place.

Mobile hotspot is the only thing that really makes sense but that IP traces back to a comcast broadband account so here I am scratching my head again. One of the IT people I work with is going to look into it and see if she can uncover anything. The police here have been pretty helpful, the officer that came to do the report was just as confused as we were about the situation. We have actually been looking for a new place to live for a while, he even offered to help us move ha, he said people like us should not live in that area.

 

[Crichton333]

Why not just tell the police to dust for fingerprints in your room. People that usually steal things like this are in the system already.

 

[dcrizoss]

OP I realize you're frustrated but I don't think Apple implemented the "Find my iPad/iPhone" feature so customers could put themselves in harms way by approaching the thief. Please don't accept this the wrong way but even if you track down the person who ripped you off it's plain stupid to confront them. You may be sorry if you do.
It's just an old iPad. What you should do is cut your losses and use the Find my iPad feature and erase the iPad and move on. Is it really worth taking a life risk over this? I hope not.

I don't intend on confronting anyone myself but if I can get a visual of who it is or a license plate or any useful information to hand over to the cops, I will.

It really isn't about the iPad itself. I want to know who the f has a key to my apartment. There was no way it was a common thief, there are way more valuable things more easily accessible. Nothing else was touched at all. If it traces back to maintenance, the management company is going to have to answer for it. They have been giving us **** since we reported it.

If it's truly gone and nothing comes of it I will move on but if there is anything I can do, I am going to do it.

 

[HenryDJP]

I don't intend on confronting anyone myself but if I can get a visual of who it is or a license plate or any useful information to hand over to the cops, I will.

It really isn't about the iPad itself. I want to know who the f has a key to my apartment. There was no way it was a common thief, there are way more valuable things more easily accessible. Nothing else was touched at all. If it traces back to maintenance, the management company is going to have to answer for it. They have been giving us **** since we reported it.

If it's truly gone and nothing comes of it I will move on but if there is anything I can do, I am going to do it.

Ah yeah, that's right. You did mention it was a break in. Good luck to you. That's horrible being violated. Please keep us updated.

 

[dcrizoss]

Does this person need my apple ID to turn off the "find my" feature and disconnect it from iCloud or to wipe it or basically do anything that will prohibit it from showing up online for me to see?

 

[TWO2SEVEN]

Does this person need my apple ID to turn off the "find my" feature and disconnect it from iCloud or to wipe it or basically do anything that will prohibit it from showing up online for me to see?

What version of iOS was it running on?

 

[dcrizoss]

What version of iOS was it running on?

5.1.1

They stopped including first generations in the updates a while ago...sad face.

 

[TWO2SEVEN]

5.1.1

They stopped including first generations in the updates a while ago...sad face.

I am pretty sure that prior to iOS your info is not required for them to reset it.

I may be wrong, if so, I am sure some one will correct me pretty quickly

 

[dcrizoss]

Here's the update...

I called the police and gave them the IP address that was used to log into my gmail yesterday through the iPad. First I talked to the chief and he said they were going to get a warrant to find out who it was and they would get back to me with any information.

A little time passes and an officer called and said he was taking over my case and he wants me to come down to talk to him. So I am going after work today. I can't imagine they found anything out that quickly he might just need a statement maybe. So that's all I got at this point. I hope the next bit of news I have has to do with the swift hand of justice!

 

[scaredpoet]

Mobile hotspot is the only thing that really makes sense but that IP traces back to a comcast broadband account so here I am scratching my head again.

Are you SURE the parking lot doesn't have WiFi? Comcast and a lot of the other cable companies have deployed a lot of public hotspots, even in outdoor locations, so it's possible that your iPad might've been connected to one of those, either automatically or intentionally by the thief (or his unwitting buyer).

In any case, Geo IP location isn't very accurate, especially when it comes to Comcast. The Comcast IP on my home internet connection actually geolocates to a place in a completely different state when I look it up, so that definitely can't be trusted all the time to be accurate.

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I am pretty sure that prior to iOS your info is not required for them to reset it.

Unfortunately, this is right. the only thing needed to wipe a Pre-IOS7 device is a lock code, IF you set one up. If there's no lock code, then nothing is needed to erase and reset an iPad running 5.1.1.

 

[dcrizoss]

Are you SURE the parking lot doesn't have WiFi? Comcast and a lot of the other cable companies have deployed a lot of public hotspots, even in outdoor locations, so it's possible that your iPad might've been connected to one of those, either automatically or intentionally by the thief (or his unwitting buyer).

In any case, Geo IP location isn't very accurate, especially when it comes to Comcast. The Comcast IP on my home internet connection actually geolocates to a place in a completely different state when I look it up, so that definitely can't be trusted all the time to be accurate.

yeah I am sure, the closest comcast hotspot isn't anywhere near the plaza. I turned the IP into police so we will see where it goes from here. The geolocate on mine hits right near my apartment so we will see.

 

[richwoodrocket]

Bizarre case of the stolen iPad

yeah I am sure, the closest comcast hotspot isn't anywhere near the plaza. I turned the IP into police so we will see where it goes from here. The geolocate on mine hits right near my apartment so we will see.

Did you actually go to the Parking lot and see that there's no wifi? There are quite a few places around here that I can get wifi in the parking lot if they have it in the store.

 

[dcrizoss]

Comcast confirmed it is one of their broadband accounts. The warrant is being served to find out who it belongs to. The officer said it'll take about five days to get through the legal crap but at the least it'll get us one step closer if not get it back. If whoever it is still has it they'll get charged with taking the money and watches too. I have to say these cops around here have been awesome

 

[960design]

Original iPads do not have the activation lock. A thief would just have to reset the device, to remove your connection to it.

Good luck on the recent events for you and the officers.

 

[dcrizoss]

Original iPads do not have the activation lock. A thief would just have to reset the device, to remove your connection to it.

Good luck on the recent events for you and the officers.

They wouldn't need to be online to do that right? It's just an option in the settings.

The cop thinks that whoever stole it, stole it for personal use because they took almost three hours figuring out the lock code I put on it Sunday night. That's the only way they could have gotten access to wifi right? I am guessing it's probably wiped but why not do it when you figured out the code to unlock it? Are they not aware of the tracking feature perhaps. My guess is it's probably wiped at this point which is fine. They've already slipped up. Whoever that IP belongs to has some explaining to do.