Fun little story, wait till the end.
Went to a show at the local pro hockey arena with the family. My 2 yr old fell asleep on me towards the end, when I had been taking pics of the Disney on Ice characters doing there thing. I was slightly worried my phone might not be secured, but things got chaotic as we were leaving, and I was holding a sleeping child to my chest as we walked up the aisle and out of the arena and the thought of an unsecured phone was fleeting.
I made it all the way back to our car which was maybe a 10 to 15minute walk and somehow managed to one hand the sleeping 2 yr old as I reached for our car keys. It was at that exact moment my stomach sank as I realized my phone was not in my pocket I had last put it in after snapping some pics. Did my toddler kick it out of the coat pocket as her knees leaned into my chest? Did it fall out as I stood up with her in my arms? Was it pick pocketed from the row of people behind me as she lay asleep and me not knowing?
I dashed through the parking garage, and retraced all my steps back to the Arena. As soon as I made it back to security the crowd was coming...the show had just ended and everyone was making a mass exodus to the buildings exits. Security let me back in as I explained in a panic that I dropped my phone likely near my seat. I felt like I was in some bad guy movie trying to chase someone through a ridiculously crowded corridor. I slipped into a section far away from mine and started dashing through the rows of seats over to the section I was sitting in.
I looked around, all over my row, got down on my hands and knees and looked in between the seats...but no phone. I made a critical mistake at this moment that I later realized. 1. I should have checked the row below where I was sitting, knowing the phone could have landed one row down from where I sat, and I should have checked the rows and seats near the stairs I climbed when we exited. I also should have brought DW phone with, or asked a stranger if they could ring it once I got near where I was sitting. But, I was panicked and full of stress and anxiety and thoughtshoot, well maybe someone turned it into lost and found.
Security at the top of my row suggested I check with Lost and Found 9 sections away from where we sat, near the exit/entrance we had originally left through. I dashed through the rows of seats to avoid the crowded corridors of slow moving people and found Lost and Found. No phones turned in yet tonight...great. They gave me their business card and I left my information and description of my phone with them. They mentioned the cleaning staff does a great job cleaning the stadium and if it were found, they would turn it into Lost and Found.
I felt like as more time passed the less chance of me ever seeing my phone again. But, this place was packed and the little looking I did do, yielded nothing. I decided to head back to the parking garage where my wife and sleeping kids were waiting. I had DW start calling the phone thinking if it were found, someone would answer. Nope. It rang, and rang and did not go straight to voicemail so I knew the phone was still powered on. I had my phone on max volume, Bluetooth turned on, and locked, so nobody could use it unless they answered an incoming call. Location was turned on through Google Location Services...but one problem. In order for me to use Find my Android Device, I would need to login with DW phone, but doing so required MFA (2FA) auth and ironically I would need my phone to approve the login from an unknown device (DANGIT!)
On the drive home DW rings the phone about 10 times in the hopes someone cleaning or working security would hear it and pickup the lost phone...nobody picks up.
I get home and realize, I am logged into google on my laptop so I can track it via Find my Android Device. So I click track my phone...nothing. No location, no last known location...sh@#! But...but...it does state that the phone has 76% battery remaining. Interesting.
That was Saturday. Sunday I wake up and check the stadium schedule. 2 more shows at 1pm and 5pm that day. I attempt another track on the phone, this time ringing it while simultanteously tracking hoping to get a ping somehow. Nothing... but I notice NOW it says the battery is at 65% charge.
Okay, so the phone is ON and it is slowly losing battery charge which would make sense. But where is it? Did it get turned into security, or lost and found, or did someone steal it.
If I can make it down to the stadium , and do another sweep of the area and check with lost and found again I might have some hope. This time with my bluetooth headset and another phone I can at least attempt to locate it again. I get down about 10am and jump through a few security hurdles. The director of security is kind enough to escort me to where I had been sitting. Yepp, the cleaning staff did a great job clearing the area...it was a disaster the night before with littered stuff everywhere but today it was clean with not a single popcorn kernel left behind. Bluetooth doesn't connect. I think for sure if I was in the vicinty of the phone it would say "connected" as it always does when it pairs and connects to my headset. I ring it, over and over, and over again. Nothing, no sound.
I check with Lost and Found again and they get word that there were 4 passports, a green card, and a drivers license turned in by the cleaning crew last night, but on cell phones. S#!t.
This time I give my info to the director of security and leave again thinking this is looking like a lost cause. I think well, maybe someone took it home with them and they might turn it in on Monday.
Throughout the day Sunday, I keep trying to ping the phone with Track my Device and keep calling it. NOTHING! I start to resign to the fact that I am out a phone, and probably lost a months worth of pictures...no big deal I guess. There could be worse things I think...hell I just went to a funeral my friend's 4 yr old daughters on Friday, it could be MUCH worse...its just a phone.
I wake up today...and right before DW leaves to meet with a client I stop her and say hey, can you try calling my phone one last time...at the same time I use my laptop to Find My Device as she drives off to her meeting. BINGO! I got a ping! It's not in the stadium where I would expect, but instead tracking to a location at a residential home in Saint Paul near the airport. I pull up google maps, and cross-check the location with the address from Google Maps. I have an address. I decide to check the property tax records to try and tie a name to the address...the home is registered to St Paul Public Housing Agency. GRREEEAAAT... do I go knock on their door, do I just consider the phone gone for good...what to do. I call St Paul Police non-emergency and ask the operator for her advice...would you go knock on the door and try and get the phone back? Is that even smart? She askes me what street it's pinging to and says "NO! I would NOT go knock on the door to get it back...but I can send out a dispatch to meet you and they can assist if you like. Really? Okay sure. Sooo, I call in backup, and my DF comes over with HIS phone (Remember DW took off for the day and I am without a phone). I grab my bluetooth, but I decide to be coi. I put on my Carhart Jacket and a Orange Hooded Sweatshirt (The kind construction workers wear) and grab a hard hat from my garage. Figure less chance of a knock no answer if I look like a guy from the utility company...right??
We arrive at the pinged location. We wait for the cops...they finally show up and we start chatting.
As I am explaining how my phone is pinging to this specific house, and we confirm the home we believe it is tracking to on a map, a neighbor walking her dog overheard us and makes an interesting statement that caught the police officer's attention. She says OH you lost your phone and its tracking here...I've had 3 people knock on my door in the past couple years looking for lost cell phones. The cops realize...this is NOT a coincidence but I think, interesting and odd.
I knock on the door of the home it is pinging to, the Homeowner says he has never been to the stadium and does not have the phone. SHOOOT! Well that is the address its pinging to. I reconvene with the two cops in their squad and I say, maybe it's at one of the houses to the left or right of where its tracking. I told them if they don't mind waiting I will try the house to the left. As I am knocking on THAT door, the guy comes and says no...I don't have any cell phone man, I have my own phone, but not yours. I start calling the phone hoping to listen for the ring, since I know it says its on and its pinged, and the battery is showing 33% remaining. No ringing, but at the same time the cop knocks on the door to the right of where it pings and makes entry into the home. I am talking to his partner and he says hang tight...my partner is inside that other home. I keep calling my phone. The cop emerges, and he holds up my cell phone to the sky!!!
He says that the homeowner's "wife" works for the cleaning company that cleans the stadium. WHY these people with my phone would admit that I do not know. WHY these people would not turn in the phone, I do not know. Why they would leave the phone on for over a day as I ring it over 45 times I do not know.
I shake the officer's hand, thank them and wish them a happy holiday.
Moral of the story...do not give up. Use your resources, get creative, and be exhaustive. Also, make sure your phone is safely secured.
Mine was in the pocket of my business coat that I normally don't wear, and when I do I normally put my phone in the inside pocket of the coat, rather than the outside...but with my 2 yr old sleeping on my chest, I couldn't get to that pocket.
This is the THIRD time I tracked down a lost cell phone and managed to recover it. The last time I threw my phone in the lake at a fourth of July party after my wife and I came to a preemtive conclusion our son (who was 3 at the time) may have waded into the lake without us noticing. It sat in the lake for a year before it was found. Another time it fell out of my pocket while waiting for an oil change at the Chevy dealership and some kid picked it up and "sold" it to his cousin. I made contact after ringing it like 15 times and managed to convince the kid who answered to meet me at a gas station and I would give him a finders fee if he gave me my phone back. I have bad luck with phones, and for that reason don't ever buy the super expensive ones like some do.
Went to a show at the local pro hockey arena with the family. My 2 yr old fell asleep on me towards the end, when I had been taking pics of the Disney on Ice characters doing there thing. I was slightly worried my phone might not be secured, but things got chaotic as we were leaving, and I was holding a sleeping child to my chest as we walked up the aisle and out of the arena and the thought of an unsecured phone was fleeting.
I made it all the way back to our car which was maybe a 10 to 15minute walk and somehow managed to one hand the sleeping 2 yr old as I reached for our car keys. It was at that exact moment my stomach sank as I realized my phone was not in my pocket I had last put it in after snapping some pics. Did my toddler kick it out of the coat pocket as her knees leaned into my chest? Did it fall out as I stood up with her in my arms? Was it pick pocketed from the row of people behind me as she lay asleep and me not knowing?
I dashed through the parking garage, and retraced all my steps back to the Arena. As soon as I made it back to security the crowd was coming...the show had just ended and everyone was making a mass exodus to the buildings exits. Security let me back in as I explained in a panic that I dropped my phone likely near my seat. I felt like I was in some bad guy movie trying to chase someone through a ridiculously crowded corridor. I slipped into a section far away from mine and started dashing through the rows of seats over to the section I was sitting in.
I looked around, all over my row, got down on my hands and knees and looked in between the seats...but no phone. I made a critical mistake at this moment that I later realized. 1. I should have checked the row below where I was sitting, knowing the phone could have landed one row down from where I sat, and I should have checked the rows and seats near the stairs I climbed when we exited. I also should have brought DW phone with, or asked a stranger if they could ring it once I got near where I was sitting. But, I was panicked and full of stress and anxiety and thoughtshoot, well maybe someone turned it into lost and found.
Security at the top of my row suggested I check with Lost and Found 9 sections away from where we sat, near the exit/entrance we had originally left through. I dashed through the rows of seats to avoid the crowded corridors of slow moving people and found Lost and Found. No phones turned in yet tonight...great. They gave me their business card and I left my information and description of my phone with them. They mentioned the cleaning staff does a great job cleaning the stadium and if it were found, they would turn it into Lost and Found.
I felt like as more time passed the less chance of me ever seeing my phone again. But, this place was packed and the little looking I did do, yielded nothing. I decided to head back to the parking garage where my wife and sleeping kids were waiting. I had DW start calling the phone thinking if it were found, someone would answer. Nope. It rang, and rang and did not go straight to voicemail so I knew the phone was still powered on. I had my phone on max volume, Bluetooth turned on, and locked, so nobody could use it unless they answered an incoming call. Location was turned on through Google Location Services...but one problem. In order for me to use Find my Android Device, I would need to login with DW phone, but doing so required MFA (2FA) auth and ironically I would need my phone to approve the login from an unknown device (DANGIT!)
On the drive home DW rings the phone about 10 times in the hopes someone cleaning or working security would hear it and pickup the lost phone...nobody picks up.
I get home and realize, I am logged into google on my laptop so I can track it via Find my Android Device. So I click track my phone...nothing. No location, no last known location...sh@#! But...but...it does state that the phone has 76% battery remaining. Interesting.
That was Saturday. Sunday I wake up and check the stadium schedule. 2 more shows at 1pm and 5pm that day. I attempt another track on the phone, this time ringing it while simultanteously tracking hoping to get a ping somehow. Nothing... but I notice NOW it says the battery is at 65% charge.
Okay, so the phone is ON and it is slowly losing battery charge which would make sense. But where is it? Did it get turned into security, or lost and found, or did someone steal it.
If I can make it down to the stadium , and do another sweep of the area and check with lost and found again I might have some hope. This time with my bluetooth headset and another phone I can at least attempt to locate it again. I get down about 10am and jump through a few security hurdles. The director of security is kind enough to escort me to where I had been sitting. Yepp, the cleaning staff did a great job clearing the area...it was a disaster the night before with littered stuff everywhere but today it was clean with not a single popcorn kernel left behind. Bluetooth doesn't connect. I think for sure if I was in the vicinty of the phone it would say "connected" as it always does when it pairs and connects to my headset. I ring it, over and over, and over again. Nothing, no sound.
I check with Lost and Found again and they get word that there were 4 passports, a green card, and a drivers license turned in by the cleaning crew last night, but on cell phones. S#!t.
This time I give my info to the director of security and leave again thinking this is looking like a lost cause. I think well, maybe someone took it home with them and they might turn it in on Monday.
Throughout the day Sunday, I keep trying to ping the phone with Track my Device and keep calling it. NOTHING! I start to resign to the fact that I am out a phone, and probably lost a months worth of pictures...no big deal I guess. There could be worse things I think...hell I just went to a funeral my friend's 4 yr old daughters on Friday, it could be MUCH worse...its just a phone.
I wake up today...and right before DW leaves to meet with a client I stop her and say hey, can you try calling my phone one last time...at the same time I use my laptop to Find My Device as she drives off to her meeting. BINGO! I got a ping! It's not in the stadium where I would expect, but instead tracking to a location at a residential home in Saint Paul near the airport. I pull up google maps, and cross-check the location with the address from Google Maps. I have an address. I decide to check the property tax records to try and tie a name to the address...the home is registered to St Paul Public Housing Agency. GRREEEAAAT... do I go knock on their door, do I just consider the phone gone for good...what to do. I call St Paul Police non-emergency and ask the operator for her advice...would you go knock on the door and try and get the phone back? Is that even smart? She askes me what street it's pinging to and says "NO! I would NOT go knock on the door to get it back...but I can send out a dispatch to meet you and they can assist if you like. Really? Okay sure. Sooo, I call in backup, and my DF comes over with HIS phone (Remember DW took off for the day and I am without a phone). I grab my bluetooth, but I decide to be coi. I put on my Carhart Jacket and a Orange Hooded Sweatshirt (The kind construction workers wear) and grab a hard hat from my garage. Figure less chance of a knock no answer if I look like a guy from the utility company...right??
We arrive at the pinged location. We wait for the cops...they finally show up and we start chatting.
As I am explaining how my phone is pinging to this specific house, and we confirm the home we believe it is tracking to on a map, a neighbor walking her dog overheard us and makes an interesting statement that caught the police officer's attention. She says OH you lost your phone and its tracking here...I've had 3 people knock on my door in the past couple years looking for lost cell phones. The cops realize...this is NOT a coincidence but I think, interesting and odd.
I knock on the door of the home it is pinging to, the Homeowner says he has never been to the stadium and does not have the phone. SHOOOT! Well that is the address its pinging to. I reconvene with the two cops in their squad and I say, maybe it's at one of the houses to the left or right of where its tracking. I told them if they don't mind waiting I will try the house to the left. As I am knocking on THAT door, the guy comes and says no...I don't have any cell phone man, I have my own phone, but not yours. I start calling the phone hoping to listen for the ring, since I know it says its on and its pinged, and the battery is showing 33% remaining. No ringing, but at the same time the cop knocks on the door to the right of where it pings and makes entry into the home. I am talking to his partner and he says hang tight...my partner is inside that other home. I keep calling my phone. The cop emerges, and he holds up my cell phone to the sky!!!
He says that the homeowner's "wife" works for the cleaning company that cleans the stadium. WHY these people with my phone would admit that I do not know. WHY these people would not turn in the phone, I do not know. Why they would leave the phone on for over a day as I ring it over 45 times I do not know.
I shake the officer's hand, thank them and wish them a happy holiday.
Moral of the story...do not give up. Use your resources, get creative, and be exhaustive. Also, make sure your phone is safely secured.
Mine was in the pocket of my business coat that I normally don't wear, and when I do I normally put my phone in the inside pocket of the coat, rather than the outside...but with my 2 yr old sleeping on my chest, I couldn't get to that pocket.
This is the THIRD time I tracked down a lost cell phone and managed to recover it. The last time I threw my phone in the lake at a fourth of July party after my wife and I came to a preemtive conclusion our son (who was 3 at the time) may have waded into the lake without us noticing. It sat in the lake for a year before it was found. Another time it fell out of my pocket while waiting for an oil change at the Chevy dealership and some kid picked it up and "sold" it to his cousin. I made contact after ringing it like 15 times and managed to convince the kid who answered to meet me at a gas station and I would give him a finders fee if he gave me my phone back. I have bad luck with phones, and for that reason don't ever buy the super expensive ones like some do.
