Featured Image Credit: WSB-TV
Topics: US News, News, Technology, Crime, Travel
Joe Harker
A man who discovered his luggage was missing from the airport was able to use an Apple AirTag to track down the suspected thief.
Jameel Reid was returning to Atlanta, Georgia, from Los Angeles when he realised his luggage wasn't on the baggage carousel.
While we all know it can take a long time for your bags to show up at the airport, after half an hour it became clear to Jameel that his luggage wasn't coming and he realised that someone must already have taken it.
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Fortunately he had placed an Apple AirTag in his bag and was able to track down the location of his luggage with his phone, discovering it had been taken from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
However, Jameel then realised that the AirTag was moving back towards him, with the suspected luggage-nabber appearing to return to the scene of the alleged crime.
He alerted airport authorities that he suspected his bag had been stolen and filmed the arrest of Craig Nelson.
Speaking to WSB-TV, Jameel explained that when Nelson was arrested the suspected thief was wearing some of his clothes.
He said: "This guy, so he stole my luggage. I had about $3,000 worth of stuff in here. I'm going to baggage claim and all that, I’m trying to look for my luggage.
"I'm standing there for like 30 minutes or so. I'm not seeing it. This silver one here, I have a tracking device in it and I tracked it to you. And you have my shirt on, that’s insane. My shirt and my jeans.
"You can literally walk into baggage claim, like walk straight in and possibly take somebody’s luggage and walk out and nobody would even know."
Nelson was charged with theft by taking, unlawful removal of baggage and criminal trespass.
This isn't the first time an AirTag has been used to track down lost luggage at an airport, as a passenger was able to be reunited with her bags after an airline gave it to the wrong person by mistake.
While Jameel was fortunate that he had an AirTag in his luggage to track down his things the devices haven't been as positive for everyone else.
The little tracking devices made by Apple have been involved in a number of scary incidents where travellers have discovered AirTags they don't own have been tracking their location.
Families and individuals have been targeted with AirTags, and the police have been offering guidance on potential ways to discover your movements are being tracked.
One of the most obvious ways is if you've got an iPhone, as it can notify you if there's an AirTag following you around, while there are apps for other phones which can detect the same thing.