An 18-year-old girl reportedly kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend has been safely rescued by police after her mother tracked her location using Find My iPhone. CNBC reports that the victim was found more than 150 miles away from home.
Police say that the victim was found bound and gagged in a car in a McDonald’s parking lot. They named the kidnapping suspect as 18-year-old Joseph Boller, whose bail has been set at $150,000.
Pennsylvania State Police were “notified by the victim’s mother that her daughter had been taken against her will by her ex-boyfriend” on Tuesday, according to a statement. “The victim’s mother related that she had been receiving text messages from her daughter requesting help. The mother was able to track the victim’s cellphone by utilizing the iCloud [and] Find My iPhone app.”
There have been a number of examples over the years of Find My iPhone helping to rescue people and to locate suspects.
Find My iPhone requires a mobile data connection to work. Given that it’s not uncommon for parents to hand down older iOS devices to kids without a working SIM, a smart move could be to add a cheap SIM to the device from a company like FreedomPop.