So my child's AirTags was taken from school. It's reporting a location in a house. What would you do?

[LeonPro]

The AirTag is on a keychain stuck to the zipper of her backpack. Whether this was deliberately taken by another child or it fell off for some reason (benefit of the doubt), it's new location is in a house a few kilometers away.

I went to the area yesterday and I could make it ring once in a while, but obviously can't hear it. It's a row of homes and I didn't want to go door to door asking for the AirTag (and making enemies for this minuscule matter).

I've activated the Lost Mode with my mobile number. No one has contacted me. I don't even know how it will work under lost mode.

I still see it reporting in the same location for the 2nd day. Hasn't moved. What would you do? Forget about it?

 

[Juicy Box]

For the price of it, I wouldn't bother trying to retrieve it.

 

[LeonPro]

Yeah, it's a write-off. I just keep seeing it under Find My and will keep it for now until the battery eventually dies out.

 

[BigBlur]

Seems like it should be beeping on its own by now for being away from the owner so long. Somewhat surprised they haven’t done anything with it yet.

I would keep it in Find My, even if it stops reporting its location and can’t be found anymore. Once you remove it from Find My, they would be able to set it up as their own…so don’t make it easy for them. The AirTag is essentially activation locked as long as it’s linked to your account.

Considering you can still see it, they haven’t attempted to reset it yet…so maybe it wasn’t stolen for the AirTag itself. Perhaps the person/child just liked the keychain? Kids love little trinkets like that. Or maybe it just did fall off, as you said.

 

[LeonPro]

Seems like it should be beeping on its own by now for being away from the owner so long. Somewhat surprised they haven’t done anything with it yet.

I would keep it in Find My, even if it stops reporting its location and can’t be found anymore. Once you remove it from Find My, they would be able to set it up as their own…so don’t make it easy for them. The AirTag is essentially activation locked as long as it’s linked to your account.

Considering you can still see it, they haven’t attempted to reset it yet…so maybe it wasn’t stolen for the AirTag itself. Perhaps the person/child just liked the keychain? Kids love little trinkets like that. Or maybe it just did fall off, as you said.

I didn't realise it would start beeping once activated under Lost Mode. That's strange the household people aren't minding it or taken out the battery even if they just to keep it as a toy.

And you're right. I won't remove it from Find My so it remains locked and never to be useful for others.

 

[gmacgregor]

Annoy them and keep the ringing going.

 

[BigBlur]

I didn't realise it would start beeping once activated under Lost Mode. That's strange the household people aren't minding it or taken out the battery even if they just to keep it as a toy.

And you're right. I won't remove it from Find My so it remains locked and never to be useful for others.

Lost Mode doesn't make it beep. AirTags beep on their own after they've been separated from it's owner for awhile, more as an anti-stalking feature. Last I heard, it'll beep at random times after it's been separated 8-24 hours.

 

[mollyc]

Do you have a directory where you could reverse lookup the address and figure out which child took it? Then you could call and just say, "I think Sally must have taken this from our backpack. It's not a big deal, but could I have it back please?"

 

[LeonPro]

Do you have a directory where you could reverse lookup the address and figure out which child took it? Then you could call and just say, "I think Sally must have taken this from our backpack. It's not a big deal, but could I have it back please?"

Yeah unfortunately the directory of the school isn't available for us. I tried Googling the address including from our city website but everything except the owner information isn't available for privacy reasons.

 

[LeonPro]

Thanks all. Just wanted to hear everyone's thoughts if it were to happen to you. It's minimal value as we all know. Really not worth the trouble. Just annoying that I see it every day standing still in that same address and no one in that household is curious to know what it is that was brought home.

I'll update if the signal finally goes silent, starts moving elsewhere (the dump?) or one day returned to the school.

 

[laptech]

It's simple. It obvious someone at the school either took the airtag or found the airtag and did not report it to any teachers. So, find where the tag is reporting. Take down the name of the street and the house numbers in that street. Now go ask for a meeting with the school head, explain to him/her that your daughters airtag was either dropped or taken and that it is reporting as being in this location. The school head will be able to find out which pupils lives in that area the tag is reporting it is and ask the the pupil(s) about it. If the school head does not take an interest, the express to the school head that you will report the airtag as stolen and get the police involved due to the reluctance of the school to do anything about it.

Anyway, you would have to get the police involved but I bet you the school head would make the excuse that due to privacy laws etc etc he/she cannot tell you the pupils who live at the location the airtag is showing it to be. I would then say fine 'talk to the police then because I will get them to come in here to ask you to disclose who the pupils are so I can get my property back'.

You'll be surprised at how fast the school begins to co-operate with you

 

[SigEp265]

Seems like it should be beeping on its own by now for being away from the owner so long. Somewhat surprised they haven’t done anything with it yet.

I would keep it in Find My, even if it stops reporting its location and can’t be found anymore. Once you remove it from Find My, they would be able to set it up as their own…so don’t make it easy for them. The AirTag is essentially activation locked as long as it’s linked to your account.

Considering you can still see it, they haven’t attempted to reset it yet…so maybe it wasn’t stolen for the AirTag itself. Perhaps the person/child just liked the keychain? Kids love little trinkets like that. Or maybe it just did fall off, as you said.

If its locked to an icloud account you cannot reset it like new.

 

[fischersd]

You would have to live in a pretty small town for Police to express a whiff of interest in recovering something that was lost that goes for about $40.

I like the suggestion go have the airtag make noise to annoy them (me, I'd be prone to do so at 2 or 3 am), but, otherwise you should consider it gone.

 

[BigBlur]

If its locked to an icloud account you cannot reset it like new.

I know, I even said that. I was saying we know they haven't attempted to reset the AirTag because the OP can still see its location. When an AirTag is reset (by removing and replacing the battery five times), it is no longer trackable. The AirTag is in pairing mode and needs to be set up by putting it close to an iPhone or iPad again. At that point, it'll make sure it's not associated to someone else's Apple ID before letting it be paired and usable again.

 

[SigEp265]

I know, I even said that. I was saying we know they haven't attempted to reset the AirTag because the OP can still see its location. When an AirTag is reset (by removing and replacing the battery five times), it is no longer trackable. The AirTag is in pairing mode and needs to be set up by putting it close to an iPhone or iPad again. At that point, it'll make sure it's not associated to someone else's Apple ID before letting it be paired and usable again.

Oh my bad !

 

[Juicy Box]

It's simple. It obvious someone at the school either took the airtag or found the airtag and did not report it to any teachers. So, find where the tag is reporting. Take down the name of the street and the house numbers in that street. Now go ask for a meeting with the school head, explain to him/her that your daughters airtag was either dropped or taken and that it is reporting as being in this location. The school head will be able to find out which pupils lives in that area the tag is reporting it is and ask the the pupil(s) about it. If the school head does not take an interest, the express to the school head that you will report the airtag as stolen and get the police involved due to the reluctance of the school to do anything about it.

Anyway, you would have to get the police involved but I bet you the school head would make the excuse that due to privacy laws etc etc he/she cannot tell you the pupils who live at the location the airtag is showing it to be. I would then say fine 'talk to the police then because I will get them to come in here to ask you to disclose who the pupils are so I can get my property back'.

You'll be surprised at how fast the school begins to co-operate with you

It's simple.

That doesn’t seem simple at all.

 

[HowEver]

Police don't even bother with stolen phones, so there is no chance they will get involved with an AirTag that's gone missing. As with many other officials, the school will already know this.

Time to move on.

New AirTag? Put it inside the bag.

It's simple. It obvious someone at the school either took the airtag or found the airtag and did not report it to any teachers. So, find where the tag is reporting. Take down the name of the street and the house numbers in that street. Now go ask for a meeting with the school head, explain to him/her that your daughters airtag was either dropped or taken and that it is reporting as being in this location. The school head will be able to find out which pupils lives in that area the tag is reporting it is and ask the the pupil(s) about it. If the school head does not take an interest, the express to the school head that you will report the airtag as stolen and get the police involved due to the reluctance of the school to do anything about it.

Anyway, you would have to get the police involved but I bet you the school head would make the excuse that due to privacy laws etc etc he/she cannot tell you the pupils who live at the location the airtag is showing it to be. I would then say fine 'talk to the police then because I will get them to come in here to ask you to disclose who the pupils are so I can get my property back'.

You'll be surprised at how fast the school begins to co-operate with you

 

[harriska2]

It’s interesting that the airtag actually works. I’d be the person knocking on doors. Curiosity would make me see if opening a door would improve the signal enough to show up on Find My.

 

[laptech]

Police don't even bother with stolen phones, so there is no chance they will get involved with an AirTag that's gone missing. As with many other officials, the school will already know this.

Time to move on.

New AirTag? Put it inside the bag.

How much is a single airtag? $20? $30? I bet if it was the equivalent amount in money that had gone missing you wouldn't be basically say 'lets forget it, move on', you would be saying 'someone has stolen my money, I want that person found and dealt with' but because it's a physical item, people like you have the tendency to say 'time to move on', which to mean implies it's not worth the hassle.

A $20 $30 item goes missing, that is not something that someone should forget about and move on. Report it to the police. If they do nothing, fine that is their loo out but at least it is reported because who knows, if the airtag was actually stolen, the person who stole it will steal again and again because they know nothing is going to happen to them. No, no one should ever just 'move on'.

 

[Pixel26]

I think I would say that I'll let it go. Imagine if you learn who it is with, how would you ask for it back? also, the time and effort you would have to spend looking for it....

 

[laptech]

I think I would say that I'll let it go. Imagine if you learn who it is with, how would you ask for it back? also, the time and effort you would have to spend looking for it....

If someone said to you 'i've had $30 stolen', would you tell them to 'let it go' or would you want it investigated? but because that $30 is in the form of a physical item, you say 'let it go'. Why?

 

[deeddawg]

Yeah unfortunately the directory of the school isn't available for us. I tried Googling the address including from our city website but everything except the owner information isn't available for privacy reasons.

If it's a house rather than apartment, your local city/county tax records will show the name of whomever is paying the property taxes. Those records are normally public information and often have a web interface you can use to search by address. If it's a rental then that won't necessarily put you in touch with the person living there, though.

 

[fischersd]

How much is a single airtag? $20? $30? I bet if it was the equivalent amount in money that had gone missing you wouldn't be basically say 'lets forget it, move on', you would be saying 'someone has stolen my money, I want that person found and dealt with' but because it's a physical item, people like you have the tendency to say 'time to move on', which to mean implies it's not worth the hassle.

A $20 $30 item goes missing, that is not something that someone should forget about and move on. Report it to the police. If they do nothing, fine that is their loo out but at least it is reported because who knows, if the airtag was actually stolen, the person who stole it will steal again and again because they know nothing is going to happen to them. No, no one should ever just 'move on'.

The airtag was attached to a child's backpack. Could have been lost, could have been gifted to another child, could have been taken. There isn't a police force this side of Mayberry that is going to lift a finger for something worth so little in this scenario. If someone had invaded your home and stolen something, that's a different matter - but this is a LOST ITEM. There's absolutely no evidence of crime or malice.

Yes, people certainly shouldn't obsess about lost objects. Life is too short. Where's the upside in that?

 

[russell_314]

I'm not sure if anyone mentioned it but report it stolen to the police to CYA... I see people talking about reporting it in the sense to maybe recover it but I think that's a lost cause. The problem is if whoever has it decided to go to the police and say they found your AirTag in their car, in their kids backpack etc the police will trace it back to you and you'll likely be given a free Uber ride to the station with some very nice loaner jewelry. Sure you'll probably get it sorted out after spending money on a lawyer or perhaps getting some pity from the police but why put yourself in that position in the first place.

 

[JPack]

LOL @ the poster who thinks the school principal will do something for a $30 item that might be stolen.

$30 claim vs. privacy lawsuit

Pretty obvious which way a school admin will lean towards.