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

[BotchQue]

Or depending on what type of neighborhood it is, make some sort of amusing lost/stolen ad to post around the block.

Lost/Stolen: Keychain with AirTag from [school's name]​

Last Currently Seen At: A house somewhere on this block​

If Found: Please return it to the Lost & Found at [school's name]​

Just a couple (crazy?) ideas without making a big fuss about it...

Exactly what I would've done. Include a black and white photo of a AirTag, with the quote "Answers to Duke" or something like that, and staple them up on the telephone poles on that street. Keep it humorous so no one feels like you're accusing their child of theft or anything like that.

 

[mikedop]

Ordered a venti iced caramel latte today, it costs $6.42 in my area.

$22.25 / $6.42 = less than four venti iced caramel lattes

My kids like Frappuccinos, and they can be well over $7.00 where I live.

The cost of an overpriced coffee aside, the point is that some of the suggestions in the thread to get the school and especially the police involved is extreme given the relative low cost of the AirTags.

Yeah was meant for that to be taken as a joke.

It's worth mentioning to the school, but otherwise not really anything worth following up on. If the school decides its worth it, cool, if not, oh well.

 

[mikedop]

Exactly what I would've done. Include a black and white photo of a AirTag, with the quote "Answers to Duke" or something like that, and staple them up on the telephone poles on that street. Keep it humorous so no one feels like you're accusing their child of theft or anything like that.

"chirps when hungry, currently on unapproved vacation"

 

[Apleeseed84]

Hi, yeah I just let it go in terms of wanting to retrieving it.

- It’s still locked to me though.
- It never moved from the location any longer. Map location is current.
- Battery status is still over 2/3.

I don’t think the family has an iphone or it would have alerted them. Its probably stored in a toy bin and forgotten. Forever chirping until it eventually dies out.

If I get a phone call one day, I’ll update. Hopeless at this point.

Better get the popcorn, this happened to my tiles back in 2019, they fell off a rollercoaster and after a month they ended up in random houses all over Los Angeles lol. to be fair my kids lost them but interesting that both got taken home.

 

[teh_hunterer]

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

Yes, and what the post you're replying to says is don't remove it from the iCloud account, so that it stays locked to the iCloud account.

 

[deeddawg]

Ordered a venti iced caramel latte today, it costs $6.42 in my area.

$22.25 / $6.42 = less than four venti iced caramel lattes

My kids like Frappuccinos, and they can be well over $7.00 where I live.

Wow. Glad I never developed a taste for those.

Plain black coffee is all care for. Probably also why I never visit SBUX unless traveling, so it's been a while.

 

[mikedop]

Plain black coffee is all care for.

 

[Macative]

It's just the AirTag and not the backpack? Then maybe keep pinging it just for kicks, but otherwise it's over. Don't press it.

 

[Macative]

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'.

Of course it should be forgotten about. Your time is worth more than that. I've already lost more than the value of this airtag by reading this article.

 

[dblissmn]

Granted this is a bit bigger than an AirTag but a while ago I read about a case in the Chicago area where someone had a Titanium Powerbook stolen (I told you it was a while ago) in an eBay scam by a Chicago-based bidder and Chicago police were like yeah, well, whatever, but there was a connection via a shipping address to Markham, a poor southern suburb -- and Markham police were VERY interested. Various versions of story are still up on the Interwebs and to cut a long story short, Markham PD succeeded in recovering the laptop and getting the perp on a larger theft case as well. But Markham has a track record of success on this kind of thing.

 

[Alex Cai]

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.

It might have fell in the drainage pipe in the sidewalk or a dog swallowed it 🙃

 

[kandavu]

What about dropping a well crafted letter in the mailboxes corresponding to the location map. Give the occupant an out that saves face and a path to returning your property. Suggest anonymously mailing the tag to the school’s lost and found. Your Find My would detect if the tag changes location.

 

[Devin Breeding]

Exactly.

People have to keep this in mind. This isn't an iPhone or Mac, but an AirTag with a throwaway price.

I personally wouldn't knock on doors, get the school involved, definitely not the police, for $30. Currently the price of an AirTag is $22.25 each for the 4-pack on Amazon.

It wouldn't be worth the effort and hassle.

Plus, you may look like you are accusing someone of stealing, when they could have just found the AirTag, making a tiny problem into a big one.

It sucks you lost the AirTag, but I would just consider it that, a loss. This doesn't mean you can't keep an eye on it, see if something changes, but I would just leave it at that.

BTW for the people saying to contact the police, I am unsure of what the police are like in your area, but everywhere I go, they are way too busy to deal with stolen iPhones, let alone something that costs as much as a few coffees from Starbucks.

Disagree. I‘d be knocking on doors just because this whole thing is kind of fun. Just have to word your question in a way that isn’t accusing theft. “My daughter misplaced her keychain at (name of school) and it has a tracker on it. It is showing up somewhere around here and I’m wondering if you’ve seen anything like it?”

 

[Devin Breeding]

What about dropping a well crafted letter in the mailboxes corresponding to the location map. Give the occupant an out that saves face and a path to returning your property. Suggest anonymously mailing the tag to the school’s lost and found. Your Find My would detect if the tag changes location.

Putting unstamped mail in boxes is a crime. 😆

 

[fischersd]

Putting unstamped mail in boxes is a crime. 😆

The Op's in Canada. Pretty sure that isn't illegal up here. (there used to be independent carriers that delivered flyers - if it was, they wouldn't have been able to operate).

 

[Andrew73875]

The OP has probably figured out what to do by now.

But in my opinion, this case should be reported to police and school. If it was stolen, there's a chance that something else is going to be stolen, maybe something more expensive. The person will feel the impunity and continue with it.

Also when you report it to school, you might find out that you are not the first parent with this complaint.

 

[Tenkaykev]

If it was stollen, there's a chance that something else is going to be stollen,

I like stollen, it always makes me feel Christmassy 🎄🎅

 

[Andrew73875]

I like stollen, it always makes me feel Christmassy 🎄🎅

True 😂😂😂

 

[jamface]

You should have attached an AirTag to the thing your son had stolen from him at school, then you’d be able to find it. Perfect for this situation.

 

[LeonPro]

You should have attached an AirTag to the thing your son had stolen from him at school, then you’d be able to find it. Perfect for this situation.

I don't know who the child is that took the AirTag. And if I did, I wouldn't let my child steal someone else's belongings. It's a nice treasure hunt/detective work but really for this amount, it's not worth anyone's trouble. They want to steal it from us, fine.

I've lost far more valuable stuff living in a rental apartment back in the day (which I believe is an inside job from the rental manager). My Date-Just Rolex, Apple iBook G4, and some smaller stuff. That's another story.

As for this AirTags, I just wanted to see if the parents of the child who took it will discover it one day and try to return it. Unsolved for now.

Too bad Apple has hidden the battery life for some odd reason. I used to be able to monitor if there's still life left. Now who knows until when it will be on my Find My app.

 

[fischersd]

Too bad Apple has hidden the battery life for some odd reason. I used to be able to monitor if there's still life left. Now who knows until when it will be on my Find My app.

Apple purposefully removed it - replaced it with a notification people will get when the battery life gets low. (so, unless virtually all AirTag customers start spamming Apple with requests to bring it back, it's gone).

I'm 18 months and counting (since launch) on my first 5 AirTags - so yours shouldn't be dying anytime soon.

 

[2REPOU]

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.

I think this is a lesson in the true vs perceived value added by an AirTag. Not of mmuch use in these situations. Finding keys maybe but not much else. I see with them on dogs. mine is too cute, someone would just keep him

 

[fischersd]

I see with them on dogs. mine is too cute, someone would just keep him

Yep - you need to hide them in the dog's harness or find a discrete collar holder.

Putting it on your pet in a non-discrete manner only helps for if your pet is lost, not stolen. (and, in the stolen scenario, you have to be quick - as the anti-stalking features will let the thieves know that there's an AirTag with them).

 

[bwillwall]

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.

Do you also throw away your remotes when the batteries die? Seems a tad wasteful

 

[iStorm]

Do you also throw away your remotes when the batteries die? Seems a tad wasteful

Huh? Read the thread for the full context. LeonPro meant he/she will keep it added in the Find My app until the battery dies and is no longer trackable. LeonPro doesn't have possession of the AirTag to replace the battery...it was stolen.