Fla. Man Uses iPhone App to Hunt Thief at Disney World

March 25, 2011
An Oakmont man vacationing at Disney World used quick thinking and an iPhone app to locate a man suspected of stealing cell phones and other items while his family was soaking in the sun at the hotel pool.

ORLANDO --

An Oakmont man vacationing at Disney World used quick thinking and an iPhone app to locate a man suspected of stealing cell phones and other items while his family was soaking in the sun at the hotel pool.

After taking in all the sights, Dave Longstreth and his family decided to spend a day at the hotel pool, which is when he discovered their diaper bag that had two iPhones, a camera, money and credit cards inside, was stolen as they swam.

“My heart sank, just had this pit in my stomach,” he said.

It appeared the Longstreth family vacation was headed for disaster, but with the help of his iPhone, Dave sprung into action and played detective.

As soon as he noticed the items had been stolen, Longstreth went to his hotel room and logged onto his laptop. From his computer, Longstreth was able to activate an iPhone app called "Find My iPhone."

“My phone showed up right on the boat dock,” he said.

Through a GPS tracking system, Longstreth knew his phone was close by, so he ran down to the hotel’s boat dock, where he saw a suspicious-looking man carrying a black bag. Security had already been summoned, but the suspect got onto a ferry boat headed for the Magic Kingdom.

Dave was sure his stolen goods were on board, and he was right.

“Someone borrowed an iPhone and I downloaded that app and I plugged in all my account information … pulled that back up on the phone and (my) phone shows up 400 yards away off the dock where the boat is,” said Lonstreth. “We're like, that's definitely the guy."

The technology helped police arrest David Bain, of Orlando, as he got off the ferry. Inside his backpack were the stolen goods.

“You can replace things, can't replace memories,” said Longstreth. “Things you took pictures of. Glad we got it all back."

Longstreth said the software to access the app cost him about $100.

Copyright 2011 by WPXI.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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