Phone lost at IAH (17 Aug 2018) & now found
 

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c471ddef8a.jpg


I had my cell phone stolen just before I boarded a flight this morning from IAH to DEN. I used the Find My iPhone app on my iPad to track its whereabouts as I flew back to Denver. The phone roamed around the tarmac for awhile, most likely in an employees' pocket, and then came back into the terminal. The screenshot above shows its current location, which I would guess is a trash bin near Gate E21 at IAH. It was stationary there for two hours before I lost the signal. If anyone is departing from that part of the airport today I would appreciate it if they could have a quick look around at that location for it. It is in a red case with a return address label stuck on the back. It is disabled now but will still light up with the "if found please call..." message on the front. I could find no-one at IAH who was interested in helping me - the police have a policy of not looking in trash for stolen items!

Have you tried contacting UA's lost and found in case it's not in the trash?
I empathize with you, but if I lost an item personally that I believed was in the trash, I would find gloves and do it myself rather than ask a police officer (not saying you didn't do this as I couldn't tell from your post, just trying to say that asking the police would have been a lost cause unless you had proof someone took it / stole it / a crime was committed). That's not their job.

The way I read it was that OP was tracking the phone from an iPad while on a flight to DEN. And that...

I know the newest iPhones are quite advanced, but I don't believe they can yet grow legs and move around the tarmac and into the terminal of their own volition. That pattern of motion certain does tend to indicate it was in an employee's possession. I'm not so sure about it being in a trash can. The person who was moving about the tarmac with it may have had "regrets" and left it in a more accesible place. Nevertheless, it's hardly possible for OP to carry out a search in person in IAH when s/he is in DN.

We can't tell from the OP how it was stolen. So an alternative story might be an employee found it, looked around for the owner, then had to continue to go about their job (which may have involved walking around the tarmac) and eventually put it in a drawer at a gate, to be handed to L&F when there was an opportunity to deal with it. Maybe the OP will get a call one of these days?

I was indeed in the air when it ended up at its final resting place. Otherwise, I would have torn the whole of concourse E up looking for it.

Having just watched Murder on the Orient Express, my deduction that it was in a garbage can comes from the following careful observations: 1) it was stationary for so long after moving about for about an hour. If it were left out in the open someone would have found it and likely moved it to a UA desk or the lost and found or responded to the "If found please call xxx xxx-xxxx" message that I set remotely (one can do all of this with the Find My iPhone app); 2) there being no response when I made the phone ring remotely on several occasions; and 3) the GPS location is more in the center of the terminal than where the UA gates are.

I have no idea who stole it. The police did say they would look at tape to see if they could identify the thief.

To the OP, how did someone steal a phone from you? Or would it be better worded as someone found your misplaced phone?

If you realized it was missing before boarding; why not alert the gate agent of the dilemma and standby for a later flight, while staying in IAH.

It's entirely possible that the phone never moved. Assisted GPS also uses WiFi, as I understand it, which is then relying on the location information being set properly on the WiFi base station. (If you've ever moved and found that your phone still thought you were at your old home, now you know why...)

I put my phone down in a public restroom as I washed my hands, turned away for a few seconds to dry my hands, and then turned back. My phone was gone. Now you might say, "are you sure you put it down there?". After the fact these are exactly the questions one asks. I know I had it with me 30 second earlier, because I used it to check my gate location (E1) after coming through security (where it was by definition in my bag) and that is why it was in my hand and not in my bag. It could have dropped to the ground in those 30 seconds, I guess. But I had my printed boarding pass in my hand, too (no gate listed on it), and I put that down too, under my phone. When I turned back the boarding pass was there, but not the phone. By this point I was on my way to E1, and so I know I had my phone in the last 30 seconds since I did not know what gate to go to when I went through security. But I am willing to allow that I cannot prove it was stolen,and there is no CCT in the restrooms. In any event, if I had misplaced it, how strange that whoever found it would not simply turn it over to the nearest TSA or gate agent, but instead take it in a joy ride all around the airport.

Yes, I could have done this. Because of the event I was flustered. I somehow thought that Find My iPhone would work: I would message the thief that I know where the phone is and they need to give it back to me. I have never lost a phone before, so I was in rookie mode.

So the important question: Is there a phone number the OP can call for Lost and Found at IAH?

Having actually had my phone stolen most thief's turn the phone off immediately so you can't track them. Some will even immediately take the battery out. Typically they are stolen for parts. The fact that you could still follow it is actually unusual and maybe security of someone has found it. I have to assume you tried to call it.

Agree with much of what has already been said. Sorry for the inconvenience. Theft is when something is physically removed from yourself or a secure location. A "lost" item is everything else. So did someone remove this from your person? (edit> so I saw later post documenting how it was "lost".

Speaking from experience in trying to track lost iPhones... there is no reliable and consistent way to track these down to the foot on a concistent basis. The signal jumps around (or rather the device on a map). One can get it down to a house, a driveway, maybe a building... but saying it is in a trash can, a drawer etc. just because it stopped moving is an interesting theory/conclusion. Even Tile trackers cannot do that (but then you have to be within 30 feet for those things to work ;-)

Interesting. I walked directly from security to E1, and was never in the E19 and E21 area of the E concourse, which is some distance away. The GPS on my iPad, as I sat in the plane, had that device's location pinned down perfectly, and I from that vantage point I watched my phone move around the airport at quite a reasonable pace (it was not bouncing around as it might if the tracking signals were weak). I was surprised to see it outside as opposed to in someone's backpack. But you have given me hope that it is in a TSA drawer or UA drawer and I may get a call. The phone is no longer responding, and so it must be out of battery (which is strange, since in lost mode it goes into power saver).

Did you have insurance on it? If so..just pay your deductible and move on...Sadly this happens to everyone.