AirTags help Toronto man track down stolen Range Rover

After having his first Range Rover stolen a month ago, a man from the Avenue Road and Lawrence Avenue area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, purchased an identical unit to replace the lost vehicle.

The first unit was never found, as the thief as thrown the owner's wallet and family members' phone out of the Rover before driving off with it in an apparent attempt to prevent tracking. "The thieves were able to disable the tracker in my car, put there by the manufacturer," according to the man, who for safety concerns has been identified only by his first name, Lorne.

These thieves were also able to steal the car despite him having placed his keys into a faraday box, which prevents criminals remotely copying a key fob and mimicking its signal to unlock the car.

Consequently Lorne decided to place three AirTags in this second vehicle. According to a report by cp24.com, he placed one in the glovebox, one inside the spare tire, and a third under the back seat.

This SUV was parked away from the garage on June 22. At 8:30 am the very next day, Lorne was woken up by his children shouting "Daddy, daddy, your car is gone."

He was able to use the Find My app to follow the car to a metal recycling plant in the nearby Scarborough district. Lorne was unable to contact law enforcement after arriving at the plant, which led him to drive to the police station instead. It is usually considered dangerous to go after a criminal in this manner.

"It's pretty scary, but you can't live your life in fear," he said. Following his contacting the authorities, his car was found, along with several others. "The next day I was told they recovered nine cars," said Lorne, as he confirmed that his car was among those recovered."

Users are increasingly relying on AirTags to help recover missing items. An army wife was reported to having used AirTags to ensure contractors had properly transferred belongings she and her husband had during a transfer in January 2022.

In May, a man was able to make a connecting flight in time when he was able to request for his skiing gear to be reunited with him with the information the trackers provided. Earlier this week on Wednesday, a YouTuber was able to locate his missing luggage after the airline failed to find it themselves.

AirTags have also been used by unsavory actors to stalk their victims. Earlier in February, a woman discovered one hidden inside her vehicle, which led to the arrest of her stalker.

Apple's AirTags used in stalking incidents led Apple to introduce more anti-stalking features to the tracker. The device has also prompted lawmakers and school authorities to attempt to legislate against such uses.