Serial mail thieves thwarted when victim sends herself an AirTag

Expecting to get more checks and credit cards, mail thieves instead scooped up a package that contained an AirTag — as police soon got to tell them.

AirTags have been used in California before to find car thieves, and they've been sent in the mail to uncover the site of secret intelligence agencies in Germany. Now a repeat victim of theft from her mailbox at the Los Alamos Post Office in Santa Maria Valley, has used one to track down the culprits.

According to the New York Post the woman, who has not been identified, mailed herself an Apple AirTag. On discovering that it, too, had been stolen, she notified the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office that she was tracking the device.

"The Sheriff's Office would like to commend the victim for her proactive solution," said the office in a statement, "while highlighting that she also exercised appropriate caution by contacting law enforcement to safely and successfully apprehend the suspects."

Donald Ashton Terry and Virginia Francesca Lara of Santa Maria were arrested. As well as the victim's package with the AirTag, they were found with items believed to belong to over a dozen further people.

The pair have since been charged with possession of checks with intent to commit credit card theft, identity theft, and fraud.

Lara is being held on $50,000 bail. Terry, who was also wanted for burglary and multiple thefts in Riverside County, has had his bail set at $460,000.

AirTags were only introduced in 2021. But they immediately helped with car thefts, missing luggage, and unfortunately also contributed to stalking.