This Man Tracked His Stolen Luggage With An Airtag - And Found Himself In A Bizarre Scene

Maria Diaz/ZDNET

Follow ZDNET: Add america arsenic a preferred source on Google.

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Daniel Scott utilized an AirTag to way his missing luggage astatine LAX.
• In doing so, Scott recovered himself and nan constabulary investigating an abandoned building.
• There, he recovered his luggage and recovered a alien wearing his clothes.

Since Apple launched nan AirTag successful 2021, there's been nary shortage of individual testimonials that beryllium nan worth of nan world's astir celebrated Bluetooth point tracker. But possibly nary lawsuit is much bizarre than that of Daniel Scott, a West Hollywood man who recovered himself connected an aggravated scavenger hunt aft discovering his luggage had been stolen from baggage declare past week, arsenic reported by NBC Los Angeles.

Also: The champion Bluetooth trackers of 2025: Expert tested

It started pinch a formation from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Los Angeles, California, erstwhile Scott noticed that his luggage had gone missing. After perusing respective carousels to nary success, he checked his iPhone to pinpoint nan location of his luggage-tucked AirTag, only to find it moving toward nan rideshare batch and retired of nan airport.

"I instantly started sprinting to nan Uber lot. Once I sewage to nan Uber lot, I saw that it was continuing to move, and it had reached crossed nan street," Scott told NBC Los Angeles. Eventually, he recovered himself successful beforehand of an abandoned building adjacent Sepulveda Boulevard and 98th Street, according to nan report. 

With nan uptick successful mislaid luggage reports, galore airports and airlines tin now support AirTag location sharing for much businesslike recoveries.

ZDNET

While Scott wasn't adjacent capable to find nan nonstop level and room of his individual belongings, Apple's Find My web pulled capable discourse to guideline LAX constabulary to a successful betterment and arrest, pinch respective group successful nan building detained soon after. 

"I saw nan feline pinch my apparel connected -- my shoes on, my garment on, my pants on," Scott described nan detainment. Meanwhile, Scott's luggage was near "sliced up" pinch his apparel littered crossed different rooms of nan building, he recounted.

The changeless improvement of AirTags

Since AirTags debuted successful 2021, they've had capable real-world usage to warrant useful and impactful updates from Apple.

While Scott's lawsuit is simply a bully practice of nan AirTag's halfway functionality -- being utilized arsenic an point locator -- anterior cases person raised larger concerns pinch information and privacy, including criminals who snuck AirTags into victims' bags and cars. 

To Apple's credit, nan institution swiftly addressed nan malicious activity by partnering pinch Google and others to send push alerts erstwhile an unwanted instrumentality is search your location.

Also: How to find retired if an AirTag is search you - and what to do astir it

Today, nan AirTag remains a highly functional and integral portion of exertion for Apple users. The institution is expected to motorboat its successor arsenic soon arsenic adjacent week, successful conjunction pinch nan debut of nan iPhone 17 series, pinch its imaginable upgrades including improved artillery life, much precise location tracking, and a tamper-proof speaker design.