California woman sends herself an Apple AirTag to catch mail thieves

CNN
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The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said a California woman who recently had her mail stolen used technology as bait to track down the thieves.

Los Alamos authorities arrested two suspects Monday using an Apple AirTag tracking device that a woman had mailed to herself, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

That morning, deputies responded to a report of mail theft that had just occurred at a local post office. When they arrived, they learned that a woman had recently been robbed, so she decided to mail herself a package with a tracking device inside, according to the release.

On Monday, she became the victim of another mail theft — but this time she managed to track down the thieves using her AirTag, authorities said.

The devices work by sending out a Bluetooth signal that can be detected by nearby devices on Apple’s Find My network, according to Apple. The AirTag sends its location to the user’s iCloud, allowing them to see where they are on a Find My map.

“It is important to note that the victim did not attempt to make contact with the suspects on his own,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

According to the sheriff’s office, the alleged thieves were found in the nearby city of Santa Maria, California, where the victim’s mail was located, including a package containing an AirTag, and other items that authorities believe were stolen from more than a dozen victims.

Authorities said Virginia Franchesca Lara, 27, and Donald Ashton Terry, 37, were arrested in connection with the crime.

Lara was arrested on felony charges including possession of checks with intent to defraud, fictitious checks, identity theft, credit card theft and conspiracy. As of Thursday, she remains held on $50,000 bail, according to jail records.

Terry faces multiple felony charges, including burglary, possession of checks with intent to defraud, credit card theft, identity theft and conspiracy. He was ordered held on $460,000 bail, according to jail records.

CNN has reached out to attorneys representing Lara and Terry for comment.

In a statement, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office also praised the AirTag owner “for her proactive approach” that helped track down the thieves.

Authorities said they are trying to contact other victims of the theft in this case.