A Florida woman was shocked to learn that her checked baggage didn’t make it to the airport. However, the woman’s suitcase and her valuables were closer than she thought, and her Apple Watch would eventually help law enforcement catch the secret suitcase thief.
Paola Garcia, a university student in Flordia, was forced to check her bright pink, hard-shell suitcase while flying to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
This was supposedly unusual for Garcia, as Local 10 News reported that she often takes her luggage on the plane with her and rarely ever stows it away. But this time, Garcia was made to check her bags and hoped her luggage would meet her at the airport. But it never did – or so she thought.
Inside her suitcase were various valuables: a MacBook, two Apple watches, an iPad, jewelry, and designer clothes.
What was most important to Garcia was her computer. “In my mind, I’m thinking I need my computer because I am going to university. I need my computer no matter what,” Garcia said to the news outlet.
She waited two hours while watching other travelers pick up their luggage and leave the airport.
Garcia’s suitcase never made it, as it was sitting in the back of Paradise Shops, an airport store where the thief, Junior Bazile, worked.
According to the arrest affidavit and pictures cited by Local 10 News, the news outlet that first spotted this story, Bazile can be seen rifling through Garcia’s luggage.
Bazile pocketed her valuables and put Garcia’s suitcase in a transparent plastic bag.
Garcia was traveling with Spirit Airlines, who assured her that her luggage would be delivered to her home address.
However, Apple had more information than the airline did when Garcia’s Apple Watch directed her to an address just fifteen minutes from the airport.
Apple has a built-in feature known as ‘Find My’, which, when paired with other Apple devices, can help you find Apple products that are either lost or stolen.
Garcia decided to take matters into her own hands and go to the house. There, she saw heaps of suitcases, videoed the scene, and then alerted 911.
Law enforcement identified the address as Mr. Bazile’s home, and they placed him at the airport the day the suitcase was stolen.
Bazile was charged with grand theft.
A Spirit Airlines spokesperson told Local 10 News that they have “issued a reimbursement check to the guest as a courtesy, even though we are not currently aware of any evidence that any Spirit employee was involved. We take any allegation of this nature seriously and are investigating.”
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