Daniel Scott placed an AirTag in his suitcase before flying home to Los Angeles, and it led him to directly to the culprit
07:48, 20 Mar 2026Updated 07:55, 20 Mar 2026
Daniel Scott was floored when he found his stolen luggage(Image: NBCLA)
Owners of Apple’s AirTags – compact, coin-shaped gadgets equipped with a sophisticated tracking chip – have discovered numerous practical applications for them. From locating misplaced wallets to being tucked away in a vehicle’s glovebox, or even attached to a pet’s collar, the possibilities are endless.
Frequent flyer Daniel Scott slipped one of the £30 devices into his luggage before boarding a flight back to Los Angeles following a visit to Salt Lake City back in August – and what followed left him utterly astonished.
Upon landing at LAX, his only wish was to collect his case and head straight home. However, a blunder by the baggage handlers saw passengers from Daniel’s flight initially sent to the incorrect carousel.
Speaking to NBC Los Angeles, he recalled waiting at baggage claim carousel 25, explaining: “About 10 minutes pass by, and no-one’s seeing their bags. Then Delta [Airlines} come on the PA and say ‘I’m sorry, the luggage is actually coming out at baggage claim 23’.”
Yet when Daniel, along with his fellow travellers, rushed over to the alternative baggage carousel, his case was conspicuously absent. Daniel swiftly retrieved his mobile and opened the ‘Find My’ app to track down his suitcase’s whereabouts. He went on: “I saw that it was not in the terminal, but it was moving towards the [taxi rank] and leaving the airport.
Daniel used an AirTag to find the luggage(Image: Wachiwit via Getty Images)
“So I just immediately started sprinting to the Uber lot. Once I got to the Uber lot I saw that it was continuing to move and it had reached across the street.” Fortunately, Daniel’s relatively fit and managed to keep pace with the moving tracker as it was transported to a derelict building roughly half a mile from the airport.
In the meantime, Daniel’s partner had contacted the police and informed them about the theft. Daniel remained outside the building, tracking the AirTag’s location until officers arrived.
The police shone their torches through the derelict building’s windows, and demanded the thieves surrender themselves.
It was at that moment Daniel received an incredible shock. He recalled: “We saw some movement in the building and then when the guys came to the window – they lined them up in the window – I saw the guy with my clothes on. He had my shoes on. He had my shirt on and my pants on.”
Police detained several individuals at the scene, and after confirming the crime scene was secure, officers permitted Daniel to enter the building to search for his suitcase.
He ultimately located it, though it had been ripped open and his belongings had been strewn across the grimy floor. He explained: “This is a pretty big building and my clothes are scattered through it in multiple different rooms.”
He reports he recovered most of his possessions, but emphasises that should the same situation happen to anyone else, they should always wait for police to arrive rather than attempting to confront the thieves themselves.
The whole ordeal was “insane,” Daniel says, adding that he was “super-happy” to retrieve his belongings.