Photographer Gets Gear back And Busts Drug Ring Using Online Backup

Crazy title, right? Well Photographer Mark Shed, had his laptop liberated from a rental car. The thieves used a well placed jab with a screwdriver to break in. They popped the trunk, and stole his, and his friends, backpack with their laptops.

Mark then calls the cops, but Detroit's finest are vastly understaffed, and there is little hope that he will ever see his stuff again.

Mark then remembers that his MAC can be located using WiFi with an app he has. Low and behold, he finds it. Or at least finds where it is in a 200' radius of the WiFi connection. He call the cops. Cops say that unless he has a specific address, there is still nothing he can do.

That is when he remembers that he has an online backup service - here is my shameless plug for Jimmy Drive our own PhotoTips branded solution- so he wonders if the thief has done anything that has uploaded to his backup solution that might give him clues. He is rewarded with this picture...

Apparently the thief took several pictures of this truck. Why? Probably to sell it. So he jumps on craigs list looking for a red Yukon, and finds the craigs list add with the same photo. He takes the address down, verifies that he can see that house on Google maps when he goes to find his computer using the WiFi connection, and calls the police again.

Because they are so understaffed, a homicide detective gets assigned, and he has to wait almost a week for a murder to wrap up before they can make a trip out to the house. When they finally do, the laptop is still there, along with the evidence to suggest a drug distribution center resided at the house too.

Nice!