findmyiphoneNeed to order food? There’s an app for that. Want to buy a movie ticket? There’s an app for that. Need to track down the burglar who just stole a bunch of valuables from your house?

Why, yes, there’s an app for that, too.

KIRO today reported on a Seattle businesswoman who used the “Find My iPhone” app to locate a man who had previously entered her bedroom and stole valuable belongings.

Bea Kelleigh, vice president at Seattle-based consulting firm Dovetailing, woke up after midnight on Sunday to a man at her bedside. After Kelleigh screamed, the man hit her and ran away. She tried running after him but couldn’t keep up.

Police arrived less than five minutes later, and that’s when the iPhone solved the crime. Using another iOS device, Kelleigh could see exactly where the stolen smartphone was located (thankfully she had installed the app on her iPhone previously). Police headed straight to the house, knocked on the door and began questioning the residents.

As this was going on, Kelleigh set off an alarm on her iPhone — sure enough, the ringing came from the home where police were searching. Kelleigh had all of her belongings returned, while the burglar was arrested.

This story actually isn’t all that out-of-the-ordinary. The New York Times recently featured several people who used the same app to locate burglars — some people, including the 26-year-old woman highlighted in the NYT piece, have even tracked down their iPhones without help from police (this is probably not a great idea).

Interestingly, Minnesota just signed a bill into law that will require every smartphone to have something similar to antitheft “kill switch” software installed to combat a recent increase in smartphone theft. While phone-makers and police have lobbied for the legislation, some wireless telecom organizations have opposed it.

However, last month nearly every big player in the wireless industry signed a commitment to allow customers to remotely wipe clean and lock their devices by July 2015.

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