A woman in North Carolina, USA, was shocked to discover that her stolen phone had reappeared months later in Shenzhen, China, across the Pacific Ocean. The phone’s location history showed that it first traveled to Miami before ultimately pointing to China, thousands of miles away.
Marin Blake, who resides in Charlotte, knew that she would never be able to recover her phone upon seeing its location history. In March, Blake and her friends were at a local bar called The Rose Honky Tonk when a thief stole her phone, as recorded by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD).
“I was scared, and it felt terrible to be stolen from,” Blake told local media WRAL News. “I was sure that my phone was gone, but there were so many people around me, it didn’t seem possible for someone to have stolen it,” she added.
CMPD found that since December 2024, they had received nearly 40 theft reports from various bars in the southern area of Charlotte, prompting one bar to even post reminders for customers to prevent theft.
What surprised Blake even more was watching her phone fly from Charlotte to Miami, and then all the way to Shenzhen, China. The thief even sent messages to her new phone, trying to convince her to stop using the stolen phone.
“I have received several messages since my phone flew from Miami to China. These messages said that if I didn’t click on certain links, they would sell my information on the black market,” Blake said. However, she remained cautious, ignoring those messages and not clicking on any of the links.
“I don’t think this was a random theft,” she added. “It feels premeditated. This seems like an organized crime group. Action needs to be taken to stop this because it is becoming a serious issue.”
Blake believes that these thieves are part of an organized crime group and hopes that by sharing her story publicly, it will prompt the authorities to launch a further investigation.
Since the incident, she has become more vigilant in her surroundings, expressing the scary feeling of insecurity that has lingered.